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
With the passing of Peabo Bryson on June 2nd week, it felt only fitting to revisit his final studio album, “Stand for Love”, for this week’s Second Listen Sunday.
With the passing of Peabo Bryson on June 2nd week, it felt only fitting to revisit his final studio album, “Stand for Love”, for this week’s R&B balladeer Peabo Bryson was called home to glory earlier this week, so it was only fitting to give one of the genre’s true giants his flowers for this week’s Slow Jam Saturday.
As the King of Pop’s biopic continues to perform well at the box office, I wanted to revisit one of Michael Jackson’s overlooked solo albums, “Forever, Michael”, released in 1975, for my first Second Listen Sunday of 2026.