R&B foursome Jagged Edge returns to the music scene with their latest single “Inseparable” from their upcoming 11th studio album, All Original Parts. As my readers know I wasn’t particularly kind to the group with my reviews of their last two projects The Layover and A Jagged Love Story.
I hit play on JE’S latest single and instantly the song caught my attention with its production choice for sampling Silk’s 1992 hit “Lose Control”. The group has success in the past sampling a nineties hit when the sampled hits from Ralph Tresvant and Al B Sure on their vastly underrated JE Heartbreak II albumin 2016. Per the norm group mates Brian and Brandon Casey pen while co-producing with the legendary Bryan-Michael Cox.
“Inseparable” is a typical JE ballad about showing love to your significant other who completes you. One of the five love language is words of affirmation .While my personal love language is a mixture of physical touch and quality time, I’ve always been a fan of words of affirmation which is why I think I’ve always had an affiliation for R&B ballads and slow jams. With “Inseparable” the pen game of the Casey brothers easily validates the definition of words of affirmation.
And that is Words of Affirmation is typically the language of someone who gets off knowing their partner is paying attention to them, notices what makes them tick, and appreciates what makes them special, JE’s latest single could’ve easily been a song about the group’s brotherhood and longevity. When we look at the facts the only eighties/nineties R&B group to have a thicker discography than JE is Boyz II Men. I don’t agree with the auto tuning and trap R&B flavors that make its way into “Inseparable”, However, there are enough bright moments in the song to build anticipation for the next album.
In addition, kudos to the group who celebrates the 25th anniversary of their debut album A Jagged Era on Friday, October 21st.
Final Grade: B-
“Inseparable” 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.