Tony! Toni! Tone! featuring DJ Quik "Let's Get Down"

Album: House of Music (Mercury; 1996)
Songwriters: George Archie, David Blake and Raphael Saadiq
R&B Peak Position: #5

"I come stronger than the I-R-S/ Whenever you done got delinquent on your taxes..."

Launching Tony! Toni! Tone!'s fourth and final set, House of Music, as it's lead single, the DJ Quik-featuring-and-co-produced "Let's Get Down" proved that when it came to party-funk pleasers, no other '90's R&B act could touch them.

A modernized, Parliament-like jam that infused the Tony's organic soul instrumentation with a celebratory hip hop swagger, "Let's Get Down" nailed the classic house party aesthetic. "The function's on/ Around midnight," Saadiq croons, his tenor effortlessly ascending into falsetto in a vocal melody that unconsciously smells of "teen spirit". Skulking around the fiesta, a steady alcohol consumption planting nasty thoughts in his head, Saadiq searches for someone (or possibly two) to take back to his awaiting Black Chevrolet. Elsewhere on the scene, Quik is attempting some macking of his own, an upset stomach temporarily taking him out of the game. But with a swig of Pepto, he picks up where he left off, intent on unfastening some fine lady's bra before the night reaches a close.

With it's loose buoyancy and West Coast rap leaning, "Let's Get Down" showed signs that one of the few commercially successful Black bands around would have no problem transitioning into the era of post-New Jack R&B. Or so we thought. Despite strong critical support heralding the solid House of Music, the album failed to match the multi-platinum sales of it's predecessor. Throw internal strife and increased focus on outside projects into the equation and within a year of Music's release, the party was indeed over, the Three T's had split apart.

Best Moment: "Who is your friend?/ She don't look nice/ But I bet she will/ Later on tonight" (1:52)

Tony Toni Tone - Let's Get Down
Uploaded by klmbaby

DL: "Let's Get Down" (YFH)