For Jhelisa, music has always been a family affair. Looking beyond the fact that she came up in a household where her father was a gospel radio DJ and her uncle and aunt were members of James Brown’s band, the Mississippi-born artist made a name for herself in the ’90s with vocal features alongside an impressive list of peers including Massive Attack, Björk, Bryan Ferry, Chaka Khan, Paul Weller, and alt-dance outfit The Shamen. After establishing herself at the tail end of the 1980s with the street-soul group Soul Family Sensation, her career began to take off in 1994 with the release of her highly collaborative debut solo album, Galactica Rush.
Thirty years later to the day, and that collection of nine songs is still as innovative as it was when it landed. Blending elements of acid jazz, neo-soul, and trip-hop, the project slowly picked up traction as it evolved from underground hit to cult classic to downtempo R&B staple. “The supporters of this project made Galactica Rush become somewhat of a talisman, gaining more energy with each new listener who decided to make it a part of their record collections,” Jhelisa shares, commemorating the release on its anniversary while introducing the record’s new remastering and a touched-up version of the video for it’s standout single. “I am eternally grateful for this gift to share, this gift that keeps on giving 30 years later as it now inhabits the youth of today through the remix of ‘Friendly Pressure.’ I’m amazed at how music travels through time and how a voice can carry over millions of miles across the world.”
To further honor Galactica Rush on its 30th anniversary, Jhelisa took us track by track through the album, breaking down the collaborations and memories behind each of its nine recordings. Hear the remastered version of the LP and find her words below.
1. “Galactica Rush”
“Galactica Rush”...a cosmic rush…a spiritual rush. What twenty-something youth comes up with a title like that? This title came to me like a channeled message. I didn’t fully know what it meant when it appeared in my mind, but I knew it defined something that I was yet to fully experience. Perhaps as a premonition. As the title track, it’s the most challenging track musically, built by Lee Hamblin's perfect beat, Greg Osby's virtuosity, Calvin Jones on bass, and my vocal and lyrical colorings. It’s a jazz/soul/hip-hop mash-up sound produced by cross-cultural participants from the UK to the US.
2. “There’s Nothing Wrong”
Convincing myself “there’s nothing wrong with me,” because of my choice to do things differently—my resistance against the opposition, disturbing the status quo of boob size, beats, skin color, political and religious choices. I took it further knowing my parents and others would not like the lyric, "I’d like to scream in the middle of the street / Take off all my clothes, talking to the trees / Start a big fire, pray for world peace / And for my sanity, open up my mind to see what I can see / Search for a cure without thinking its a sin / To smoke a fuckin’ joint and have a little love in.” These would be considered radical words within the environment I grew up in: the Christian church. But I somehow knew “God” understood the nature of rebellious youth.
3. “Hold My Peace”
Featuring Charlie Lexton’s signature ’90s hip-hop crusty beat and horn break, this one’s based around a phrase I grew up hearing. The old folks would say, “Oh Lord, please help me hold my peace.” In other words: please don’t let me kill a muthafucka. I flipped it, saying, “Cross this line and see what happens.” It’s a defiant twenty-somethings narrative particularly against child molestation within the church.
4. “Whirl Keeps Turning”
This one features 19-year-old piano wizard Matt Cooper. I created this bassline, I created these chords, and everything flowed from those seeds that turned into lyrics: “Trains of thought to 2000 odyssey and how the fishes will swim the dirty seas / And how synthetic foods will nourish me, it’s so pathetic to live like a machine.”
5. “Death of a Soul Diva”
I wrote “Death of a Soul Diva” with Pete Smith, featuring Ashley Slater on trombone and such a dope beat. Ashley’s beat fit perfectly with the vocal phrasing, as the lyric wraps around an unpopular subject matter of Phyllis Hyman’s death to Billie Holiday (“Hits the low note on her last night, holds her breath until / In the spotlight her whole world stands still”). This is the song Chaka Khan chose to record after the album was released. It meant a lot to me—she understood this song very well.
6. “Friendly Pressure”
“Friendly Pressure”—featuring Phil Hudson's most beautiful guitar intro arrangement—is the most popular song from this album, but also a song that I underestimated. As my favorite tracks are always the most challenging for me creatively, I now understand what strength and upliftment can be embedded within a simple repetitive melody line, like “Da ba daba da da da da da da.” It’s a tonal mantra that people become mysteriously attached to, like a nursery rhyme, followed by the part-jazzy, part-lazy vocal singing of Friendly Pressure. It’s such a gentle sentiment; a non-combative testament to moving energy in any relationship to unify. Encouragement to love and be loved mutually, equally, and as one. Simultaneously a plea and a demand for peace, unity, harmony, friendly pressure.
7. “Baby God”
My cousin Bartlett Anderson plays lovely keys on this track with Ashley Slater on that smooth I’m-too-sexy-for-my-trombone vibes. I was lucky Bart happened to be in the UK on tour with “I Know You Got Soul” Bobby Byrd and my aunt, the original “Super Soul Sister” Vicki Anderson from the James Brown Band. I was often asked, “What do you mean by ‘Baby God’?” It’s the potential of greatness—a baby god—urging that child-like wonder in one’s life not to disappear into a grumpy, self-destructing old adult with no passions, dreams, or aspirations.
8. “Sweet Dreams (4UIC)”
I do consider the music I composed on this track as one of my most favorites, creatively. I usually go for the sweet groove with mantra-like phrasings on top; the ones not necessarily considered a song song by traditional standards. But with this, I was proud of entering the echelon of potentially “good songwriting.” Lyrically, I used this as an opportunity to deliver a sentiment of hope to all the hopeless feelings in whatever walk of life you tread. In particular, I was focused on war—the thought of bombs dropping around you, and how would you possibly sleep good at night?
9. “Secret Place”
I chose to end the album with my new love affair with long-form composition for this song, which features Egyptian percussionist Hossam Ramzy, may he rest in peace. This was uncharted territory and all the players on this album were contributors to my newfound freedom. Dorado Records’ Ollie Buckwell was at the helm of directing this music into the world and helping build what’s become our global music scene; all connected through resonating sounds that bring us together under a universal groove. It’s stood the test of time, from the artwork illustrated by 20-year-old Jason Brooks, the design by Mike Bone, and photos by Sharkey.
