Pianist Robert Glasper is rightly known for setting a groove, but he's just as adept at setting a table. A decade ago, he released Black Radio, which put his jazz-honed flexibility in dialogue with an eye-catching guest list — and won a Grammy for best R&B album in the process. He followed it with a sequel, Black Radio 2, as well as all-star collaborations like Dinner Party and R+R=Now. No surprise, then, that Glasper has gone bigger than ever for Black Radio III, which will release on Feb. 25 with contributions from Jennifer Hudson, Ty Dolla $ign, Gregory Porter and others.
In "Black Superhero," the album's third single, Glasper's piano sets a chiming gospel loop, over which Killer Mike and Big K.R.I.T. rap verses about perseverance and positivity; the hook, by BJ the Chicago Kid, affirms that "Every block, every hood, every city, every ghetto / Need a Black superhero." A black-and-white music video by Charlie Buhler underscores that the heroes in question are first and foremost members of a community — and a spoken-word coda courtesy of Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, urges both a refusal and a reclamation.
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