R&B group Skyy was already a decade into their music career with eight albums when they made a comeback in 1989 with the album Start of A Romance. While New Jack Swing was taking over the radio, Skyy didn’t just hop on the latest trend train. During the late 1980s, they dedicated a significant amount of time to refining their sound. They maintained their funk-inspired ethos and incorporated upbeat disco elements to create catchy rhythms.
While I could write an ethos on Skyy’s underrated funk cuts, this is Slow Jam Saturday, and I wanted to highlight one of my favorite cuts from the group, “Real Love.” Group member Solomon Roberts wrote the wrong while handling production with Randy Muller.
Over a heartfelt five minutes, vocalist and group member Denise Dunning Wilkinson effectively croons lyrics about overcoming fear from past experiences of love and opening oneself up to real love. The song suggests that the male protagonist has experienced pain from previous relationships, which makes him hesitant to open up to love again. However, Denise encourages him not to be afraid to feel the way he does and assures him they both feel real love.
The song acknowledges that love comes without guarantees, but the only way to find true love is by taking risks and opening one’s heart. The song closes out with validation that while one is still affected by the memories of past hurtful experiences, we have to be open to giving someone else a chance. She believes their feelings for each other are natural and strong, encouraging him to give love another chance. Ultimately, the song communicates that real love can be scary, but it is worth the risk to open one’s heart and find the real thing.
“Real Love” is one of the songs I would keep repeating during my lonely nights while deployed to Qatar in 2006. Hearing Denise’s sultry yet compassionate voice reassured me that not every woman is like the others who hurt me. So when I found the one six months later, I took a chance on love.
While “Real Love” is the final crossover pop hit for the group thirty-four years later, it still holds up.
Final Grade: B+
“Real Love” from Start of A Romance is available on all streaming platforms.
If there were ever a question on Jeopardy with a category about R&B bands and the question centered on Cameo, I’m sure it would be on one of their signature songs, “Candy” or “Word Up!”
For this week’s Slow Jam Saturday, I wanted to venture to the Wolverine State and show some love to “Whose Is It,” the lead single from Melvin Riley Jr.’s solo album “Ghetto Stories.”
From his early days in the family group Wings of Faith, Mr. Gill was born to make music. However, as R&B fans know, Johnny Gill’s initial release with Atlantic Records failed to make a significant impact when it first came out. The 1983 self-titled debut showed a strong voice struggling to adapt to a studio that couldn’t properly utilize its power.