While he is one of the stars of Showtime’s hit series The Chi, Luke James has been making noise in the industry for almost two decades. James began his career singing background for Tyrese with his childhood friend Quentin, with whom he would later form a duo under the moniker Luke & Q.
The duo did sign to J Records. However, their debut album never saw an official release. After the group disbanded to pursue separate ventures, James would go on to write tracks for the likes of Chris Brown, Britney Spears, and Justin Bieber. In addition, James has released three solo albums and two mixtapes.
For this week’s Slow Jam Saturday, I wanted to highlight the first time I heard James sing. In 2006 as my loyal readers know, I was living in the United Kingdom and spent many a night DJing. I was part of a record pool to stay up on my music during this time. One month one of the songs was “My Turn” by Luke & Q.
Since the song dropped in 2006, it had had a “Mr. Steal Your Girl” vibe before Trey Songz made it famous. The singer’s voices compliment each other, and they avoid R&B thuggery. The lyrics may seem contrived to some, but the duo makes it work.
“Girl, who that dude you with?
Could’ve swore I saw him push up on your friend
Girl, who that dude you with?
Never seen him buy you nothing, always spending your ends
He don’t ice your wrists
Don’t take no trips
Don’t spend no time
He don’t rock your spine
But I’ll ice your wrists
We’ll take the trips
I’ll spend the time
Girl, I’ll hit ya right
Now it’s my turn, forget about your man”.
While I’m 41 now and married with children, the song still resonates, and hopefully, one day, we will get the chance to hear their aborted album.
Final Grade: B+
“My Turn” is available on all streaming platforms.
As the King of Pop’s biopic continues to perform well at the box office, I wanted to revisit one of Michael Jackson’s overlooked solo albums, “Forever, Michael”, released in 1975, for my first Second Listen Sunday of 2026.
As Joe prepares for his upcoming Tiny Desk performance, it’s a fitting time to revisit “U Should Know Me,” one of the hidden gems in his catalog. This song, which he wrote and produced himself, first appeared in 1998 on the soundtrack for “Caught Up”, a hood drama starring Bokeem Woodbine and Cynda Williams.
As fans look forward to his upcoming co-headlining “Nights Like This” tour with Akon, Ne-Yo is smoothly transitioning into country music while still maintaining his R&B roots with his latest single, “Ms. Tundra.” This infectious track is the third release from his forthcoming tenth studio album, “Highway 79,” set for release on July 10 via Compound Entertainment.