R&B singer Chris Brown is somewhat of an enigma when it comes to music. Now and then, he will release a song that harks back to the promise he showed when his career first started.
More often than not, though, he chooses to do what’s popular instead of tapping into his full talent. As Brown prepares to headline the “One Of Them Ones Tour” and release his tenth album, Breezy, I wanted to spotlight one of the singles from that album, “Warm Embrace.”
Linking up with producer Don City, Chris samples one of the all-time great slow jams, Guy’s “Let’s Chill.” One of the most surprising things about the song is that Chris avoids auto-tune and reverts to his tenor. When Brown sings the lyrics, “I can see your mind is overworked, boo/Tension in your body when I touch you/Girl, you deserve it I’m gon’ make every second of this worth it/Love how you do everything you do with a purpose, babe,” they come across more convincing.
While I like the track, I won’t pretend it’s anything groundbreaking or falling into the song of the year category. Only Chris knows what direction he’s taking with Breezy arriving on June 24th. Per a tweet the singer sent out on June 7th, his tenth album will have twenty-four songs.
Final Grade: B
“Warm Embrace” is available on all streaming platforms.
Songstress Ashanti was experiencing significant success with two platinum albums at the time of the release of her inaugural holiday project, “Ashanti’s Christmas,” on November 18, 2003. Her label head, Irv Gotti, produced most of the album. This project comprises four original songs co-written by Ashanti, in addition to six cover versions of traditional Christmas standards and carols.
Vocal quartet A Few Good Man contributed two songs to the project: a cover of “Silver Bells” and the ballad “Merry Christmas My Dear,” both of which were produced by Daryl Simmons. Demail Burks, David Morris, Aaron Hilliard, and Tony Amey were the members of the group, and after introducing themselves in the festive video for “Silver Bells,” it was only fitting that they delivered a ballad on the album.
R&B legend Luther Vandross had already solidified his place in R&B when he released his first holiday album, “This Is Christmas. Arriving in stores on October 24, 1995, “This Is Christmas” validates Vandross’s ability to sing anything.