After JSlow 6, I didn’t really have anything in the pipeline. With my son being born, I was buying less music so I decided to create a JSlow tape specifically focusing on one singer or group which meant I didn’t have to buy any new music to make the tape. I thought about doing Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder, but for some reason, I went with Jodeci. Why? I’m not exactly sure, but I’d bet it was because of K-Ci and Jojo’s All My Life. That was “our†song. And by “ourâ€, I mean that when K-Ci and Jojo’s Love Always came out, I told my now ex-wife about the song (several months before it hit) and it became “our†song. It’s still fun to listen to that song today because while it doesn’t have the same meaning, it definitely makes me smile.
And I think roughly all the babies born between 1991 and 1994 were created to a Jodeci song.
JSlow 7: The Jodecidal JSlow (circa late 1999 – meaning only the first two K-Ci and Jojo albums were used)
1. Forever My Lady – Jodeci
2. Hello Darlin’ – K-Ci and JoJo
3. Cry For You – Jodeci
4. How Could You – K-Ci and JoJo (Bulletproof Soundtrack)
Ain’t no more blue left in my sky, only cloudy moments
5. Lately (live version) – Jodeci
6. Stay – Jodeci
7. Love U 4 Life – Jodeci
8. Don’t Rush (Take Love Slowly) – K-Ci and JoJo
9. Feenin’ – Jodeci
10. Life – K-Ci and JoJo (Life soundtrack)
11. Come And Talk To Me – Jodeci
12. All My Life – K-Ci and JoJo
13. I Care ‘Bout You – Milestone (Soul Food soundtrack)
14. Tell Me It’s Real – K-Ci and JoJo
What’s funny to me is that Life isn’t even a love song. But it was a song on the movie Life starring Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence, and at the time, it was the best possible duo ever on screen for me. I also really liked the song.
I didn’t add Last Night’s Letter for some reason, which was actually the second single on K-Ci and Jojo’s rookie album, and the single before All My Life.
I always thought the Cry For You video was odd because Jodeci was in the desert, but wearing leather and Sox caps.
How Could You was the lead single from the Adam Sandler and Damon Wayons movie Bulletproof which was awful and great all at the same time.
The live version of Lately (a Stevie Wonder cover) is just fierce.
Feenin’ was heated and all of a sudden I had a new word in my vocabulary that normal people didn’t understand.
I Care ‘Bout You was a song from the movie Soul Food and was a made up group featuring K-Ci and Jojo, Babyface, and his brothers Kevon and Melvin Edmonds.
Tell Me It’s Real was the lead single for K-Ci and Jojo’s second album called It’s Real.
Money Mike has been looking for some volunteers to do their own Sunday Seven column and I raised my hand this week. I’m actually anticipating what’s going to come up because I bet there are going to be songs that pop up that I haven’t heard in forever or songs that are a part of full albums that I may not even like. Since I only buy music from the iTunes store now, my iPod is full of entire albums and thus, stuff that I don’t even really listen to since I’m a big play list guy.
For those who don’t know, the idea of this column is to take your iPod (or whatever else you use to listen to your music electronically) and put it on shuffle. The next step is to list the first seven songs that come on and list them here.
Here goes:
Track 1: The Water Bottle by Bill Cosby
Aha! The first track isn’t even music. It’s a quick skit by Bill Cosby from his album I Started Out As A Child about children drinking from the water bottle when their parents aren’t home and then leaving just enough in the bottle so they don’t have to refill it. The track is less than a minute long and let’s just say that it’s not his best skit. I have a ton of Cos on my iPod.
(By the way, I love the fact that on my iPod they actually have “Shuffle” as one of the selections from the main menu. I used to hate having to click a few times to get the shuffle going.)
Track 2: Let’s Be Friends (Skin To Skin) by Bruce Springsteen
I love his post 9/11 album The Rising so much that before every semi-pro baseball game after it came out, I listened to it on the way to the ball park. I’m not sure if Bruce only wants to just be friends or not with the skin to skin reference, but hey, he’s Bruce.
Track 3: Not Gon’ Cry by Mary J. Blige
From the soundtrack to the movie Waiting To Exhale, this song captures the feeling of the Angela Bassett character Bernadine Harris (thanks IMDB) perfectly. Yes, I think I’ve seen the movie at least once.
Through sickness and health ’til death do us part
Those were the words that we said from our hearts
So now when you say that you’re leaving me
I don’t get that part
Word.
Track 4: Don’t Cry by Jordan Knight
A few years ago, Jordan Knight released The Fix which was an EP that I only saw on iTunes. It wasn’t bad. But this wasn’t necessarily one of the better tracks. It’s an uptempo song that features, “Don’t cry mama, shake that mama,” as a part of the hook. And that’s one of the better parts of the song. I won’t tell you about the part of the song where he starts talking about her thong.
Track 5: Girls, Girls, Girls by Jay-Z
I love girls, girls, girls, girls, girls I do adore. I love this song for all the one liners. From his most famous album, Blueprint, he raps about all kinds of different girls. It’s a fun track, even if he stereotypes them all.
I got this ho that after twelve million sold
Mami’s a narcoleptic, always sleepin’ on Hov’
Track 6: Just To Be Close To You by the Commodores
The iTunes program that grabs the album art thinks this is supposed to be on the Jackson 5 The Ultimate Collection album. You know it’s a good day when Lionel just starts talking in his songs. He just lays down a soliloquy at the top in a funny accent before saying that he was a lonely man without direction or purpose and no one to love. Of course, that was before he found the girl who made his jagged edges smooth. I have one word that describes this song. Outrageous!
Track 7: Little Sister by Elvis Presley
Remember that Elvis hits album that came out several years back and sold like hot cakes even though anyone and their mother who even liked Elvis just a little bit had almost all the songs? Well, they released a sequel called 2nd To None that didn’t sell as well. This song is on the second album. The song is catchy as hell. Elvis, as the mack daddy of all mack daddies, is singing to the little sister of someone he used to date. He used to pull on this girl’s pig tails. But instead of singing her a love song, he’s scolding her.
Little sister, don’t you kiss me once or twice
Then say its very nice and then you run
Little sister, don’t you do what your big sister done
Thankfully this isn’t the Sunday Eight or else I would’ve had to write about the WWF version of The Land Of 1,000 Dances where the Iron Sheik says that you have to learn to move like the Sheik. That might’ve been a bit embarrassing. Also, I’m going to lose some street cred by only having one hip hop song on here. Sorry guys, I swear I have a ton.
I will never pretend to be the complete music connoisseur that others on this site are. I like certain styles of music and will continue to buy those styles all year round. I’m the guy who bought LL Cool J’s latest album even though I expected it to be trash (and it was). I will give new artists a chance only if they are suggested to me by people I know and trust. You can say I’m in my own musical bubble. Thus, my top 10 albums are very much in the pop/R&B/hip hop genres and even in those genres, you won’t find any surprises. With that kind of introduction, how can you not want to read this list?
10. Day26 – Day26
Diddy’s new New Edition was probably a bit overrated coming out because their musical debut was marketed through the television show Making The Band, but I think they have a chance to succeed as long as Diddy sticks with him. Diddy has shown that he’s willing to drop members of the group like he did in Danity Kane. But I think these guys have the right chemistry necessary in today’s fickle music world. Not to say that they’ll become legendary, but I think they have a chance to make a few more albums. On their debut, they show definite promise. Give me more Co Star, Got Me Going, and Exclusive and I think I’ll continue buying their records.
9. Kanye West – 808s & Heartbreak
It’s really a crime that I have to score Kanye’s latest album so low. It’s creative, inventive, emotional, introspective, and he should get credit for stretching his boundaries. But the singing is terrible. The song writing is good in spots though terrible in others. The production is top notch and you won’t catch everything unless you listen closely and with headphones. But I can’t get over the overuse of Auto-tune and simple bad singing.
8. Brandy – Human
Though I think she’s naked without the likes of Wanya and Mase around her, I do still like Brandy. With this album she opens up a lot about relationships of yesteryear and there’s a lot that I can relate to, including the song Long Distance. Having been in a long distance relationship myself, she taps into all the emotions you go through when you love someone who doesn’t live close to you. Right Here (Departed) and The Definition are also really good songs.
7. John Legend – Evolver
This is one of the few albums that I liked far more when I heard it the first few times than I do now. There’s something about Legend with this third album that slightly bothers me. His last album was near perfect and I guess I expected too much from him. Green Light was a fun single with Andre 3000, but It’s Over with Kanye West was a miss. There is definitely good stuff on this album including Everybody Knows, Cross The Line, and I Love, You Love, but what’s missing from this album is the non-skippability his last album had. I found myself skipping through the album a lot more than most albums on this list. I kept telling myself, “But this is John Legend.” But it didn’t work. I still skipped.
6. Q-Tip – The Renaissance
Being a huge fan of A Tribe Called Quest, this album was right up my alley. There’s just something about Tribe. Q-Tip has always been an original kind of MC and you can’t paint him into any corner. Many former hip hop fans came out of the woodwork and just loved this album. And the reason for that? This album is fun. I want you to find a more fun song this year than Move.
5. Raphael Saadiq – The Way I See It
When this album came out, Money Mike said that the reason he likes it is because he’s supposed to like it. I feel somewhat the same way. However, it can’t be the only reason I like it. While this album has the old Motown feel all over it, it’s not only for that reason either. I guess I just like the throwback vibe to the simpleness of music. I’m a sucker and a half for a nice slow jam and Oh Girl does it for me.
“I promise I won’t let you down
I’m gonna make you so proud
I’ll keep you here next to mine
And I’ll be everything you need
Believe me girl”
Usher’s album – Here I Stand4. Usher – Here I Stand
I spent much of 2008 telling Mike how disappointed I was with Usher’s new album and here it sits at number four on my list. And then I got it. The gaudy dance singles are missing. He’s still on the freaky tip a bit too much for my taste. But what you see is individual growth. You can hear it in Moving Mountains and even in the interlude to his son, Prayer For You Interlude. I think the gem is the hidden track Will Work For Love.
“Excuse me you two, got love to spare?
Search my whole heart, ain’t none in there
Pardon me sister, I’m on my last
Don’t have no love, that’s OK, God bless”
3. Robin Thicke – Something Else
Robin Thicke came out of the box strong with Magic and stayed strong with The Sweetest Love. In a perfect world, Dreamworld would blow up and be a strong single for 2009, but somehow I don’t see that happening. What this album suffers from is too much of the same. You hear the same Thicke for much of the album, which is fine for those who can sit there in the zone with him. Thankfully, I can.
2. The Roots – Rising Down
This isn’t anything new. I think the last three Roots albums that were released were either my first or second favorite hip hop album of the year. They are definitely the most consistent hip hop act going and you could argue that they are the most consistent performer in all of music when it comes to quality. Though they missed with Birthday Girl (I still liked it), they hit huge with Rising Up which is probably one of my five favorite songs of the year.
1. Ne-Yo – Year Of The Gentleman
I’m sold. I always wondered if he was going to be the type of recording star that he could become or if the fact that he writes a lot of material for others would cause him to never have that one great album. Well, in only his third try, he’s found that great album. It’s one of the best relationship albums I’ve ever heard. He hits on a bunch of different angles in love and loss and love again. There are even two bangers in Closer and the Michael Jackson-esque Nobody to fit around all the love and heartbreak. I keep coming back to this album when I get tired of new music and I imagine it will be in heavy rotation come 2009 as well. In The Way has a special tug on my heart.
“Baby the world keeps getting in the way
With you is where I wanna be, but it just won’t let me
Cause it keeps getting in the way”
