Following the announcement of Smokey Robinson’s 24th album, Gasms, the R&B legend has become a trending topic in recent weeks. When song titles such as “How You Make Me Feel,” “I Wanna Know Your Body,” “Roll Around,” and the two eyebrow raisers, “You Fill Me Up” and “I Fit in There.” were revealed their was a collective mindset of what is Smokey smoking?
While the song titles don’t necessarily resonate with listeners, fans can take solace that the album’s first single and this week’s Slow Jam Saturday pick, “If We Don’t Have Each Other,” is textbook Smokey. Robinson, the song’s writer, and producer, recently stated, “I chose this song as the first single of my upcoming album because it’s different musically and has a slide dance feeling to it… which is different from what I’ve ever done before. Additionally, it has a current rhythm that I love, and I hope everyone else does.
Considering how legendary Robinson’s pen game is, the lyrics might come across as mundane to some. Watching the song’s lyrics video, I understand what he’s trying to convey. In a nutshell, Robinson hopes to validate how love can be a powerful force in life. The song explores the idea that without the other person, there is nothing. The lyrics highlight how two people fit together perfectly and that life would not be the same without each other. The chorus emphasizes how not much has meaning without each other and suggests that love is the most meaningful thing in life. The song is about how two people make each other feel complete and how love is more powerful than anything else.
Even though Robinson is 82 years old, he manages to do more with this song with his heartfelt lines over smooth, breezy guitar work than other so-called R&B singers have done with their entire catalog. Harmless and to the point, “If We Don’t Have Each Other” does have me eager to see what Smokey has cooked up with Gasmas.
“If We Don’t Have Each Other” is available on all streaming platforms, while Gasms is set for release on April 28th.
For this week’s Second Listen Sunday, I want to revisit 2004 and highlight Romeo’s debut solo album, formerly of Immature. Titled “Food for Thought” and released on June 22nd, this project marked the singer’s change of name to Young Rome in an effort to distance himself from the youthful sound of his group, much like his bandmate Marques Houston had done a year earlier.
In the nineties, Hip-Hop reigned supreme, and every label CEO wanted a share of the lucrative R&B market. One strategy was to keep singers on their roster who could deliver catchy hooks, keeping everything in-house and saving money. Bad Boy had Carl Thomas, Death Row had Danny Boy, and Roc-A-Fella had Rell, our featured artist for this week’s Slow Jam Saturday
Growing up in the eighties, I was surrounded by incredibly talented male R&B singers who could deliver unforgettable love songs. Artists like Luther Vandross, Jeffrey Osborne, and Peabo Bryson dominated the airwaves, but Freddie Jackson was another voice that truly deserved recognition.