R&B Ballads - #5

#5

Blackstreet - Don't Leave

1997

What we gon' do right here is go back...way back
Back into time

Woo-hoo!: There's quite a few cool little moments in this song and many of them occur when they stop the music but keep singing. I especially like the "If you take your love away from me" part. But I also like the instrumental with the horn about three minutes into the song.

D'oh!: Since we've now entered the top 5, it's going to be difficult to find much fault with these songs. If I had to nitpick, I might say their voices sometimes sound too electronic , processed and manufactured. Like a hotdog.

The Deal: As you may or may not know, "Ain't Mad At Cha" by one 2Pac Shakur uses the same beat as this song. If I were to record a song, I might just use the same beat. Either that or the "Tears of a Clown" beat.

R&B Ballads - #6

#6

Jodeci - Love U 4 Life

1995

Now it's all in the past
Now I know our love will last

Woo-hoo!: This song has quite a few instruments that come together to give it a great "jingly" feeling (that's a musical term). I've heard other songs try to do this, but they always get it wrong. The song is finished perfectly when most of the instruments stop playing and allow Jodeci to show off their harmonic skills (not on the harmonica, but in harmony).

D'oh: I vaguely recall the video to this ditty. Someone from Jodeci, probably K-Ci (Devante never got any respect) was marrying T-Boz. I'm pretty sure there was some relationship there that I'm not aware of, but T-Boz is annoying. Also, they really should have titled it "Love You for Life". Did they first type it out on AIM or something? No need to be that lazy.

The Deal: If I am not mistaken, on the album the last line is "Cause your love is why" and that is immediately followed on the next track by "I live". I forget what the next track is, but I always thought that was an interesting thing to do.