The Long Goodbye (Riz Ahmed album)

The Long Goodbye
Studio album by
Riz Ahmed
Released6 March 2020 (2020-03-06)
GenreHip hop[1]
Length26:58
LabelMongrel
ProducerRedinho
Riz Ahmed chronology
Microscope
(2011) 		The Long Goodbye
(2020)
Singles from The Long Goodbye
  1. "Mogambo"
    Released: 3 October 2018[2]

The Long Goodbye is the second studio album by Riz Ahmed. It was released on his own record label Mongrel Records on 6 March 2020.[3] It is a concept album and was produced by Redinho.[4] It features guest appearances from Ahmed's mother,[5] as well as Mindy Kaling, Mahershala Ali, Yara Shahidi, Asim Chaudhry,[6] Hasan Minhaj, and Jay Sean.[7] It was accompanied by a short film of the same name directed by Aneil Karia, which won Best Live Action Short Film at the 94th Academy Awards.[8] "Mogambo" was released as a single in 2018.[9]

Concept

The Long Goodbye is a concept album about the United Kingdom's historical and contemporary relationship with South Asians and British Asians, framed through the extended metaphor of an abusive romantic relationship in the wake of Brexit and the rise of the far-right in Britain.[10][11][12][5][13][14]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.8/10[15]
Metacritic83/100[16]
Review scores
SourceRating
Clash9/10[17]
The Daily Telegraph[14]
Evening Standard[18]
The Guardian[19]
Loud and Quiet8/10[13]
MusicOMH[11]
NME[7]
The Observer[12]
Pitchfork7.4/10[10]

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 83, based on 7 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[16]

Jake Hawkes of Clash described the album as "a tightly packed, lightning-quick swing at the racism of British society."[17] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian wrote, "UK hip-hop and albums bemoaning the current state of things are two crowded markets: The Long Goodbye is potent, original and timely enough to stand out in both."[19] Dhruva Balram of NME commented that "the album is largely a vital statement from a talented, multi-hyphenate artist."[7]

At the 94th Academy Awards, the film based on the album won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.[20]

Track listing

The Long Goodbye track listing
No.TitleLength
1."The Breakup (Shikwa)"3:30
2."Toba Tek Singh"3:03
3."Mindy: Take Half"0:16
4."Fast Lava"1:57
5."Ammi: Come Home"0:25
6."Any Day" (featuring Jay Sean)2:47
7."Mahershala: Don't Do Anything Stupid"0:29
8."Can I Live"2:48
9."Yara: Look Inside"0:24
10."Where You From"2:04
11."Mogambo"2:20
12."Chabuddy: Go Southall"0:20
13."Deal with It"2:31
14."Hasan: Rush Hour 2"0:54
15."Karma"3:09
Total length:26:58

Charts

Sales chart performance for The Long Goodbye
Chart (2020) Peak
position
UK R&B Albums (OCC)[21] 24

References

  1. ^ Kornhaber, Spencer (9 March 2020). "The Rappers Who Are Breaking Up With Britain". The Atlantic. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  2. ^ Malkin, Marc (3 October 2018). "Riz Ahmed's New Song 'Mogambo': 'It's a Bit of a Middle Finger That You Can Dance To'". Variety. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  3. ^ Kenneally, Cerys (27 February 2020). "Riz Ahmed announces new album and short film The Long Goodbye". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  4. ^ Gregory, Allie (27 February 2020). "Riz Ahmed Announces New Album 'The Long Goodbye'". Exclaim!. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  5. ^ a b Youngs, Ian (6 March 2020). "Riz Ahmed on The Long Goodbye: Why he says 'Britain's broken up with me'". BBC. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  6. ^ Collins, Hattie (5 March 2020). "Riz Ahmed On His New Album & Break-Up Letter To A Post-Brexit Britain". British Vogue. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  7. ^ a b c Balram, Dhruva (6 March 2020). "Riz Ahmed – 'The Long Goodbye' review: star tears through vital, vitriolic dispatches on Brexit Britain". NME. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  8. ^ Elassar, Alaa (7 March 2020). "Riz Ahmed 'breaks up' with Britain in an emotional album and short film 'The Long Goodbye'". CNN. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  9. ^ Ruiz, Matthew Ismael (27 February 2020). "Riz Ahmed Announces New Album The Long Goodbye". Pitchfork. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  10. ^ a b Kappal, Bhanuj (12 March 2020). "Riz Ahmed: The Long Goodbye Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  11. ^ a b Devlin, Ben (10 March 2020). "Riz Ahmed – The Long Goodbye". musicOMH. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  12. ^ a b Joshi, Tara (8 March 2020). "Riz Ahmed: The Long Goodbye review – a breakup album is hard to do". The Observer. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  13. ^ a b Pilley, Max. "Riz Ahmed - The Long Goodbye - Album Review". Loud and Quiet. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  14. ^ a b McCormick, Neil (5 March 2020). "Riz Ahmed, The Long Goodbye, review: a thrilling breakup album for the Brexit era". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  15. ^ "The Long Goodbye by Riz Ahmed reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  16. ^ a b "The Long Goodbye by Riz Ahmed". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  17. ^ a b Hawkes, Jake (2 March 2020). "Riz Ahmed - The Long Goodbye". Clash. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  18. ^ Smyth, David (6 March 2020). "Riz Ahmed - The Long Goodbye review: A gripping exploration of Britishness". Evening Standard. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  19. ^ a b Petridis, Alexis (5 March 2020). "Riz Ahmed: The Long Goodbye review – breaking up with a racist Britain". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  20. ^ "2022 Oscars". Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  21. ^ "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 March 2020.