R&B soul singer returns with his new single “Mr. Midnight” feat. The Colleagues from his forthcoming eighth studio album What A Time To Be In Love. The grown man’s low jam is written by Mr. DeVaughn and features production by 812LABS Media Group and L’indcis. When I heard the track’s opening instrumentation, I didn’t know where the song would go.
Thankfully once the self-proclaimed “Love King” beings to croon his way through the music, I was impressed.
DeVaughn sings lyrics such as, “Let me be your Mr. Midnight. In the midnight hour, Just call me up and I’ll satisfy you ’til tomorrow. Just call me Mr. Midnight, and that’s who I’ll be all your dirty little thoughts and your freaky little fantasies.”
Instead of coming off as crass or corny, DeVaughn is smoother than a fine cognac. The early word is that Raheem will embrace social issues on the project. If DeVaughn’s past work with Washington D.C., emcee Wes Felton on their The Crossrhodes project, I expect some great music.
What A Time To Be In Love is due for release on Friday, November 20th, via the SRG/ILS imprint.
In the meantime, “Mr. Midnight” and “Marvin Used To Say,” which will also appear on the singer’s new album, are available on all streaming platforms.
Final Grade A
My introduction to Nate Dogg goes back to Dr. Dre’s 1992 debut, The Chronic, and the song “Deeez Nuuuts.” Even then, something about Nate’s voice set him apart from everybody else. He wasn’t just singing on rap records. He was bringing soul, gospel, street knowledge, and West Coast cool into the same space. He set the standard for hook singers in hip-hop, and dare I say, he’s still vastly underrated.
For this week’s Slow Jam Saturday, I wanted to give Stevie Wonder his due as he prepares to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his masterpiece, “Songs in the Key of Life,” on tour. While the easy choice could have been “Knocks Me Off My Feet”—a classic that still resonates fifty years later—I chose “From the Bottom of My Heart,” the second single from his twenty-third studio album, “A Time to Love,” released in 2005.
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.
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