After chatting with one of the Bruthas last night I thought I would make a list of my favorite Janet slow jams. While she is most famous for her uptempo, dance friendly pop records I always thought that Janet excelled at slow jam records. Her voice is thin enough to be sexy and sensual. I am not familiar with anything off the Damita Jo, 20 YO, and Disciple albums as I have no desire to listen to them..lol.. I may come back later to add commentary on each track. This was hard to rank.. but here goes..
1. Funny How Time Flies(from the Control album) 2. Someday is Tonight(from Rhythm Nation 1814) 3. Anytime Anyplace (from Janet) 4. China Love (from All For You) 5. 24 Play (from Design of a Decade) 6. Let's Wait Awhile(from Control) 7. Would You Mind(from All For You) 8. 70's Love Groove (B side) 9. Comeback to Me (from Rhythm Nation 1814) 10 Again (from Janet & Poetic Justice)
I was watching this movie last night and remembered what a great soundtrack accompanied this film. There were break out cuts, like Christopher Williams finally hitting #1 with I'm Dreamin and Color Me Badd ruling the world with I Wanna Sex You Up. For me the crown jewel in this soundtrack was Keith Sweat's There You Go Telling Me No Again. Keith Sweat is a favorite of mine and this is one of his best songs. I was constantly hitting rewind on the cassette player. Another stand-out was Johnny Gill's I'm Still Waiting. I also liked the New Jack style of the Queen Latifah/Troop/Levert Medley. This was one of those soundtrack that defined the sound of the early 90's.
Random Movie Note: During the trial scene, the actress who played Nettie in the Color Purple is sitting behind Ice-T in the courtroom. She was in what looked like traditional African wear..i dont know why but i found that funny as hell and incredibly random...
I was scouring the net and thanks to Audio Diva I found this rare Janet track. Actually Audio Diva compiled a lot of rare Janet tracks from Dream Street to Discipline. Some of the tracks I already had but Could This Be Love (sounds like it may be from the Damita Jo period) is awesome. I am a Janet fan but she lost me after the All For You album. I thought Damita Jo was a terrible album.. perhaps had she included Could this Be Love on it, it could have been bearable. I hope you guys enjoy this track. I like the laid back chill sound on this and I like Janets voice on it too.. enjoy
Many love to laugh at and criticize MiMi. Despite being one of the biggest selling artist(male or female) in music history and basically owning a DECADE many dismiss her as a pop artist (although they can't deny her voice). Like all the great artist there needs to be a lasting impact and in my opinion she left and will leave two major impacts. One she will serve as vocal inspiration for years to come and TWO.. she should be credited for changing the game in 1995, for her song Fantasy. Fantasy was a major hit on all charts but most surprisingly on the R&B/Hip Hop charts. Sure she wasnt the first singer or act to work with rappers..(plenty of artist have.. Vanessa Williams, Jody Watley, Michael Jackson..etc). but the impact of this song changed pop/hip hop/ and R&B forever. A pop princess with a gully rapper like ODB and Puffy on remix duty seemed odd on paper but it worked and paved the way for the marriage of Pop/R&B and Rap. She has duplicated the formula with much success(Honey, Thank God I Found You, Always Be My Baby, I Still Believe..etc). Mariah will never get the props she truly deserves but this Brutha here recognizes the crazy genius and groundbreaking appeal of Ms. Carey
Enjoy the trip.....
Brutha #2 adds-
The year 1995 was a turning point in Hip-Hop as well, where you no longer saw pop friendly rappers like Hammer doing it big on the mainstream charts. You had some of the grittiest rappers up there on the top ten album charts next to Madonna or Celine Dion. Judging by the record sales, the pop audience was listening to a lot more rap than they were given on pop radio, VH-1 and the non urban shows on MTV. Mariah's "Fantasy" with the addition of ODB came at a time where rap was somewhat still looked at like the marijuana joint a parent finds in their wholesome child's backpack...lol. Pop had a pristine often times made up image and sound that the targeted audience (ages 13-21 in 1995) wasn't fully feeling. Mimi had nothing to lose considering she didn't completely fit in with urban music at the time, but her pop audience was strong and into hip-hop. She was the perfect artist to navigate between those two worlds and ultimately change the game.
Here's another 90's OBG (oldie but a goodie) courtesy of 3bruthas..... Candyman with Knockin' Boooots, what a classic. I have a thing for rap-sung ballad type songs, and this is a prime example of a good one.
After reading A Letter to My Father, Al B Sure, it came to my surprise that Al was totally absent in the life of his son Quincy Brown (in the middle) next to his mother (Kim Porter) and surrogate father Diddy. Quincy's feelings towards his father are warranted if all is indeed true, but I sense there's more to the story. Hmmm let's see, Al B Sure's popularity faded around the time Kim gave birth to Quincy, so I assume Al wasn't in high demand to sing "Nite and Day" at venues anymore. So I wouldn't be shocked if Kim Porter's gold digger reputation coupled with bitterness, expanded the wedge between he and his son. There may be blame to go around on both sides. Who knows? Either way, Quincy has a song called " Letter To My Father" which makes his biological dad look like such a loser.
