In Our Time

What about the artist whose personal tastes and talents happen to connect with a broad audience without compromise or appropriation? Sometimes in music criticism or any kind of writing that seeks to analyze and evaluate the products of our popular culture, acknowledging the strong commercial potential of a piece of art can seem like passive-aggressive criticism. We’re always on the lookout for the “sellout”, and most critics have an ear tuned more to the organic than the produced, a preference for the artist who challenges a small audience rather than welcoming a large one. But what about the artist whose personal tastes and talents happen to connect with a broad audience without compromise or appropriation? AHI (pronounced “Eye”) possesses a smooth, inviting voice reminiscent of Seal and fuses a strong pop sensibility to a positive, non-threatening political message that nonetheless challenges listeners to be and to work for better. It’s a formula that should bring him broad appeal an