When Plantation Lullabies first hit the scene back in 1993, there wasn't anything really like it. Meshell Ndgeocello was a bald, badass, and bold woman with bars talking about sexuality, racism, and gender relations while paving the way for neo-soul music and artists.

Plantation Lullabies gave us many, many things, and Sy Smith (who has played alongside Meshell for years) came by the studio to talk to us about it. We discuss the impact it had on neo-soul, the shades of funk and go-go throughout the record, and the freedom it offered to black America.

Settle in, because this episode and this album are essential to any Heat Rocker.

More on Sy Smith

• Sy Smith is in Full Bloom on Sometimes A Rose Will Grow in Concrete (Soul Bounce)
• Now and Later -- Music Video
• Twitter | Instagram

More on Plantation Lullabies

• Plantation Lullabies Review (BBC)
• If That's Your Boyfriend -- Music Video

Show Tracklisting (all songs from Plantation Lullabies unless indicated otherwise):

• Soul On Ice
• Sy Smith: Sometimes A Rose Will Grow In Concrete
• Dred Loc
• If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)
• Picture Show
• Shoot'n Up and Gett'n High
• If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)
• Plantation Lullabies
• I'm Diggin' You - Like An Old Soul Record
• Dred Loc
• Call Me
• Untitled
• Meshell Ndegeocello: Nocturnal Sunshine
• Meshell Ndegeocello: Rush Over
• If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)
• Soul On Ice

Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find on there

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