Since releasing his solo debut twenty two years ago, the king of independent soul music, Eric Roberson, has built a dedicated fan base and continued to release quality music, all while staying true to himself.
Amid the pandemic, though, Roberson saw an unparalleled success as his newest single, “Lessons,” took on a life of its own with nine simple words “God has a funny way of showing you lessons.” Roberson created a great cross-promotional platform by utilizing social media to display classic moments of black love from cinema and television with his “Lessons” as the soundtrack.
Roberson followed up “Lessons” with an acoustic remix featuring vocalists Anthony Hamilton, Kevin Ross, and Raheem DeVaughn that is becoming just as popular. Now we finally have the album that continues Roberson’s trend of delivering grown & sexy R&B that has a message in the music.
Roberson opens the project with “Start All Over Again.” Roberson’s strength as a songwriter is that he can always invoke sensuality without becoming corny or vulgar. “High on You” is up next, and it’s another winner. Anyone who has ever experienced a love jones, a.k.a. An Attraction for someone; you are feigning for them physically and mentally.
Following 2014’s lovely collaboration on “Do the Same for Me” from The Box album, Eric reunites with Pop Roberson for a strong album track with the next song, “Good Loving.” While Hip Hop vibes carry “Don’t Run From It Baby.” One of the most surprising guests on the album is Unsung 90’s R&B trio Intro, who joins Erro on “All I Want,” which effectively recalls nineties R&B.
Roberson keeps the album short at eleven songs while effectively teaching the listener about all the facets of love.
Final Grade: A
Lessons 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