Season 3 American Idol winner Fantasia followed up her platinum-selling debut Free Yourself with her self-titled sophomore album in December 2006. The two big singles from Fantasia were “Hood Boy” and “When I See U.”
Like her first album, where she worked with Jermaine Dupri, Missy Elliott, Sean Garrett, Jazze Pha, and Darkchild, Fantasia’s second album was full of heavy hitters behind the boards. She had Babyface, Diane Warren, Kwamé, and Dre & Vidal this time. For this week’s Slow Jam Saturday, I decided to go with my favorite song from that album, “I Nominate U.”
Dre & Vidal produced this one and co-wrote the track with two members of the now defunct songwriting collective, The Clutch. “I Nominate U” is set in an organic and lush arrangement. The song finds Fantasia effectively setting up a night of intimacy. As Tasia sings her heart out to the lucky man she’s waiting to arrive, you can hear the sincerity in her voice.
“I been thinking bout this
All day long
Cant believe how I’m gone
And my minds blown off of you
I’m anticipating (oh)
When you’re coming home (oh)
See, tonight were bout to try out something new
I was thinking role play if you’re ready, boy, get ready
(Lets see you be Denzel)
Its your training day boy come and get me, are you with me
Lets keep the lights on cause tonight I wanna watch you perform
(Watch ya perform Let me see what cha got for yo girl now baby)
When I turn you on you steal the show boy you should get an award
(As a matter a fact boy ya’ know that I do)
I nominate u”
I was three months into my only Air Force deployment when this song arrived. At the time, I was single, but I knew that GOD was saving someone for me. Thus hearing songs like “I Nominate U” would reassure me that my queen was out there in the world. Surprisingly the track wasn’t a single, which is a shame as it would’ve been a colossal concert song for Fantasia.
Final Grade: B+
“I Nominate U” from Fantasia is available on all streaming platforms.
One of the great things about buying a soundtrack when I was in my DJ prime was discovering a slow jam that I could put on my mix CDs. For this week’s Slow Jam Saturday, I wanted to highlight one of the songs: Jagged Edge’s cover of Air Supply’s, “All Out of Love.”
After twenty-six years in the game, Atlanta-based quartet Jagged Edge is currently on the road celebrating the anniversary of their magnum opus sophomore album, “J.E. Heartbreak,” with a tour titled “An Intimate Evening With Jagged Edge.” To kick off our seventh wedding anniversary celebration, my wife and I will be the D.C. date on the tour this coming Wednesday.
For this week’s Second Listen Sunday, I wanted to travel back to 1999 and show some love to R&B group Amyth, which was initially signed to LL Cool J Rock the Bells Records. Hailing from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the group was formed in 1995 while the members were students at Southern University.