Rapper/singer Jidenna’s new album 85 to Africa is a trip through the African diaspora that verges on sonic cinema. (The title refers to Atlanta’s I-85, which’ll get you to the airport where you can catch a direct flight to Africa.) Having shelved his three-piece-suit look from “Classic Man,” his sophomore album 85 to Africa showcases a more fully realized, relaxed Jidenna that feels more natural. Finger waves now braided and arms tatted, Jidenna dons a white tee (with an American flag on it) tucked into structured, patterned trousers while an interstate highway bustles behind him. Jidenna’s newfound mission—to inspire Black Americans to find home wherever they go and reestablish their connection to the motherland through travel and economic support for the region—was inspired by his own experience of displacement. In 2017, he was evicted from the Atlanta mansion he and his team were renting after the owner lost the property in a foreclosure auction and didn’t tell them. Greeted by the barrel of a gun at 6 am, Jidenna’s home of three years was swarmed by cops; movers threw his possessions into boxes while the new owners looked on and smiled. “Even with all the success, I was still another nigga displaced,” Jidenna says in a video trailer explaining the album. “Where could I go, where my land was my land? Where my home was my home?” It was then that Jidenna decided to go to Africa indefinitely.
The 11-track project has fantastic, varied production—largely handled by Wondaland affiliate Nana Kwabena.
