Before finalizing the "In Heavy Rotation" post for this month, I had two other artists in mind and only four in total. Upon the passing of music icon David Bowie, whose artistry I have always had a profound respect for, I wanted to do a review of his posthumous album released earlier this year, Blackstar. Another person whose name has been popping up consistently on my Facebook timeline is West Coast hip hop artist Locksmith, but it's been more for his series of freestyles that have been flooding the Internet. Nevertheless, I was interested in giving his 2015 studio release, Lofty Goals, a shot. However, with the recent resurfacing of Tweet and the rise of newcomer BJ the Chicago Kid, it seems like R&B is beginning to have a resurgence of sorts. Thus, I wanted to make this month's edition a somewhat-impromptu tribute to R&B/soul music in all of its different representations while implementing a new facet of "In Heavy Rotation" with my "Throwback Pick of the Month". The beauty of this month's post is that although it's music under the umbrella of a particular genre, these artists embody the age-old adage, "No two snowflakes are alike." Also, three out of five of these picks came highly recommended from social media and beyond, so I wanted to show love to my friends and fellow music lovers to let y'all know that I respect your musical palates tremendously. Go time...
BJ THE CHICAGO KID, In My Mind (Motown, 2016). After impressive features on "Life Is a Gamble" from Big K.R.I.T.'s King Remembered in Time mixtape (2013) and on the gorgeously romantic "Beautiful Love" duet with Jill Scott from her Woman album (2015), I knew that BJ The Chicago Kid would be a name that I needed to keep in mind. So between listening to a local online radio show and hearing "Church" for the first time and constantly seeing listening recommendations for In My Mind, I knew that I couldn't put off checking him out any longer--hence bumping out David Bowie from the March rotation. Among many noteworthy showings, "Heart Crush" is one of the musical standouts and is even stronger lyrically as BJ sings frankly about a failing relationship:
Arguing about everything/And having sex just to make me happy/Our folks think we got everything/But they don't know we so unhappy/Every time I hear a love song on the radio/I think of what we used to have but ain't got no more...On "The New Cupid", he sings about the absence of romance's poster child: "Cupid's too busy at the club/At the bar/Rolling up/And if you see him let him know/Love is gone/I know I'm sure." Kendrick Lamar joins the ride and echoes BJ's apathy:
As I play out The Commodores, my faith destroyed/My heart don't work, I'm unemployed/The feeling is void, don't know what I need/Some p---y, some paper, some counseling/Maybe some Henny, some weed/I'm looking for you, I'm checking for her/I'm parking lot pimpin', I'm honking at women, I'm all on the curb...Even with these dope album tracks, "Church" (featuring Chance The Rapper) is still the most catchy, undeniable star of the show as every word is about as real as it gets regarding the struggle between doing right and doing her. The first verse and pre-chorus says it all:
Amazing grace/It's hard to say no when it's looking so good in my face/Girl, all them curves got me on a swerve when I'm tryna drive straight/If you called me on another day, baby girl, I probably woulda took that cake/'Cause every n---a love birthday cake/And every time I come around, I can tell you be looking at me"/And I can tell you be wondering if I'm really loving what I see/It'll be wrong if we get along, because I know me/But still I try and be strong, say "B keep your G on", but she ain't tryna hear me...All I gotta say is tabernacle, brother...tabernacle. OTHER NOTABLES: "Jeremiah/World Needs More Love" (featuring Eric Ingram) and "Turnin' Me Up".
TORY LANEZ, Chixtape 3 (2015). Although the third installment in Toronto native Tory Lanez's Chixtape series came highly recommended by my best friend--who we hope will write a guest post or two in the future--his caveat was that he didn't know how to feel about all of the recreations of 90s and early 00s R&B songs or how much he would like Lanez's material if those tracks weren't the backdrops. What also didn't rush me to listen to it initially was that Lanez is missing what I feel many of today's popular R&B singers today are: soul. Don't get me wrong, "Say It" was stuck in my head for like a day or two, but to my brother from another mother's point, part of that was the Brownstone sample. Nevertheless, in giving Chixtape 3 a chance, I was impressed with how creatively each song was sampled and, more important, how well Lanez's pen went to work. Set to my Alicia Keys' "You Don't Know My Name", "N.A.M.E." speaks to a woman that he feels is unlike the other women who are more interested in his notoriety:
I fell in love with somebody who doesn't even know my name/Know my name, no no/By my name, I'm not talking 'bout the name you call me/I'm talking 'bout who I am/And I know you don't know my name/She knows the songs that I sing/All the sh-- that I claim/And even the set that I bang/But I'm something she don't know/I'm tryna figure it out/But if she's walking out/She will never know my name/Can't let her go.
On "Keisha", he pleads with a lover struggling between being committed and being out:
God ain't make this time for us to waste it/Maybe He just made His time and came to us to pace it/Maybe He just gave you dreams, girl, so you could chase it/Maybe He just gave you me, girl, so you ain't basic/Maybe you got some problems you need to tend to/Maybe you got it obvious, you got issues/Maybe you need to keep it real with yourself...
Finally, "S*M*N" finds him artfully weaving a tale of a woman ducking and dodging him through a chopped and screwed version of Destiny's Child's "Say My Name". It's not even that "S*M*N" is a lyrical masterpiece; much like most of the mixtape, it's more about it being a clever reworking of a hit record to create his own narrative. All-in-all, if I can't recommend Chixtape 3 for anything else, then this is one of the most "Boom Boom Room" ready projects that I've heard in a long time that takes me back to making those "by special request" tapes in high school and college. Let me tell it, the young bull got it right. OTHER NOTABLES: "Looks" and "You Got It Worse".
So many times, I tried to run away/I couldn't find rest 'cause there was no hiding place/And I heard a voice come up from deep within say/This is who I am, I no longer can pretend/I was created for this...On the smooth and soulful "I Didn't Know", she talks about the letdown of a smoke-and-mirrors relationship: "Promised stars, you gave me dust/You're standing here, betrayed the trust/So there's nothing left here for us to discuss/See I'll be fine, I'll readjust/You carry on, I wish you luck..." The highlight and my personal favorite, "Dadada...Struggle", continues a lot of the album's theme of being in a constant tug-of-war with someone:
I'll tell you what it is, it's crazy/Feeling like I'm in two places/This love is so wrong/And I'm struggling inside/Tried and tried to conceal it/The love I have for you/'Cause I can't let this old heart keep me impaired or cloud my view/I'm tired of being broken all because of you/I don't want you near me, but I'm hooked intensely...This is perhaps one of the best examples among several on Charlene of how a lot of women--and men, too--probably felt that Tweet reached into their hearts and told their stories verbatim. Now this is how you come back like you never left. OTHER NOTABLES: "Won't Hurt Me"..."Outro: I Surrender"...I mean, it's pretty much a pick'em.
ANDERSON .PAAK, Malibu (Steel Wool/OBE/Art Club/EMPIRE, 2016). One of my friends for the last 26 years, who's also a wicked bass player and a fellow producer, has one of the best ears for music out there. Between artists like Little Brother, Black Milk and Oakland rapper GQ, he has never suggested a bad or even mediocre album. So when he posted a Facebook status about Anderson .Paak's Malibu album and said, "It's the top of the year and already 1 of the best albums of the year is out now," I knew I needed to take his suggestion and "get familiar with this guy". (Not to mention that one of his hashtags was "#INHEAVYROTATION." It was meant to be.) I must say that I vehemently agree with my homie on this one because from "The Bird" all the way to the "The Dreamer", you can just press play and let it ride. I almost feel like I'm cheating this album out of shine because I could write a favorable line or two about 90 percent of this album, but I've bloviated enough for one post and you all have been kind enough to roll with me for this long. Anyways, "The Waters" finds Andy flexing his artistic versatility as he teams up with BJ The Chicago Kid and flows seamlessly about balancing fame and real life:Word to the liquor that killed my grandpa liver/I know you finally look proud, a n---a smiling/To every hundred n----s that came and gone missing/Only a handful will go the distance/I swear I seen this sh-- coming as if I was living up under the plumbing/While n----s was ruffing and mumbling 'bout, what they could do/I was cooking gumbo whipping the voodoo/I was in the jungle running with Zulus/We was looking past the struggle while life was moving so fast/You had to be sharp as a Ginsu/To the top of the doing group/Doing what I want and how I should too...
As soon as the beat dropped on "Room in Here" featuring the sultry backing vocals of Sonyae Elise and a verse from The Game that made me do a double take, I was instantly sold. As he once straddles the fence between singing and rapping, Andy woos the object of his affection with an intoxicating and fluent delivery:
As crazy as it may seem, it's not too hard to read/It's too many if's and maybe's, and not enough certainty/Well if no one's putting numbers on the board/I'd love to take a swing, might even graze you/But I don't mean any harm, I'm just speaking my mind/Take a look at that moon, 'bout as bright as your eyes/We got plenty of space, go ahead and recline...Although it was extremely difficult to pick a standalone favorite, "The Season / Carry Me" just jumps off the page for its personal vividness and grit. In the second part of the priceless two-for-one deal, he captures the picture of struggle through his lens:
'Bout the year Drizzy and Cole dropped/Before K. Dot had it locked/I was sleeping on the floor, newborn baby boy/Tryna get my money pot so wifey wouldn't get deported/Cursing the heavens, falling out of orbit/Tryna roll this seven, tryna up my portion/What about your goals? What about your leverage?/So they don't force you into some hole/What's the meaning of my fortune reading?/When I crack the cookie, all it said was "keep dreaming"/When I look at my tree, I see leaves missing/Generations of harsh living and addiction/I came to visit during the seven year stint/But they wouldn't let me in because my license suspended/Now I'm scraping the pennies just to kiss you on your cheek/It's gonna be a couple weeks before I get it/I know you miss me...
I don't know too many folks who can't relate to at least one bar out of that verse because I count about six that speak to me. Overall, Malibu is an artistic achievement and a brilliant showing from somebody who has only been singing for the past nine years.
OTHER NOTABLES: "Am I Wrong (featuring ScHoolboy Q)"..."Your Prime"...pretty much the entire album.
SCRIBBLER'S THROWBACK PICK OF THE MONTH: O.V. Wright, Memphis Unlimited (Back Beat, 1973). Call it being a prisoner of the moment, but upon the first listen to the late, greatly underrated O.V. Wright's Memphis Unlimited, I thought, "Yooooooo...this might end up being my favorite R&B/soul album EVER!" We're talking a list that includes well-renowned artists like Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, The O'Jays, Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and James Brown, but this Southern soul singer who flew under the radar for most of his sixteen-year career could challenge them all with this one album. Produced by the late, legendary mastermind Willie Mitchell known mainly for his work with Al Green, Wright puts every bit of the "blues" into Mitchell's "rhythm" with some of the most candid songs you might ever hear. Perhaps the most real song on the album, "He's My Son (Just the Same)" speaks about a man accepting a child that his woman had by another man while he was "doing time":He looks and act like me, he's even got my name/Oh, how I love him 'cause he's my son just the same/He's a proud little fellow, he's a cute little lad/Oh, I know the reason he looks acts like me/'Cause my brother is in there...Yeah...those family reunions are awkward to say the least. Moving on...dictated by the dramatic string arrangements that Mitchell is known for implementing, the melancholy "Ghetto Child" manifests Wright's ability to infuse his guttural soul as he sings about the pain of living in poverty about which all too many have known or know right now:
Little boy standing on the corner/Somebody please, somebody please lend a helping hand/He said, "I'm just a ghetto child in this so-called, in this so-called free land/Somebody please, won't you, won't you give me a dime/My momma, she's in the bed almost dying/I ain't seen my daddy in a long, long time...Finally, the high point of this album is at the end when he channels his gospel roots on a powerful rendition of "I'm Going Home (To Live With God)", a Negro spiritual popularized by Mahalia Jackson. Now while it's hard for anyone to top the legendary Jackson, Wright's version resonates through the spirit all the same as he sings very simple but profound words: "Soon I will be done with the trouble of this world/With the trouble of this world. with the trouble of this world/Soon I will be done with the trouble of this world/I'm going home to live with God." It's unfortunate that Wright would pass away seven years after Memphis Unlimited at the age of 41 from a heart attack because the world wouldn't have been troubled whatsoever to receive even more great music from one of the biggest unsung heroes of soul music. At any rate, he left behind a masterpiece for the ages and I'll take that seven out of seven days of the week. OTHER NOTABLES: Do I really have to pick?!?! Fine..."Nothing Comes To a Sleeper" and "Are You Going Where I'm Coming From". You're going to want to listen to the whole album though.
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