Zap Mama is one sexy motherfucker, and a talented one at that. Her vocal arrangements have defined the cutting edge of urban-tinged world music for a while, and on her latest release, she globally outsources hip-hop, which actually comes out sounding like some post-Afrofuturist shit; call it neo-neo-soul with a Diasporan twist. Special guests Common, Talib Kweli, Erkyah Badu, Scratch and the ubiquitous ?uestlove don’t distract from the proceedings; Marie Daulne (Zap Mama’s main mama) has enough star power-not to mention serious chops and pipes-not to be outshined or out-freaked by anyone. Instead, she coaxes stellar creative collaborations out of each of her guests, resulting in an album that references the past just often enough to map out the future, while sounding very much in the present moment.