# All Matter

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**"All Matter"** is a song by American singer-songwriter [Bilal](/source/Bilal_(American_singer)). The song was produced by the singer, along with Steve McKie, for his 2010 album *[Airtight's Revenge](/source/Airtight's_Revenge)*.[1] It is a rerecording of his collaboration with [Robert Glasper](/source/Robert_Glasper), which was included in Glasper's 2009 album *[Double-Booked](/source/Double-Booked)*.[2] The original version - with Glasper - was nominated for the [52nd Grammy Awards](/source/52nd_Grammy_Awards), in the [Best Urban/Alternative Performance](/source/Grammy_Award_for_Best_Urban/Alternative_Performance) category.[3] *[HipHopDX](/source/HipHopDX)* journalist Luke Gibson cites it as the best-written song from *Airtight's Revenge*.[4]

## Music and lyrics

Writing for *[Time Out New York](/source/Time_Out_(magazine))*, Mikael Wood describes the music of "All Matter" as "[TV on the Radio](/source/TV_on_the_Radio)-style [art-funk](/source/Avant-funk)" and an example of Bilal traversing different styles throughout the album "with the headstrong self-assurance of someone whose commercial aspirations trail his creative ones".[5] While Bilal's falsetto vocals are sung soulfully and in midtempo, they are arranged against beats played in an aggressive and fast manner.[4] David Dacks, in *[Exclaim!](/source/Exclaim!)*, highlights the song as an example of how "Bilal's reedy, [Sly \[Stone\]](/source/Sly_Stone)-meets-[Prince](/source/Prince_(musician)) voice runs down metaphysical and personal subjects overtop a continuously changing musical landscape".[6] The lyrics, described by the writer [Adrienne Maree Brown](/source/Adrienne_Maree_Brown) as "a meditation on being at peace with every single thing about existence", are sung as follows:[7]

We're all the same and all so very different Divine by design, it all intertwines Ain't nothing new but it’s always changing, movin' Still waters soft yet so hard So what is love?… Cool on the outside Hot in the middle but You ain't even gotta try, all you gotta do is realize It’s all matter A speck of dust in this vast universe Just like a raindrop in the sea of consciousness It's all matter… It's everything it ought to be It's everything it needs to be, ok Don't stand in the way You'll only make it hard Just keep it flowing Flow with the ocean and you'll be just where you should be

Consequently, Brown likens the song to a "[soul](/source/Soul_music) sung version" of "A Hopi Elder Speaks", a piece of writing attributed to an unnamed [Hopi](/source/Hopi) elder.[7] The lyric describing love as "cool on the outside, hot in the middle" is interpreted by *[The A.V. Club](/source/The_A.V._Club)'*s [Nathan Rabin](/source/Nathan_Rabin) as reflective of the overriding concept in *Airtight's Revenge*, which Rabin says is "Bilal alternating between a delicate, Prince-like falsetto and an impassioned growl as he contemplates romantic and professional pain".[8]

## References

1. [allmusic.com/airtight's revenge](http://www.allmusic.com/album/airtights-revenge-r1946786)

1. [allmusic.com/doublebooked](http://www.allmusic.com/album/double-booked-r1623084/review)

1. [grammy.com nominees2009](http://www.grammy.com/nominees?year=2009&genre=27)

1. Gibson, Luke (September 22, 2010). ["Bilal - Airtight's Revenge"](https://hiphopdx.com/reviews/id.1525/title.bilal-airtights-revenge#). *[HipHopDX](/source/HipHopDX)*. Retrieved December 11, 2020.

1. Wood, Mikael (September 9, 2010). "Review: Bilal". *[Time Out New York](/source/Time_Out_(magazine))*

1. Dacks, David (September 21, 2010). ["Bilal Airtight's Revenge"](http://exclaim.ca/music/article/bilal-airtights_revenge). *[Exclaim!](/source/Exclaim!)*. Retrieved December 10, 2020.

1. Brown, Adrienne Maree (September 23, 2010). ["oh my goodness all the feelings"](http://adriennemareebrown.net/2010/09/23/oh-my-goodness-all-the-feelings/). *adrienne maree brown*. Retrieved December 11, 2020.

1. Rabin, Nathan (October 12, 2010). ["Bilal: Airtight's Revenge"](https://www.avclub.com/bilal-airtight-s-revenge-1798166143). *[The A.V. Club](/source/The_A.V._Club)*. Retrieved December 11, 2020.

## External links

- [myspace.combilaloliver](http://www.myspace.com/bilaloliver)
- [plugresearch.combilal](http://www.plugresearch.com/bilal)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [All Matter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Matter) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Matter?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.