Fresh Tracks: AZitiZ

Friday, 13 January 2012 12:04

City of Love combines soul, R & B and hip-hop with Lalita Garret’s heartfelt vocals—sometimes singing melodically and sometimes rapping—to create a moving and uplifting listening experience.

One gets the impression that Lalita has a strong voice and a sensitive heart. As her moniker AZitiZ implies, she tells it as it is, often showing raw emotions, sometimes venting anger and frustration. Her conclusion, though, always seems to end with love.

By Greg Allard

In opening track “My Sunshine,” Lalita sings “Got my sunshine, and it’s shining all day—manifesting love, hate won’t get in my way,” revealing her attitude that “life’s a bitch but I’m going to make the most of it,” which permeates throughout.

RELATED—Backstage with Lalita Garret of AZitiZ

Being raised without a father and seeing her youngest brother tragically die at 19 seems to only add to her intensity. Citing Lauryn Hill, Jay-Z and Queen Latifah as influences in a mock conversation with a taxi driver in India, AZitiZ combines that intensity with her time spent growing up in India and her love for hip-hop.

Most of her time growing up, however, was in Gainesville. She now spends a lot of time in New Orleans, known as the “City of Love.” That song, the album’s title track (and perhaps the best track on the LP), combines clever lyrics and her hopeful yearning for a better life, which she sees as ultimately continuing beyond this temporary, imperfect world. It also points to her love of Vrndavana, a holy place in India that helped mold her inner life that she holds dear.

RELATED—Fresh Tracks: Ancient River

The album’s final track, “Industry Influence,” is a scathing critique of the corporation nation state, which Lalita has seen break people. In “Industry,” she defiantly declares, “You can’t mold me, shake me or break me.” And adds, “I’m bringing substance back to your sons and your daughters.”

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