Born and raised in Brooklyn, Lillo Thomas aspired to reach the top of the world of sports. However, a 1984 automobile accident in Brazil stopped that. The tragedy prevented him from competing at the 1984 Olympics, for which he had already qualified. Nevertheless, Thomas found another passion in the world of music.
Thomas found success pretty quickly and even toured as Eddie Murphy’s opening act. However, I wanted to take a gander at the singer’s third album, Lillo, for this week’s Second Listen Sunday album. Thomas opens up his third project with the dance floor-ready bop “I’m In Love” and keeps the vibe going on the album’s next track, “Her Love.”
I was also fond of “Sexy Girl” and “Downtown.” With the uptempo material, the only weak song was the album’s closer “Put Your Foot Down,” which has the vibe of a filler song. However, given that I’m a ballad guy, those are the songs that I gravitated to on this project.
“Sweet Surredner” and “That Guy Could Have Been Me” are decent album tracks. Thomas does Otis Redding justice with his cover of “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now).” My favorite cut on the project is the hit single “Wanna Make Love (All Night Long).” The production is set to a lush arrangement. The track is a sensual mood setter that avoids vulgarity and takes us back to more specific times when it comes to romance.
Final Grade: B
Lillo is available on all streaming platforms.
Growing up in the nineties, movies aimed at a melanin audience often featured soundtracks that had to be just as flavorful as the films themselves. This week, for Slow Jam Saturday, I want to take a trip back to 1993 and highlight one of the slow jams from the soundtrack of “Menace II Society”.
Last week marked two significant anniversaries for one of the greatest artists of all time, Mr. Prince Rogers Nelson. It’s only fitting that I show him some love for Second Listen Sunday. The first anniversary was on the 21st, commemorating nine years since his passing. The second anniversary was on the 22nd, celebrating the 40th anniversary of his seventh studio album, “Around the World in a Day.”
One of my most significant decisions late last year was to pledge to Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. At the time of this writing, I am in Atlantic City for my fraternity’s Regional Conference, where I will represent my chapter, Beta Alpha Omega. In that regard, I believe the perfect song for this week’s Slow Jam Saturday is “The Best Man I Can Be.”