J-Stylz, formerly of the legendary group Blackstreet, gave fans a wonderful holiday slow jam last year with “Christmas Without You.” The song starts with J-Stylz professing his intentions for his lady love but simply stating that all he wants for Christmas is you! Hearing the song, we can tell that J-Stylz is writing about a man who has learned from past mistakes and needs his woman back.
The message continues to the second verse, where Stylz has a line about “Shopping for gifts just isn’t the same without you.” I am sure many fellas can relate to that line as, for whatever reason, gift-giving reason seems to approve when you are in a relationship. The first Christmas I spent with my wife, I always remember my late grandfather saying, “Ever since you started dating her, your gift-giving skills have improved.”
Stylz avoids over singing and using autotune instead of letting his smooth voice speak for itself. I sincerely hope the right people hear this song as “Christmas Without You” is another song that would feature significantly in a Christmas rom-com as part of a montage scene. Furthermore, J-Stylz is a heck of a writer, and I would not mind a full-on Christmas album or EP in the near future.
Final Grade: A
“Christmas without You” is available on all streaming platforms
Be sure to follow J-Stylz on the gram @jstylzmusic and on his website
For more with J-Stylz, check out my in-depth 2020 conversation with him
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.