This is my horribly late entry into the 7th annual I’ll Show You Mine If You’ll Show Me Yours write-off, made even more embarrassing that I am supposed to be the host of. To everyone who posted on time, thank you. To everyone who requested this write-off for another year, thank you. And to everyone who continues to read my (horribly inconsistent) stuff, thank you. For full details of what this write off is about, please click http://www99.epinions.com/content_5029339268.
I guess you could call it sort of funny that of the five albums I was given a choice of, I chose a Raphael Saadiq disc. I can remember being 9 or 10 years old and absolutely hating some Tony Toni Tone video that MTV played the hell out of. And I mean it when I said I hated it. Who knows how I’d feel about it now, hell, I don’t even remember what song it was. But the fact that here I am, 17-18 years later and writing a review about a Raphael Saadiq solo album, is, at least somewhat, funny.
Granted, I wouldn’t be at this point if not for my partner in this write off, whisperscream. Justin’s a good egg, and I’m happy to say he gave me a choice of modern R&B albums that are a bit off the beaten path. Most of them aren’t what you’d hear on the radio (at least not that I know of, but then again, this ain’t my scene). I was nervous though, since most modern “R&B” is all “R” and no “B.” If I want to listen to R&B, I’m normally reaching for Otis, Stevie, Sam & Dave, or a disc by similar ilk. Justin actually gave me a choice of 2 Saadiq albums. The first he described as “gospodelic neo-soul,” while the second (the one I chose) he described as a 㦲s meets 80s meets 90s meets 00s flat out party album.”
And surely enough, that is a good description for Ray Ray. The cover and the short intro song would make you think this is a concept album about a Shaft or Dolemite character straight out of the 1970s Blaxploitation films. In reality, it’s a simple modern R&B record with plenty of 70s and 80s flourishes to help make it stand out.
While the lyrical content is simple, and for the most part, predictable, the music and the energy crackles out of the listener’s speakers, making the lyrical content almost unimportant. I Know Shuggie Otis is a good example of everything above. Lyrically, it’s nothing special, but the beat and the squalls of electric guitar give the song a huge sonic boost that makes it eminently more appealing to listen to.
The simple chord progression on Grown Folks gives the song a nice contrast to the aggressive percussive beat laid down. I wish Saadiq would give the falsetto a rest more often (especially by the time this track comes up ¾ of the way through the record), but it works here, and his lyrics are somewhat poignant for one of the only times on the record.
The falsetto becomes even more mystifying on a track like Not a Game, where Saadiq sounds absolutely awesome vocally. He sounds smooth, confident, and like he’s on a mission. Again, the smoothness of his voice creates a nice contrast with the rolling bass that comes blaring out of your speakers.
Despite my attempts, I cannot, however, give this album a perfect rating. Some of this is just too generic, too blah, and too annoying to get over. Detroit Girl tries to sound like an upbeat modern R&B number, but it comes off like a bad Montel Jordan outtake (this is not how we do it Raphael). Chic Like You is modern R&B tripe trapped in a bad sounding Dr Dre beat from 1994.
But despite those moments (and a couple of others), all is forgiven with the simple yet affective, haunting yet comforting Save Us to close out the album.
I’m quite happy I stuck it out with this album. At first it didn’t do a whole lot for me, but with repeated listens, it became a terrific little disc to drive around to, especially in the summertime. Is it perfect? No, far from it. But it has its heart in the right place, and is surely not a generic R&B album from this decade. He might try too hard at times, and not hard enough at others, but all in all, Saadiq creates a fun, lively party on Ray, Ray, and that’s all you can ask for sometimes.
3.5 stars, rounded UP.
Below are the pairings (with links) of the other participants in this write-off. Please do check them out.
mcheadcase and blackstar40
MattA75 and whisperscream
prettyvacant and http://www99.epinions.com/content_399637843588
http://www99.epinions.com/content_393732918916 and shilmafone
http://www99.epinions.com/content_399184006788 and http://www99.epinions.com/content_399152811652
http://www99.epinions.com/content_393225145988 and http://www99.epinions.com/content_392597114500
http://www99.epinions.com/content_392394149508 and plorentz
http://www99.epinions.com/content_399136558724 and thevoid99
http://www99.epinions.com/content_399663009412 and shopaholic_man
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