Plantation Lullabies

Me'shell NdegéOcello's debut album twists and turns through so many genres -- R&B, pop, jazz, hip-hop -- that it's hard to put a finger on just where she wants to take its 13 songs. That she also spins conventional racial and sexual identity here makes Plantation Lullabies an occasionally overwhelming -- as well as a vibrantly sophisticated -- listen.

The album mixes the soul of Sly Stone and the funk of James Brown with the pop sensibilities of Prince and the grace of Lena Horne.