Valentine’s Day 2024 may have come and gone, but I still plan to use highlight songs with the V-word for February’s Slow Jam Saturday. The artist I chose is a southern gentleman by the name of Lloyd. Initially breaking onto the scene as a member of the preteen-boy band N-Toon, Lloyd’s solo career kicked off in 2004 with the hit “Southside.”
One of the most talented men in indie music, Eric Roberson, kicked off his 30th-anniversary tour last night in Pittsburgh, so for this week’s Second Listen Sunday, I decided to revisit Mr. Roberson’s third album, The Vault 1.5, which hit record stores in 2003. As Erro fans know, Roberson initially hit the scene with the lovely ballad “The Moon” while studying at Howard University. Roberson’s first record deal didn’t go as planned, but not one to just lay down, Roberson continued to build a name for himself by writing for the likes of 112 and Will Smith. Additionally, Roberson collaborated with Jill Scott, DJ Jazzy Jeff, and Cam’ron.
As we continue to celebrate the month of love, I chose “Valentine by Ryan Leslie as the second song with the word valentine for February’s Slow Jam Saturday. Leslie broke into the music industry in 2003, writing hits for Beyoncé and New Edition. Leslie released the singles “The Way That U Move Girl” and “Used 2 Be” featuring Fabolous. However, his debut album was never officially released due to creative differences with his record label. In late 2007, Leslie finally broke through with the bop “Diamond Girl,” and his self-titled album would finally hit record stores on February 10, 2009. Leslie also succeeded with the follow-up singles “Addiction” and “How It Was Supposed to Be.” Surprisingly, though, Leslie didn’t drop “Valentine” as the fourth single, which would have timed perfectly with the album release date.
Music fans were delighted last week when music superstar Justin Timberlake released a new single supporting his upcoming sixth album. JT will follow the single release with an appearance on Saturday Night Live. For this week’s Second Listen Sunday, I revisited Timberlake’s 2017 collaboration soundtrack album with Mitchell Owens, The Book Of Love. As he would do a year later with the album Man of The Woods, Timberlake decided to venture away from the R&B influences, which were the dominant force of his previous releases, and go for a different sound.
Due to Valentine’s Day, February is sometimes known as the month of love. I wanted to try something unique for every Slow Jam Saturday this month by featuring every song and having the word Valentine in the title. First is the sentimental bop “Valentine Girl” from New Kids on The Block.
For this week’s Second Listen Sunday, I decided to revisit Schizophrenic to date, the only solo album from NSYNC solo member JC Chasez. It’s no secret that JC was the strongest among all the late nineties boy bands when it came to straight singing. In 2002, Chasez initially explored his potential as a solo artist when he collaborated with renowned producer Dallas Austin to record the track “Blowin’ Me Up (With Her Love)” for the soundtrack of the movie Drumline. Riding on the wave of its successful single release, Chasez embarked on recording an album he aimed to set apart from NSYNC’s musical domain distinctively.
As fans anxiously await the Antione Fuqua-directed biopic on the King of Pop to hit theaters next year, I wanted to pay homage to one of my favorite ballads in his group’s catalog for this week’s Slow Jam Saturday. That particular song is “One More Chance” from the group’s fifteenth studio album and the only one to feature all six brothers, Victory.
My choice for this week’s Second Listen Sunday is a singer who had already been in the music industry for almost a decade before one of his songs dethroned Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called to Say I Love You” and reached the Number One spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Sheila E. was born into a musical family and gained recognition through her work with George Duke. In 1984, she released her debut album, The Glamorous Life, which quickly became a hit. The album’s title track and follow-up single, “The Belle of St. Mark,” helped Sheila achieve mainstream success
Despite being must-see TV for some over the last two decades, I’ve always felt that singing competition shows don’t do justice in promoting R&B singers. Whether it’s The Voice or American Idol, male R&B singers never seem to get the recognition they deserve, and for the most part, they don’t win the show. A case in point is the singer Mac Royals, who was cut from the most recent season of The Voice.
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