R&B lover man Keith Sweat already had an impressive three-album discography to his credit when he released his fourth album Get Up On It in June of 994. The lead single was the up-tempo “How Do You Like It”, which featured Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes of TLC. While I can understand where R&B was at the time, it actually made sense for the lead single to be an up-tempo number.
However, after his breakthrough first album, Keith’s strong point for me are in his ballads and slow jams. Thus, the second single from Get Up On It titled “When I Give My Love” still ranks high in my personal playlist of Keith Sweat slow jams. Sweat wrote and produced the song with Fitzgerald Scott and Joe Jefferson. The song starts with an intro that slowly creeps up on the listener before beginning with the chorus and then transitioning into the first verse.
From the moment Sweat croons the first verse “Hush, my baby, baby, don’t say a word, I got so much love for you, girl, haven’t you heard. Now I’m on a mission, girl, my intuition says you should be mine, I should be yours”, you know you have a classic on your hands. The album version of the song clocks in at over six minutes, yet Sweat never over sings the song or becomes repetitive with his delivery of the lyrics.
I also enjoyed the video for the song as it pays homage to the seventies classic film Cooley High. I have had the pleasure of seeing Keith Sweat live in concert twice, and even own his live DVD, Keith Sweat, The Sweat Hotel Live. However, much to my dismay, I have never heard the song live, nor is there a remix for it.
Nevertheless, “When I Give My Love” is as forgotten gem in Keith’s already impressive catalog.
Final Grade: A
Get Up On It is available on all streaming platforms
I wanted to change it up for my third article of Second Listen Sundays. The album I want to highlight is one I know backward and forwards. An R&B masterpiece that I have listened to from start to finish hundreds of times, and that is New Edition’s, Heart Break.
I was a twenty-year-old college sophomore attending Troy State University in Troy, Alabama when R&B singer Joe released his fourth album Better Days, in the winter of 2001.
I welcome you to the first edition of “Second Listen Sundays”, where I will revisit an album I did not particularly care for on the first listen and reevaluate it years later. Up first is Usher’s 2012 release Looking 4 Myself.
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