Kierra Sheard/Graceland/Motown Gospel

The vocals. The vocals are tight. Kierra Sheard has an AMAZINGly versatile and technically marvelous voice that can rouse emotion and rivals the likes of pop icons like Taylor Swift. However, her gospel/soul roots give it a depth and passion few possess. The album spans diverse musical stylings, dubstep, hip-hop, and pop, with enough room for heaping helpings of sweeping ballads where KiKi’s voice shines. This member of the famous gospel music Clark Family tree borrows from the vault/treasure trove of Clark family jewels with plenty of samples, snippets, excerpts, hooks, throughout. NO FCC. Fave tracks: 7, 5, 2. Review by Kesha of Lift Jesus Higher!

1. 3:43 – An intro – opens with snippets from a sermon from Kierra Sheard’s father, and Pastor overlaid with some male choir bgvs and some adlibs by Kierra Sheard. Halfway through, the beat drops and it turns into a mini-R&B track with heavy bass and then returns to the beginning of the song.
2. **2:56 – Starts with a sample that sounds like it’s from the 70s, then drops with a funky swing retro beat. Med tempo upbeat. Female vocals and BGVs. Nice happy groove.
3. 1:11 – A mixed speed sample of the Clark Sisters Jesus is the Balm in Gilead, and then Kiki and her brother add their own hip-hop/R&B flavor.
4. 4:12 - A traditional ballad, piano and vocals and male bgvs intro then morphs into dub step style ballad (if that exists). Then alternates between the two styles from chorus to verse.
5. **3:51 – High drama, intense desperate ballad, lots of piano - ¾ time signature and snaps and driving beat.
6. *3:04 – Simple piano and vocal ballad. Really nice vocals and violin/upright bass accents.
7. ***5:03 – Fairy tale piano intro, great story song and creative imagery in the lyrics. Sweeping drums, beat picks up as song rises and then becomes “pop-ish” for the chorus.
8. *4:24 – Computer voiced hip-hop intro collab project with KiKi and Canton Jones. Med/Slow tempo groove with male and female lead spoken/sung/rapped lyrics.
9. 1:16 – Horns intro transitions into a mixed speed sample of the Clark Sisters ‘He’ll Turn Your Scars into Stars”, and then Kiki and her brother add their own hip-hop/R&B flava’!
10. 3:32 – Electric guitar intro, slight electronic music feel, ballad, dramatic vocals.
11. **3:44 – The title track. Ballad, starts with vocals and acoustic guitar then enter the synths and the beat drops. Med tempo slight driving beat.
12. 2:55 – Upbeat hip-hopish track, with R&B touches. Med tempo.
13. 3:31 – Electronic sounding synth intro, turns into popish song.
14. *5:35 – Dreamy interpretation of classic hymn with synth sounds abounding.