Tori Alamaze‘s music career shows the power of playing the long game. The two-part project, Magick, Blessings & Bullsh*t, split into two EPs, is the product of a nearly twenty-year journey.
Last month, Tori released the second EP: Magick, Blessings and Bullsh*t vol. 2, consisting of five songs. With a very smooth R&B core, this is music for getting your life together.
The title Magick, Blessings and Bullsh*t is a sort of rephrasing of the good, the bad and the ugly—everything that life can throw at you. Vol. 2 is conceptual, with each song corresponding to one of these categories, and the EP as a whole speaking of the desire to find the connection and meaning in it all.
As Tori stated in our January interview, vol. 2 “takes you on a journey”. It tells the classic story of the breakdown of a relationship, opening with the track ‘I still love U’, but also has a deeper conceptual motif of overcoming life’s challenges.
When it comes to Tori’s music career, she definitely knows a thing or two about navigating the ups and downs.
Tori’s music journey began as a background vocalist on OutKast’s Grammy-winning Speakerboxxx/The Love Below album and Cee-Lo Green’s The Soul Machine. This led to Tori beginning work on her own debut album; releasing ‘Don’t Cha’ as the lead single.
The song began climbing the U.S. Billboard charts and garnering significant buzz, including a remix by Da Brat.
However, in the midst of its growing success, a decision was made to have another act re-record the track—this act was The Pussycat Dolls. Their 2005 version, which is very heavily influenced by Tori’s vocal performance, became a global chart-topper.
After this Tori Alamaze was dropped from her label, and her album shelved—but her story doesn’t end there.
In 2020, amidst the growing media conversation surrounding racial injustice, Tori made a gutsy phone call to an industry executive. This resulted in a new record deal, and the creation of Magick, Blessings & Bullsh*t (produced by Grammy-nominee V-Script).
Vol. 2 was preceded by the singles ‘Cycles’ and ‘Cheers 2 life’. Both singles reached number one on the Amazon Music Contemporary R&B Chart.
The lead single ‘Cycles’ addresses the bullsh*t. The cycles and patterns into which we can all-too-easily fall, and the need to find the strength to break out of these situations. The rhythm of the lyrics almost mirrors the cyclic theme of the track: “break this cycle / no more love recycled / almost drove me psycho”.
The lyrical content of this EP holds a simplicity that makes the tracks instantly catchy and relatable, giving it a real easy listening factor.
The centre-piece track ‘Eye 2 Eye’ musically forays into Afrobeat and use of the acoustic guitar, and is aided by a verse from rapper Selasi. The track offers a change of pace that comes at just the right point on the EP.
‘Reset’ rings in the blessings, with the theme of being your own biggest advocate: “you got what you need / It’s time somebody do that sh*t for me”. Tori sings of having spent too long in the wrong places, and the need to allow yourself to go back to the drawing board: “I need a reset, reset”. The song takes us back to solid, stripped-back R&B; it’s definitely a stand-out track on the project. It’s something that you could imagine underscoring a pivotal scene in a rom-com movie.
The closing track ‘Cheers 2 life’ ends on the magic. You’ve been through the bullsh*t and now you can really feel and understand the good. It feels conclusive—on ‘Reset’, Tori sings “gotta do what’s best for me”, and now on ‘Cheers 2 life’ the chorus repeats “finally put me first”. The EP conveys a strong message of self-care which is sure to resonate with listeners.
Tori Alamaze’s solo project has been a long time coming. Now her voice is being heard and, this time, it’s on her own terms.
You can listen to Magick, Blessings and Bullsh*t Vol. 2 now on Apple and Spotify.
Words by Jake Walker-Charles
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