In which the Mixtape Maestro takes a look at the decade that shaped his life with in-depth commentary revolving around the urban sounds that represented the Nineties'. Now, take a seat in my time machine as we take a trip back to when "new jack swing" was hot, Michael Jackson hadn't gone opaque, we only knew of R. Kelly's sexual escapades through his songs and Whitney and Bobby were busting the charts instead of their nose cavities.
Mixtape Maestro and 90's R&B Junkie are making the move to Wordpress!!! I've already found a host and I'm currently knee-deep in designing the new digs.
Give me a few days to figure out feed changes, importing business, and other blog-shuffling duties and it'll be up and running.
Thanks so much for all the positive feedback within the past week. It's enough to bring tears to this lowly blogger's eyes.
Album: The Comfort Zone (Wing; 1991)
Songwriters: O'Kelly Isley, Ronald Isley and Rudolph Isley
R&B Peak Position: #3
"You might as well get used to me coming home a little late"
Two years after raising brows with their 1971 covers set Givin' It Back (home to some amazing reconfigurations of tunes by James Taylor, Neil Young, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan, amongst other surprising sources), The Isley Brothers capped off their four-year tenure at Buddah Records with Brother, Brother, Brother, an eight-track release that continued their satisfying soul/ rock/ funk fusion and appreciation for other artists' catalogue (Carole King was covered here thrice!!!).
One of three Top 20 R&B singles to emerge from the project was the original entry "Work To Do", a defiant "Woman, leave me alone!!" cry by an ever-working husband towards his nagging stay-at-home wife. Ronald Isley's gritty tenor boils with annoyance over a restless bed of piano-dominant soul as he tirelessly explains why he isn't being seen enough at the crib. "I'm taking care of business/ Woman can't you see?" he seethes in response to her endless sighs. He's just after the American dream, and if she would just be a little more understanding about the long hours he must toil at the office to grasp it (and "keep a little food hot in my plate"), he'll eventually have all the free time she craves.
...but "Work" would enjoy it's biggest chart success when former Miss America-turned-singer Vanessa Williams took it all the way to #3 as a single from her triple-platinum 1991 disc, The Comfort Zone.
Despite it's Euro-soul-baked slickness, Williams' version still retained some of the original's spunk thanks to some jazzy-cool live instrument additives and a forceful vocal that perfectly conveyed a woman with business first on her mind (It would have cool, and timely, for Vanessa to keep in that line about her partner keeping dinner hot, but she instead replaced it with the less rousing "Oh, you gotta have a little faith"). She also welcomed in a little hip hop energy with a cameo drop from Black Sheep's Dres, who sweetly supported her ambition for the big checks.
Williams' final Top 10 hit, "Work To Do" would also sadly signal an end to most of her upbeat output as succeeding albums opted on focusing more on sophisticated adult contemporary-pop/ jazz type records that were making her a major star within the MOR-loving sect.
Best Moment: While nothing could top Ron's falsetto-peaking hook in the original, the whirly flute accents stand out the best in Vanessa's version.
Album: Tical 2000: Judgement Day (Def Jam; 1998) Songwriters: Samuel Barnes, D'Angelo, J.C. Olivier and Clifford Smith R&B Peak Position: #29 "You and I/ Until the day we die..."
Though the late '90's reigned with Puff Daddy & Co.'s "shiny suit"-friendly, disco-sampling hip-pop, there remained a heavy hunger for rap's more rugged entities, most notably the anti-mainstream antics of the Wu-Tang Clan and it's many off-shoot solo acts. Focal member Method Man helped satisfy that hankering when he finally released 1998's apocalypse-obsessed Tical 2000: Judgement Day, the long-awaited follow-up to his highly-praised 1994 debut.
Unfortunately, in it's deviation from it's predecessor's well-appreciated insulated construction, the uneven 2000, with it's numerous guest performers and producers, overdose on skit interruptions and over-long heft, was met with a mixed response. At the center of the many complaints was that smack dab in the middle of the album Meth had provided the buttery D'Angelo collabo, "Make Ups 2 Break Ups", a blatant attempt to build off of his "I'll Be There For You/ You're All I Need" crossover success. "Make Ups" might have been an ill fit within the context of the street-centric full-length, but judged on it's own, the Trackmasters-helmed cut was a definite prize that only strengthened Mr. M.E.T.H.O.D.'s role as the Wu's biggest "star".
Sonically, "Break Ups" was a treat to the ears, aligning soothing Spanish guitar noodling with the smooth, barely-audible falsetto kisses of neo-soul prince D'Angelo. But with this being thug-R&B delivered Wu-style, Meth cuts through the radio sheen, polishing up a firearms, "bitch" and "slut"-filled lyrical arsenal as he damns an unscrupulous ex trying to do all she can to murk up his post-her existence.
The story opens with fond recollections of their romance's beginnings: Boy meets girl, Boy feels girl, Boy humps girl on mom's sofa. But as MM soon learns, big girls might not cry, but they "damn sure lie", and any hopes of a "happily ever after" are quickly demolished once he becomes aware that she's been cheating on him with several of his friends behind his back. After giving her the boot, he soon finds joy in the arms of another, but this doesn't sit well with his ex, who, while trapped in a new, abused relationship, proceeds to make Meth and his current boo's life a living hell with her constant meddling. From ex-girl's unsuccessful attempts of seduction to trying to jump new-girl at the mall with her "crusty ass crew" in tow, Meth's ire towards her only builds, but rather than resort to violence, he gets his retribution by simply noting how pathetic she is ("You ain't want me when you had me/ Now you on your third baby daddy/ and you hate to see a nigga happy").
Yeah, it might have offered a different vibe than most heads preferred, but "Break Ups"'s silky production and engagingly hood-soaked soap opera storytelling form quietly affirmed it to be a classic one; it also perhaps rescued Meth from experiencing a major sophomore commercial slump, as without it's admittedly awkward album inclusion, Tical 2000 might not have even reached the million-plus in sales it eventually enjoyed.
Album: New Beginning (Elektra; 1996) Songwriters: Tracy Chapman R&B Peak Position: #35 "This youthful heart can love you/ And give you what you need"
Beyond hardcore fans, not too many people were checking for a new Tracy Chapman album by the mid-nineties. The folk/ soul singer-songwriter with the minimalist quiver of a voice and message-heavy songbook had become an industry sensation and college-age staple after the release of her 1988 eponymous debut and it's somber, poverty-themed breakaway smash, "Fast Car". But while successive albums featured some strong lyrical moments, her at-once fresh sound had started to feel suffocatingly predictable and their accompanying album sales and critical acclaim wouldn't come close to matching the overwhelming hurrah that arrived with her intro LP. With the release of one surprise of a 1996 single, Chapman would soon be sitting on the tip of everyone's tongue again and making a swift return to her previous multi-platinum heights.
The single was "Give Me One Reason", a winning exercise in traditional 12-bar blues form that stuck out like a sore thumb when compared to everything else that was deemed popular in the music world at the time.
As slinky chords and a steady-paced drum base magically teleport the listener to an old, smoke-filled nightspot, Chapman's distinctive deep alto paints the frustrations of a one-sided romance. Through signature blues repetitive phrases, she pushes her craving for some kind of sign that her partner cherishes their union as much as she ("Give me one reason to stay here/ And I'll turn right back around..."). "I don't wanna leave you lonely," she admits, but her target seems unable to provide a satisfiable response. With such a cold demeanor leaving her feeling more and more foolish for being so openly vulnerable, she eventually decides, to her dismay, that a complete exit from the situation is her only option. "I'm too old to go chasing around/ Wasting my precious energy," she concludes.
Grabbing an audience of a variety-hued mega-mass (including many who probably had never given Tracy much thought in the past), "Give Me One Reason" easily landed as the biggest hit of Chapman's career, hitting the Pop and Adult Contemporary Top Five and R&B Top 40 and selling over a million copies alone. It also pushed it's parent album, New Beginning, to five-times platinum status and scored Tracy her fourth Grammy when it triumphed in the Best Rock Song category.
Chapman would never again catch pop lightning in the bottle as she so famously did with "Reason", but to her faithful's delight, her recording career would continue to thrive through many more album releases and tours well into the millennium, with her eighth studio effort, Our Bright Future, dropping in November.
Best Moment: "Reason"'s delectably succinct final couplet: "I told you that I loved you/ And there ain't no more to say".
Album: The Brand New Heavies (Delicious Vinyl; 1991) Songwriters: Brand New Heavies R&B Peak Position: #3 "Evergreen.../ Growin up but fadin' never/ This is what our love became..."
Formed in London, England in the mid-80's, The Brand New Heavies (drummer/ keyboardist Jan Kincaid, guitarist Simon Bartholomew, and bassist/ keyboardist Andrew Levy) was originally constructed as an instrumental unit who exercised in an intoxicating soul and dance fusion known as "acid jazz". After years of earning rave reviews in their native UK, the band turned their attention to impacting the States, scoring a deal with American indie label Delicious Vinyl who in turned hooked them up with session/ background vocalist N'Dea Davenport.
With the addition of a rhythm section, this incarnation of the Heavies made quite an impact on crate-diggers/ soul-lovers with their 1991 retro-baked self-titled release, a stand-out creation that presented a modern-esque bridge to the live-band soul aesthetic of yesteryear (a style that had been majorly pushed aside in the early-'90's for the hip hop-centric/ electronic-based trends of New Jack Swing).
Their allegiance to a musically-rich, '70's-influenced form could have presented a potential commercial handicap, but as soon as Brand New Heavies' first single "Never Stop" made it's way onto radio, a swarm of embracing followed. With one listen, you could see why.
The track exuded an incandescent glow, it's breezy groove bed and simmering funk burbling enriching ones' soul like a sunshine's early morning surprise. And Davenport's delighted ravings to a blooming romance only added to the song's inspirational bliss.
"Never Stop" exploded amongst a wide expansion of R&B fans, who were either quickly reminded of, or able to fully absorb for the first time, the joy of REAL instrument-enhanced soul musicality that they had been denied for so long by then-current urban radio tastemakers. The adoration for the Heavies continued to the stage, where the surprise accompaniment of rappers/ fans MC Serch and Q Tip, helped spark a union with the hip hop genre that would earn much creative focus on the band's next album, 1992's Heavy Rhyme Experience, Vol. 1.
After '94's return-to-form Brother Sister (featuring the Top 20 charting "Dream On Dreamer"), Davenport left the group to go solo; BNH soldiered on, dropping new albums and remaining a satisfying live act with a revolving door of new frontwomen (Siedah Garrett, Sy Smith, Nicole Russo), though none would match the chemistry the band shared with N'Dea. Thankfully, the wrong was finally righted when the two forces that had gave us "Never Stop" reunited for the highly acclaimed 2006 album, Get Used To It.
Album: Ain't No Shame In My Game (Epic; 1990) R&B Peak Position: #5 "Hard as rock, yes I'm no sucka/ The boots I knock make me one bad mutha..."
R&B singer Betty Wright had everyone looking back fondly on their awkward "first times" when she zoomed up the charts in the fall of 1978 with the cherished losing-virginity ode "Tonight Is The Night". While it had originally premiered four years prior as a B-side, "Tonight" became it's most popular when it was re-released as an extended, eight-minute-plus live rendition, led off with a "rapped" intro that tracked the song's beginnings as a notebook poem through it's eventual studio recording, to it's hilarious reveal to Wright's mother (who famously responded: "The melody, it's really nice...BUT I KNOW YOU'RE NOT GON' SING THAT SONG!!").
The song carefully romanticizing it's brow-raising theme behind the innocent POV of a young girl finally ready to cross that threshold to "woman-hood", Wright's typically gritty pipes are relaxed into a girlish ease, tenderly coasting atop the track's lubricious groove as she nervously awaits her man's arrival. Though her giddy anxiety (and rear-of-mind fear that Mama might come home early) intensifies which each step he makes closer to her door, Wright never sways from her decision to "give it up" ("We’ve gone a little bit too far now...to turn around"), her body nearly boiling over with ecstasy in anticipation of his long-awaited touch and the ultimate consummation of what she's deemed "pure love".
With early affiliations with NWA and Tone Loc, Los Angeles-born emcee Candell Manson (bka Candyman), would soon arise as a major component of the then-burgeoning late '80's West Coast rap scene. In 1987 he recorded "Knockin' Boots", a seductive, loverman rap ditty that looped a portion of "Tonight Is The Night" for it's backing track, and "borrowed" the hook from Rose Royce's much-treasured 1977 jam "Ooh Boy". After enjoying some time as a regional success, "Boots" led to Candyman scoring a deal with Epic Records who re-released the tune in national markets as a single from his major label debut, Ain't No Shame In My Game.
One of the biggest pop-rap records of it's time, "Knockin' Boots" succeeded greatly at the masterful mixture of it's many notable elements: The Betty Wright/ Rose Royce samples; a floor-crowding intro from Tone ("Attention all ladies...") and Candyman's charismatic turn at the mic. Rocking a smooth, near-whispery flow, CM feigned the naive role in a tale of two groupies so turned on by his Lothario stage persona, they sneak into his limo and lead him to the Holiday Inn (where they even opt to handle room fees) for an all-night romp.
With the Rose Royce bit cleverly representing the groupies' stalker-like advances ("Ooh boy I love you so/ Never-ever-ever wanna let you go..."), Candyman spends the rest of the cut divulging the lengthy pleasures of the trio's 'til-A.M. adventure, even admitting at one point how he resorted to some James Brown-inspired histrionics in yearning for another round of their sex-capades.
The relatively PG-13-rated number made Candyman an instant-star as it catapulted to the upper reaches of both the urban and pop charts, nabbing Platinum sales alongside a million sold for Shame. But like most other rappers to explode out of the gate with a crossover smash, the rest of Candyman's career suffered by his inability to match it's uber-success, earning him the unavoidable "one-hit wonder" tag.
Best Moment: "Understand I'm the Candyman/ And I melt in your mouth, not in your hands" (2:24)
Album: Love Jones-The Music (Sony/ Columbia; 1997) Songwriters: Lauryn Hill R&B Peak Position: #2 (Airplay Only) "Excuse me if I get too deep"
The success of The Fugees' remake of "Killing Me Softly" only strengthened the long-held opinion that star member Lauryn Hill needed to drop a solo album, pronto. It wasn't that her co-Refugees weren't as necessary as her, there just was this underlying feeling that if given the opportunity to express herself without the requisite interruptions of her groupmates, the results would be nothing less than extraordinary.
Less than a year after "Killing"'s seemingly endless airplay reign, Hill inched closer to that exciting solo project reality with the release of the Love Jones soundtrack single, "The Sweetest Thing", a track that only re-affirmed the great artistic potential she had yet to fully explore.
Never one to simplify her output (an initially satisfying characteristic that would eventually prove quite frustrating as her career wore on), "Sweetest Thing" took the soulful love ballad template and twisted it into this breathtakingly complex musical piece that, both lyrically and production-wise, bravely challenged most of what the R&B genre was putting out at the time.
Here, Hill re-lives the emotional and physical punch of her stint with a former love, recalling the fits of ecstasy triggered by things as simple as the taste of his "amaretto" kiss or the sound of his voice over the telephone. With arresting references to his "dark skin tone" and descriptions about him being "warm as the sun dipped in black", the lyrics beautifully illustrated the soul-enveloping intensity of Black love.
Unfortunately, it didn't last, and from her current post-break up perspective, realizing how frightening the power this idealistic Nubian prince held over her was, only makes her heartache pierce deeper ("I wish I didn't get so weak/ Ooh baby just to hear you speak...").
Produced by Hill and Wyclef Jean, the duo vividly brought her forlorn despair to life with a dense, hip hop backdrop accented by teardrop-trickling guitar strums, and sudden boom-bap breaks that supported the exclamatory cries of her inner pain repeatedly boiling back to the surface.
"The Sweetest Thing" might have lacked an easily accessible "commercial sound", but the mature love ode still made major waves on urban radio (reaching the runner-up spot on the R&B airplay singles chart), earning continued worship from soul fans far and wide along the way. Thankfully, we were only another year away from the highly anticipated full-length masterpiece that would truly solidify her as one of the greats.
As nice as it is to get free music, think of how much better your soul would feel if you purchased it the old-fashioned way. Come on, use Amazon or Itunes and help support your favorite artists so they can continue to give us the great sounds we love.
