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
It’s hard to believe that an iconic singing competition like American Idol has produced only two Black male winners in its more than two-and-a-half-decade history. Jamal Roberts made history last year when he won the show, following Ruben Studdard’s well-deserved victory in Season Two.
One wonderful aspect of supporting physical media is that I never run short of albums to choose from when deciding what to cover for Second Listen Sunday. Often, I’ll head to the man cave, browse through my CD collection, and an album will pop out at me. This week’s pick is T-Pain’s fourth album, “Revolver.”
One of my favorite singers, Mr. Eric Roberson, is performing this weekend at America’s legendary music venue, The Birchmere. To show Eric some love, I want to highlight something longtime R&B fans have always known: he’s had remarkable songwriting talent.