El Debarge broke into the music scene as a member of one of the eighties’ best family groups at the Motown label. When El left the group in 1986 for a solo career, industry insiders expected El to succeed tremendously. Motown didn’t allow El to write or produce anything on his first album. Thus the album didn’t cross over to the pop charts or connect with R & B audiences.
While El’s second and third albums would showcase his writing and production skills, neither made a dent on the charts. Hoping to reclaim some of his former glory, El linked up with some industry heavyweights Jermaine Dupri and Babyface for his fourth album, Heart, Mind, and Soul.
The second single, “Where Is My Love,” from that album is this week’s pick for Slow Jam Saturday. Babyface had wanted to work with El for the longest so linking the two together for a duet made perfect sense. Babyface’s signature voice opens the song setting the mood for a lush ballad.
In the second verse of the song “Where Is My Love,” El croons a song about a man’s yearning for true love and sings about how he uses that yearning to find it. Through the lush tenor, he expresses his desire for a woman who will act as a receiver of his love and devotion. There is a sense of urgency in the lyrics and the exploration of the longing for a companion with whom one can share special moments. In addition, there is an urgency to meet them as soon as possible.
On vocal levels, both El and Babyface can be heard singing about wanting to give her everything they have. As soon as they meet, neither man hesitates to do whatever her heart desires as long as she lets them. At the song’s end, both El and Face express their hope that the love they want will eventually find them.
Final Grade: A
“Where Is My Love” from Heart, Mind, and Soul is available on all streaming platforms.
Growing up in the nineties, movies aimed at a melanin audience often featured soundtracks that had to be just as flavorful as the films themselves. This week, for Slow Jam Saturday, I want to take a trip back to 1993 and highlight one of the slow jams from the soundtrack of “Menace II Society”.
Last week marked two significant anniversaries for one of the greatest artists of all time, Mr. Prince Rogers Nelson. It’s only fitting that I show him some love for Second Listen Sunday. The first anniversary was on the 21st, commemorating nine years since his passing. The second anniversary was on the 22nd, celebrating the 40th anniversary of his seventh studio album, “Around the World in a Day.”
One of my most significant decisions late last year was to pledge to Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. At the time of this writing, I am in Atlantic City for my fraternity’s Regional Conference, where I will represent my chapter, Beta Alpha Omega. In that regard, I believe the perfect song for this week’s Slow Jam Saturday is “The Best Man I Can Be.”