MUSIC
R&B REVIEWS
19-12-2019 14:49 GMT
 |
| Music by indie artist, CJ TheBest on Bandcamp |
CJ TheBest
"Moves"
R&B
Classic
Passion is what sets great artists apart from good artists. Sure one could have all the talent and required knowledge to work a guitar or piano and write a hit record, a generous budget and all the right professionals in place to record, producer, promote and distribute it, but at the end of the day it’s that initial passion that determines the success of not just the record but of the artist as well. It filters right through the microphone through analog to digital converters, mixing consoles, fancy plugins and essential ones too, digital to analog converters, your music player, your speakers, headphones, earphones, EarPods or AirPods, the air around you, and finally your ears, no matter what condition they are in; and you can feel it like a touch on your skin. Great artists like Prince where so passionate they were sometimes difficult to watch on stage. They made amazing songs but sometimes you weren’t sure if they needed time alone backstage with the microphone or if they were just really into the song they were singing. Prince would have his tongue out sensually making all types of flicking and licking motions and caressing the mic like R Kelly at his first quinceanera, while touching himself slowly up and down, pointing right at you, playing a guitar and jiggling his butt cheeks all at the same time – how many hands has he got? Prince had so much passion and energy when he walked up to the microphone no one bothered whether he was gay or straight, what the hell was up with his ‘90s porn star moustache, where the rest of his pants were or how a man so small could have even the most macho of men feeling like little girls. He captivated the audience and put them under a spell for the whole show.
R&B music is one of those genres you can’t have without deeply felt emotions, and consequently it usually involves a whole lot of passion. Greats like Keith Sweat, Boys II Men, Mary J Blige, Tony Braxton, Brandy, Jill Scott and Erykah Badu gave us great songs that we could dance to, but they also gave us music we could appreciate in our somber moments as well - sometimes it was the very same songs we danced to. They were versatile in ways that allowed their passion to take various forms that were all appropriate for whatever contexts they explored in their songs and they played a huge part in diversifying the music collections of the new born hip hop fans of the ‘90s while paving the way for the current sound of R&B music, which may seem less passionate but is also an accurate representation of the deepest of the deep emotions many of us are able to feel today – yes, we are not all as emotional as humans once used to be. For example, when was the last time you watched a chick flick and cried? Have you watched “Can’t Hardly Wait?” or “There’s Something About Mary”? Did you cry or were you moved to the point where you found yourself hugging a cushion or pillow tight with your cheeks pressed against it? Well, try watching any of today’s chick flicks – they seem to have a slightly different effect and hair pulling, spanking and horse riding seem to be at the center of it for some reason, or are we watching the wrong ones? Everything seems so sexed up nowadays. When did we all become sex maniacs and muff munchers? Was it Lil’ Kim? Trina? Salt n’ Pepa’s “Let’s Talk About Sex” (one of the best hip hop sex songs ever)? Was it R Kelly? Or was there a point further back in the music timeline when artists started talking too openly about sex?
Musicians have always talked about sex in their songs, but they did it creatively and tastefully until quite recently so we can only blame it on the ‘90s and the early 2000s when PAWGs started to emerge and presidents started getting caught with their pants down in the office and all started looking like they had just or were in the process of getting a trouser friendly kiss every time they were standing at the podium. Whatever it was that happened, it changed our music and consequently our cultures have become more open about sex, and apparently a lot less able to resist an opportunity to have it. Luckily we still have talented, extraordinary artists out there who are still into creating good music that is not always only about sex and when it is, it’s written tastefully such that you don’t necessarily have to be in the mood before or after listening to it. Here’s Texas, US R&B singer, CJ TheBest’s debut single. It was released a few years back and is still in a category of its own as one of the most creative R&B releases this decade. You could tell someone really took their time to sit down and write. It’s one of those songs you hear and think to yourself, “why haven’t I ever heard this on the radio?”.
