Blaque "808"

Album: Blaque (Track Masters/ Columbia; 1999)
Songwriters: R. Kelly
R&B Peak Position: #4

"You know it feels good from head to toe/ Now hold on to me baby here we go..."

Looking at the make-up of Blaque (the group consisted of three female members: two of them singers (Shamari Fears and Brandi Williams), the other a bubbly rapper (Natina Reed)), seeing their futuristic, anime-influenced fashion sense and hearing their R&B-pop-hip hop bubblegum sound, it was clear that they were meant to be a sort of Saturday morning teen version of TLC. Mentored by that group's Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, the trio were bundled with a new wave of millennial girl groups (alongside 702 and Destiny's Child), and were positioned for chart-topping crossover success with names like R. Kelly, the Trackmasters and 'Nsync attached to their self-titled debut.

Kelly helmed the group's first single "808", a cutesy R&B confection that coupled "she's not me" braggadoccio with a hypnotizing acoustic guitar lilt and booming bass thrust. With Kelly on board, the song was a bit more mature than the G-rated puppy love fluff found on later singles "I Do" and "Bring It All To Me", it's suggestive hook referencing an 808 drum machine as a metaphor to the type of intimate action they could provide if the dude their eyeing ever decides to drop his lame, cheating girlfriend ("Cause I'll be goin' boom like an 808...").

Shamari does her best to open his eyes to his girl's questionable ways, alerting him to the fact that despite her having a "9-to-5", she's continually arriving home "after twelve". "Put that trophy on the shelf," she urges, "Go out and find somebody else". Somebody like her, she's subtly encouraging, of course. Natina, who nursed a swift, rhythmic pop-rap flow similar to Lopes', provided a more forward approach: "Cutie pie, honey bunch/ If you're not busy/ Take me to lunch".

808
Uploaded by majestic69

DL: "808" (YFH)

Most that recall "808", though, will more likely remember the Trackmasters-produced remix, since it was the version that garnered the most radio airplay. Based on a sample of LL Cool J's "Goin' Back To Cali", the remix switched around the character roles with the protagonist now a former girlfriend taunting her ex's new romance with someone else. With snap!-worthy lines like "Babe, is it true that one day you called her my name?/ It was then that you knew that it didn't feel the same" and "Don't pretend that your girl's stuff is as good as mine/ If it was then you wouldn't be callin' me all the time", it trumped the original in attitude, while it's livelier beat made it a late '90's club favorite for the ladies.



DL: "808 (Remix)" (YFH)