The Womack Sisters Step Into Their Own With a Self-Titled Debut

BG, Zeimani, and Kucha Womack carry a legacy that needs no embellishment: granddaughters of Sam Cooke, nieces of Bobby Womack. But for years, their voices were miscast in hip-hop-inflected R&B that flattened their abilities. That changes with their self-titled debut, produced by Gabriel Roth, co-owner of Daptone Records.

Roth, who worked closely with Sharon Jones and Charles Bradley, heard the sisters sing and committed quickly. The opener “Chauffeur” repurposes a bassline from The Whatnauts’ 1981 hit “Help Is On The Way”—familiarly borrowed by De La Soul—while strings and horns float in like a Curtis Mayfield arrangement. The retro gestures are confident but not costume; they frame real group singing, where three voices lock into a single, dizzying presence.

Previous projects left the sisters adrift, surrounded by material that had no relationship to their church-and-stage upbringing. Here, the writing finally acknowledges what was already there: an internalized command of call and response, of blues and pop sung with economy. The