On a rainy Sunday evening of December 10th, R&B music fans took a trip back to the nineties with an exceptional performance of the legendary R&B trio SWV at the MGM Theater at the National Harbor. The group commenced their set with an energetic and captivating performance of two hit songs, “Can We” and “I’m So Into You.” The crowd was on their feet, and the ambiance was electrifying as the ladies continued to perform dancefloor anthems, including “You’re The One,” “Right Here,” and “Someone.”
On the ballad tip, the ladies found the time to cater to the men in the audience with “Rain,” “Downtown,” and, to my surprise, the album track “It’s About Time.” The highlight of the evening, though, had to be the ladies each getting a solo spotlight. Taj did a cover of “Heard It All Before,” Lelee put her foot in “Untitled How Does It Feel,” while Coko took us to church with a performance of her debut solo single “Sunshine.”
As the night drew to a close, my heart was filled with joy upon hearing the ladies of SWV deliver a stunning rendition of Patti LaBelle’s timeless classic, “If Only You Knew .”The crowd was in awe as the trio concluded their performance with their iconic hit, “Weak,” and sang along in perfect harmony. While I have had the pleasure of attending multiple SWV concerts over the years and understand the importance of catering to fans, I couldn’t help but yearn for them to reintroduce the seductive “All Night Long” and their 2016 chart-topping hit, “MCE (Man Crush Everyday)”, into their shows.
Final Grade: B+
You know the voice. The moment Michael Marshall starts singing the hook in Luniz’s “I Got 5 on It,” anyone who grew up in the nineties knows exactly what time it is. However, nearly a decade before that 1995 hip-hop classic, Marshall was already responsible for another instantly recognizable vocal.
There are some albums you revisit because of nostalgia, and then there are albums you return to because they remind you just how high the standard used to be. Anita Baker’s Rapture falls into that second category. Released in 1986, the album did more than make Baker a star. It helped define what sophisticated, grown R&B could sound like without losing any soul, sensuality, or personality.
Gwen Stefani had already established herself as a significant force with No Doubt when she released her debut solo album, *Love. Angel. Music. Baby* in 2004. This week, while my iPod was on shuffle, one of my favorite songs from that project, “The Real Thing,” came on. Although the original version has an upbeat new-wave feel, the Slow Jam Mix takes it to another level and is the perfect choice for this week’s Slow Jam Saturday.