For this month’s final Slow Jam Saturday selection, we continue highlighting the songwriting talents of Jon B. R&B songstress Toni Braxton was already a force when she released her second album Secrets in the summer of 1996. This album saw Braxton reuniting with Babyface and working with legends such as Diane Warren and David Foster.
Braxton also found time to work with some new jacks, including Tony Rich and Marc Nelson. Naturally, Babyface found a way to include Jon B in the project as well. Jon and Babyface collaborate on the album’s closing song, “In the Late of Night. A heartbreaking song about saying goodbye to lost love, for me it rivals one of Toni Braxton’s biggest hits, “Unbreak My Heart.”
The emotion and pain that Ms. Braxton put into this song make the listeners want to give her a shoulder to cry on or even just a hug. Jon and Babyface’s lyrics include, “Always thought your promise was for life, I did not think that I Would hear you say good-bye.” For me, both men had to go somewhere painful in their past to evoke this emotion.
Would you please make sure you visit ReviewsandDunn.net tomorrow when Edward Bowser of Soulinstero.com joins me for the Second Listen Sunday? Ed and I will be discussing Jon B.’s overlooked third album, Pleasures U Like.
Final Grade: B+
Secrets is available on all streaming platforms.
There are some albums you revisit because of nostalgia, and then there are albums you return to because they remind you just how high the standard used to be. Anita Baker’s Rapture falls into that second category. Released in 1986, the album did more than make Baker a star. It helped define what sophisticated, grown R&B could sound like without losing any soul, sensuality, or personality.
Gwen Stefani had already established herself as a significant force with No Doubt when she released her debut solo album, *Love. Angel. Music. Baby* in 2004. This week, while my iPod was on shuffle, one of my favorite songs from that project, “The Real Thing,” came on. Although the original version has an upbeat new-wave feel, the Slow Jam Mix takes it to another level and is the perfect choice for this week’s Slow Jam Saturday.
Unless you’re a music purist, mentioning Randy Jackson from the famous family is likely to elicit a joke. However, any serious Jackson fan knows that Randy had musical achievements long before the punchlines. Before he was old enough to buy a drink, he had already co-written “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)” and “Lovely One” with Michael Jackson.