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.
I’ve always been a fan of Eric Bellinger. My admiration stems not only from the records he has released under his own name but also from the impressive career he built behind the scenes. Long before casual R&B listeners recognized his face, they were already familiar with his songwriting through tracks he penned for artists like Chris Brown, Usher, Justin Bieber, and Wale.
As many of you know, I had the opportunity to visit Paisley Park earlier this week while vacationing in Minnesota. During the tour, our guide shared that an expanded edition of Prince’s album “Parade” is expected to be released to celebrate its 40th anniversary. After spending the day exploring the Twin Cities, it felt like the perfect excuse to revisit one of the most fascinating and underrated albums in Prince’s legendary catalog.
One of the reasons I’ve always considered Prince to have the edge over Michael Jackson is his remarkable collection of ballads and