Chakzilla

“I know that I am great/I’m a giant, I’m a giant,” soul legend Chaka Khan declares on the opening track of her 13th full-length and her first since 2019. Since that album came out, Khan has been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and had her career immortalized in a jukebox musical. She’s also become a spiritual guru, leading meditation sessions on social media. But she still has a place in pop’s current pantheon, and Chakzilla asserts it. Working with behind-the-boards gurus Sia and Greg Kurstin, Khan storms into the current moment with cuts like the bouncy “Curious Subject” and the synth-spangled “Heart of Gold.” On the reggae-tinged “Cool You Down,” Khan shares the mic with Sia, who provides a worthy foil for Khan’s still-robust belt, while “Boogie’s in My Soul” features Snoop Dogg paying homage to Melle Mel’s turn on her 1984 smash “I Feel for You.”