Various Artists-Essential Soul and R & B Classics/Smooth
October 21st 2008 00:09
Various Artists-Essential Soul and R & B Classics/Smooth
Record Label: EMI
Year: 2007
Track Listing:
CD 1
01. Lupe Fiasco-Kick Push
02. De La Soul- Ring Ring Ring
03. Kelis- Trick Me
04. Blackstreet Boys-No Diggity
05. Joss Stone- Fell In Love With A Boy
06. Dangelo-Brown Sugar
07. Corinne Bailey Rae- I’d Like To
08. John Legend- Used To Love U
09. Lucy Pearl- Don’t Mess With My Man
10. Outkast-Ms Jackson
11. Toni Braxton- He Wasn’t Man Enough
12. En Vogue-My Lovin
13. Arrested Development-People Everyday
14. India Arie-Video
15. Baby Bash- Suga Suga
16. Groove Theory- Tell Me
17. R Kelly- Ignition
18. Donell Jones- U Know What’s Up
19. Blu Cantrell-Breathe
20. The Black Eyed Peas-Weekends
CD 2
01. Alicia Keys-You Don’t Know My Name
02. Usher-You Make Me Wanna
03. Fabolous-Into You
04. Warren G-Regulate
05. Macy Gray-Do Something
06. Zhane-Hey Mr DJ
07. LL Cool J-Around The Way Girl
08. Faith Evans-Mesmerized
09. Erykah Badu-On And One
10. Maxwell-Ascension
11. Deborah Cox-Sentimental
12. Jamelia-See It In A Boy’s Eyes
13. Ms Dynamite- DY-NA-MITE
14. Ashanti-Foolish
15. Brandy-I Wanna Be Down
16. Angie Stone-Wish I Didn’t Miss You
17. N*E*R*D-Provider
In honesty, in seeing the track listing on this album and then rereading the title Essential Soul and R & B Classics, I didn’t know whether to be amused or confused over what is or not considered classic these days
To me, this is not a classic soul album. The reason? Well for one, half these artists are still fairly new to the music scene, and some of the songs such as Kelis’ “Trick Me” was only on the charts two or three years ago.
Having said that, the album is still a nicely mixed collection of Urban Grooves from some of the biggest names in R and B, including The Black Eyed Peas, Alicia Keys, Joss Stone, John Legend and R Kelly.
On first listen to the album, one of the things I enjoyed was that it allows us to see how R and B has evolved from the mid-90’s to recent times. You only have to listen to De La Soul’s “Ring, Ring, Ring” and then John Legend’s “Used To Love U” to see this.
Another thing to enjoy was hearing to some of the artists I grew up on for the first time since probably high school. It’s a nice flashback, and after hearing Arrested Development and De La Soul again, I have to confess I prefer them to the likes of Lupe Fiasco and Fabolous.
I’m not sure whether the album needed to necessarily be spread out over a 2 CD compilation, and there are a few tracks such as Lupe Fiasco’s “Kick Push” and Warren G’s “Regulate” that I would have definitely have omitted.
Personally, I would have probably skipped the whole second album, and put simply the best of the best on one CD.
Tracks not to miss on this diverse collection, En Vogue “My Lovin”, John Legend, “Used To Love U”, Ashanti “Foolish”.
I give it HHH
Record Label: EMI
Year: 2007
Track Listing:
CD 1
01. Lupe Fiasco-Kick Push
02. De La Soul- Ring Ring Ring
03. Kelis- Trick Me
04. Blackstreet Boys-No Diggity
05. Joss Stone- Fell In Love With A Boy
06. Dangelo-Brown Sugar
07. Corinne Bailey Rae- I’d Like To
08. John Legend- Used To Love U
09. Lucy Pearl- Don’t Mess With My Man
10. Outkast-Ms Jackson
11. Toni Braxton- He Wasn’t Man Enough
12. En Vogue-My Lovin
13. Arrested Development-People Everyday
14. India Arie-Video
15. Baby Bash- Suga Suga
16. Groove Theory- Tell Me
17. R Kelly- Ignition
18. Donell Jones- U Know What’s Up
19. Blu Cantrell-Breathe
20. The Black Eyed Peas-Weekends
CD 2
01. Alicia Keys-You Don’t Know My Name
02. Usher-You Make Me Wanna
03. Fabolous-Into You
04. Warren G-Regulate
05. Macy Gray-Do Something
06. Zhane-Hey Mr DJ
07. LL Cool J-Around The Way Girl
08. Faith Evans-Mesmerized
09. Erykah Badu-On And One
10. Maxwell-Ascension
11. Deborah Cox-Sentimental
12. Jamelia-See It In A Boy’s Eyes
13. Ms Dynamite- DY-NA-MITE
14. Ashanti-Foolish
15. Brandy-I Wanna Be Down
16. Angie Stone-Wish I Didn’t Miss You
17. N*E*R*D-Provider
In honesty, in seeing the track listing on this album and then rereading the title Essential Soul and R & B Classics, I didn’t know whether to be amused or confused over what is or not considered classic these days
To me, this is not a classic soul album. The reason? Well for one, half these artists are still fairly new to the music scene, and some of the songs such as Kelis’ “Trick Me” was only on the charts two or three years ago.
Having said that, the album is still a nicely mixed collection of Urban Grooves from some of the biggest names in R and B, including The Black Eyed Peas, Alicia Keys, Joss Stone, John Legend and R Kelly.
On first listen to the album, one of the things I enjoyed was that it allows us to see how R and B has evolved from the mid-90’s to recent times. You only have to listen to De La Soul’s “Ring, Ring, Ring” and then John Legend’s “Used To Love U” to see this.
Another thing to enjoy was hearing to some of the artists I grew up on for the first time since probably high school. It’s a nice flashback, and after hearing Arrested Development and De La Soul again, I have to confess I prefer them to the likes of Lupe Fiasco and Fabolous.
I’m not sure whether the album needed to necessarily be spread out over a 2 CD compilation, and there are a few tracks such as Lupe Fiasco’s “Kick Push” and Warren G’s “Regulate” that I would have definitely have omitted.
Personally, I would have probably skipped the whole second album, and put simply the best of the best on one CD.
Tracks not to miss on this diverse collection, En Vogue “My Lovin”, John Legend, “Used To Love U”, Ashanti “Foolish”.
I give it HHH
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