Album: 112 (Bad Boy/ Arista; 1996)
Songwriters: Arnold Hennings, Daron Jones, Michael Keith, Quinnes Parker, Marvin Scandrick and Courtney Sills
R&B Peak Position: #2
"Cuuuuu-pid doesn't lie/ But you won't know unless you give it a try..."
112 might have ruled the summer of '96 with "Only You" and it's classic, Biggie-blessed remix, but, somewhat surprisingly, it wasn't the biggest single to emerge from the Atlanta quartet's eponymous debut. Instead that honor went to third single "Cupid", a pillowy-soft love ballad mostly remembered for it's stark instrumentation (THOSE RAINDROP SOUND EFFECTS!!!) and Slim's yearning lead vocal.
While the group pulled off some great harmonies and their tie-in to Bad Boy's popular stable of acts helped in their quick rise from R&B nobodies to a platinum-plus-certified success, 112's main pull lied in Slim's distinctive voice. Nursing a honey-coated high tenor on the good side of whiny, the man's chops carried a certain tenderness that settled in perfectly with both classy romantic paeans or more suggestive erotic fare.
Here, it's put to great use conveying the frustrations of an upstanding man whose honest admittance of "I love you" is continually met with mistrust by a girl used to beaus saying such things only when they're up to no good. "Girl when I ask you to trust me/ That doesn't mean that I'm gonna cheat on you," he assures, even bringing in the Lord's name to help guarantee to her that the words he's crooning are based in no ulterior motives.
Topping out in the runner-up position on the R&B charts and selling over a million copies, "Cupid" was the type of tender stuff romance novel-obsessed female listeners everywhere could sigh over. Oh why can't I find a man like this, they would wonder.
Best Moment: THE RAINDROPS!!
DL: "Cupid" (YFH)
3 comments:
Hi David, you have a great blog here! I hope you don't mind -just gave it a shoutout on mine.
"Cupid" is quite the cut - I was born in the late 80s so it's a little bit early for me to have been played during any of my middle or high school dances, but I definitely remember it being a radio favorite.
The "raindrops" are the best - reminds me of early Timbaland and his frequent use of unorthodox effects (baby sigh in Aaliyah's "Are You that Somebody")
Keep up the good work!
Um... I still love this song. Is that wrong?
I saw them open up for Janet on her last tour and they sounded brutal but I loved every minute of it.
I bought the cd in my junior year of high school, on the strength of "Only You". When I first heard "Cupid", I knew I loved this song. 12 years later, I still do.
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