American Griots is an ambitious step forward for Louis York, stretching the limitations of convention by traipsing sound and style, without losing focus of the message at hand. “For us, it's not just about writing a song—our songs come from life experiences and learning and mistakes,” says Claude Kelly of Louis York. “The songs aren't just like, look at us, we can do cool music. Louis York is more about the music, which is the end result of a lot of growth. It always feels better when we pull our music out, because it feels like it's the ending of a really long, hard race.”