Meshell Ndegeocello has released "Synonym," a covers album featuring duets with an expansive roster of artists. The collection reimagines songs by Bob Dylan, Jennifer Lopez, the Human League, Barbra Streisand and Temple of the Dog, among others.
Ndegeocello describes the album as an "expression of queer liberation." Her collaborators include Chaka Khan, Bill Callahan, Cynthia Erivo, Cat Power and jazz pianist Robert Glasper.
The album arrives on Blue Note Records. It reflects Ndegeocello's long pattern of genre-hopping. Since her 1993 debut "Plantation Lullabies," which helped establish neo soul, she has worked across jazz, R&B, alternative rock, reggae, fusion and gospel. Her 2021 album "No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin" won a Grammy for best alternative jazz album. That win appeared to confound the Recording Academy, which seemed uncertain how to categorize her genre-defiant work.