R&B band Tony! Toni! Toné! was already immensely successful when their fourth album House of Music, hit stores on November 19, 1996. The Tonies kicked off the project with the dance flop bop “Let’s Get Down” and the lush ballad “Thinking of You.”
However, for this week’s Slow Jam Saturday, I wanted to showcase one of my favorite album tracks from the project, “Still A Man.”
Written and produced by group member Raphael Saadiq, “Still A Man” was the nineties personification of the slow drag. Saadiq lets the instrumental ride out for a minute before coming through a passionate vocal. The sincerity in Saadiq’s voice is genuine as he croons:
“Now looking here, I’m still standin’
Since the last time that you walked away, honey
See me and the kids are left here disappointed
We don’t have nothin’ to do
But wonder where you’re headed, baby
Have you ever loved somebody
Who loves you so much it hurts you to hurt them so bad?
Have you ever loved somebody
Who loves you so much it hurts you to hurt them so bad?”
I personally always felt the song is a story about a man who has let his woman down, causing her to exit the relationship. Naturally, the man knows the errors of his ways, and while he’s failing, he’s still a man. Sadly as of 2022, House of Music is the last album by the group. Nevertheless, “Still A Man” is a beautiful ballad that holds up twenty-five years later.
Final Grade: A
“Still A Man” from House Of Music is available on all streaming platforms.
Songstress Ashanti was experiencing significant success with two platinum albums at the time of the release of her inaugural holiday project, “Ashanti’s Christmas,” on November 18, 2003. Her label head, Irv Gotti, produced most of the album. This project comprises four original songs co-written by Ashanti, in addition to six cover versions of traditional Christmas standards and carols.
Vocal quartet A Few Good Man contributed two songs to the project: a cover of “Silver Bells” and the ballad “Merry Christmas My Dear,” both of which were produced by Daryl Simmons. Demail Burks, David Morris, Aaron Hilliard, and Tony Amey were the members of the group, and after introducing themselves in the festive video for “Silver Bells,” it was only fitting that they delivered a ballad on the album.
R&B legend Luther Vandross had already solidified his place in R&B when he released his first holiday album, “This Is Christmas. Arriving in stores on October 24, 1995, “This Is Christmas” validates Vandross’s ability to sing anything.