After a three-year hiatus, R&B quartet Xscape returned to the R&B scene with their third album, Traces of My Lipstick. Despite the angelic sound in their voices, the image on the first two albums was more Hip Hop. However, for the group’s third album, the cover saw the ladies in elegant red attire, tapping more into their sex appeal. For this week’s Slow Jam Saturday, the typical choice would be to go for “The Arms of the One Who Love You” or “My Little Secret.” However, I decided to go with the album’s third single and my favorite Xscape song, “Softest Place on Earth.”
R&B hitmaker JOE and his writing partner Joshua Thompson penned the elegant slow jam, which perfectly highlighted the singing talents of the group. While the song is about sensuality, it never becomes crass or vulgar. Instead of hearing the song as an adult in a relationship, it’s a song that a woman will play to show her mate just how she feels about it. Who wouldn’t want to be in an intimate moment with your special someone with these lyrics in the background?
Baby won’t you come inside,
I’ll take you on a fantasy ride.
Take a journey through my universe,
My love’s the softest place on earth.
You don’t have to pull the blinds,
Let the neighbors lose their minds.
Baby, you can be the first,
Inside the softest place on earth.
While Xscape would go on too long of a hiatus after this single, the song stood the test of time.
Final Grade: A
“Softest Place on Earth” from Traces of My Lipstick is available on all streaming platforms
One of the great things about buying a soundtrack when I was in my DJ prime was discovering a slow jam that I could put on my mix CDs. For this week’s Slow Jam Saturday, I wanted to highlight one of the songs: Jagged Edge’s cover of Air Supply’s, “All Out of Love.”
After twenty-six years in the game, Atlanta-based quartet Jagged Edge is currently on the road celebrating the anniversary of their magnum opus sophomore album, “J.E. Heartbreak,” with a tour titled “An Intimate Evening With Jagged Edge.” To kick off our seventh wedding anniversary celebration, my wife and I will be the D.C. date on the tour this coming Wednesday.
For this week’s Second Listen Sunday, I wanted to travel back to 1999 and show some love to R&B group Amyth, which was initially signed to LL Cool J Rock the Bells Records. Hailing from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the group was formed in 1995 while the members were students at Southern University.