Back in 1984, a Bay Area artist by the name of Prophet released an album called Right on Time. He might have thought so, but while it was funky and soulful, it was also weird enough to go over a lot of peoples’ heads. Next thing you know, decades have passed, and Prophet never followed the album up, leaving it to be an undiscovered classic. That is, until a deejay by the name of Peanut Butter Wolf stumbled across it and started mixing it into his deejay sets. Word got back to Prophet, who then connected with PBW, who then got about the business of encouraging him to start making music again. He paired him with producer Mndsgn., who was able to work with him on his first new album in thirty four years, 2018’s Wanna Be Your Man. That went so well, Prophet went to work on a self-produced album, Don’t Forget It, which he delivers now.

Wanna Be Your Man introduced a lot of us to Prophet and let us know that he was a unique artist. However, when working on a project like that, it can be just a little tough to determine how much is Prophet’s vision, and how much is Mndsgn. With Don’t Forget It, we still get the same great vocals and charisma from Prophet on the mic, but now we see that Prophet could get much weirder with his production and song structure. Prophet has some great R&B vocals, and along with some synth-based funk, you can get glimpses of how he would have been contemporaries of acts like The Gap Band or Cameo. However, Prophet doesn’t have as much interest in traditional pop structure. There are moments of accessibility, such as a song like “Be the One For You,” with a catchy electronic piano riff and chorus about love lost that meditates on a midtempo groove. A few songs later, you get to “Do You Think,” and you see him start to experiment more with vocal effects and programmed drums and pushing his music further toward this modal structure and meditative atmosphere. Progressing further into the album, when you get to “Come On Hard,” we’re in full experimental mode, with different vocal effects, distortion, and eerie synths. The more you sit with it, the weirder it gets, and the more fascinating it gets, as Prophet seems to be conveying the descent of a guy who’s not taking a breakup well. It doesn’t get too dark, but it does move into this lesser-explored area of experimental, depressed R&B. The only small criticism I’d wager is that the album is a touch on the long side, but when you’ve been out of the game for thirty-plus years, I’d say make your albums as long as you want. We’ve got lost time to make up for.

While it was great to have Prophet back when he dropped Wanna Be Your Man two years ago, there was a bit of a question as to when the next album would come and what it would sound like. Now that it’s here, I can safely say that he’s continuing to grow and he’s making some really interesting and unique R&B.