Flashback: Waiting To Exhale Soundtrack

While the movie was good the soundtrack was great. I popped in the soundtrack on Sunday night and I fell in love with it all over again. Even though this is a "woman's" album I give props when they are due and Babyface wrote his ass off on this project. This album flowed very well with the movie. While not every track was stellar it was about 90%brilliant. This is how I rank them:

THE STANDOUT TRACKS

1. Kissing You- Faith Evans
I love this song. I use to play it all the time. I think Faith stretched vocally and sounded amazing. This was the song of the soundtrack for me. It didn't get as much radio play as it should have.. but it was played at a good point in the movie and I LOVED IT.

2. Not Gon Cry- Mary J. Blige
Mary J has never been a "great singer" in my opinion and this song did nothing to change my opinion. What makes this song great is Mary's interpretation and emotion in the song. I think every woman took this on as an anthem and further solidified MJB's place in R&B. She made those lyrics come alive.

3. Let it Flow- Toni Braxton
Excellent, Excellent, Excellent.. clearly she is one of Babyface muses.. he know how to write for her.

4. All Night Long- SWV
Instant Slow jam classic... despite the racy subject matter the song only comes across as tasteful and sweet...it has some of the softest and pretty vocals lead-singer Coko has ever laid down....

5. Exhale- Whitney Houston
"Everyone falls in love sometimes, sometimes its right and sometimes it wrong".. the opening lines from Exhale. Whitney sounds classic on this. While the chorus is just "shoops" all over the place it somehow works and Whitney got herself another #1 hit.

6. Sittin Up in My Room- Brandy
This song represents everything that Brandy was about in 95-96. Safe bubblegum R&B/Pop and she delivered. This was probably the biggest commercial hit from the soundtrack.

THE LEGENDS

7. It Hurts Like Hell- Aretha Franklin
I always enjoyed this number by the Queen of Soul, It was great to hear how fresh and rangy her voice still sounded amongst all those younger gals. Re-Re showed them how its done

8. My Love Sweet Love- Patti Labelle
I like this song because it is decidedly less high-octane than what you'd expect from Patti LaBelle; yet, it still maintains a goodly amount of soul. The climax is also great because it satisfies your need for some "Patti" notes. Babyface was brilliant in reigning her in and giving her a brief "scream" at the end

9. My Funny Valentine- Chaka Khan
I think Chaka made it work. I think she is a legend with a tremendous voice but she just doesn't do it for me. I think this was a good song for her and she delivered.

Other Good Tracks

10. How Could You Call Her Baby- Shanna
I'm not sure if she ever released a solo record or not but she sung her ass off on this track. I think Babyface wrote a scorcher with this and the singer gave it her all.

11. Love Will Be Waiting at Home- 4Real
Their voices were pure magic and they really made this song work. I wish they had stayed around in the music world longer.

LEAST FAVORITE SONGS

12. Count on Me- Whitney & CeCe
I know this song was made for this movie and its ending but this is just too sugary sweet for me. I think Whitney tried to do too much and CeCe didn't do too much. With that said they still sounded good.

13. Why Does It Hurt So Bad- Whitney Houston
I just don't know what the problem was with this song for me... The lyrics were great, Whitney sounded great.....but I wasn't excited about it

14. And I Gave My Love to You- Sonja Marie
I usually skip this track. It wasn't bad either just didn't excite me.

15. Wey U- Chante Moore
Musically the best song on the CD.... but I don't know what the hell this song was suppose to be. It was one I usually skip over. I LOVE Chante Moore but Babyface did her NO favors with this track.

16. This is How It Works- TLC
Clearly the worst song on this AWESOME CD. This song is nothing but filler or a cut that didn't make Crazy Sexy Cool. It just did not fit the mood of this CD. Simply out of place.

Lupe Fiasco- Can He Save Hip Hop? I Think So

I featured his video a few weeks back and now I have to make an all out plea for this kid. I got a copy of his CD Food and Liquior Saturday and I haven't stopped listening to it yet. This dude sounds so hungry on the mic. Lupe takes me back to the early to mid 90's when dudes were hungry and happy to be in the game and made quality music. His production is brilliant and his delivery is amazing. he even got props from Jigga for his creative wordplay. Most people that know me knows I'm not a fan of Hip Hop and haven't been in quite some time. There are only a few rap artists out now that I can appreciate. I think the South is ruining RAP music(save T.I.)but I think Lupe (repping Chicago) is here to save the day. I hope he will get promotion of Beyonce proportions because he COULD be the saviour of the bland rap scene. The last time I got this excited was when Nas and Quan broke out "Just a Moment". I hope Lupe will transcend the underground scene and make a commercial impact. While I'm sure there are great underground artist I think commercialism is important to generate change. I think Lupe can do it. I love this dude's look(he's not flashy and very unassuming), voice, attitude and lyrics. He is very refreshing in that he doesn't rap about the usual(grillz,money, bitches, hoes, hustling).

Peep this verse from his song "Ghetto Story"

And I'm still on
As I stroll down the same street so many like me once before, were killed on
Steady mobbin', thinkin' bout the Black Panthers
And the babies that were born in the late '80s
That now have babies that lack Pampers
No Kwaanzas and they lack Santas
And the father who thinks shoe-shopping is the answer
Skipped out on parenthood classes so she don't know how to handle her
And never learned from her grandmother
One day got hot, couldn't take it, dropped her in a vacant lot
Album of Life, now condensed into a sampler
See the shapes these little girls is gettin'?
Somethin' say the steroids in the chicken is the cause of the thickening in the young women
Livid, see some shorties playin' Cops & Robbers, livin'
Bittersweet thoughts is what I had for them
I can picture colder feelin' Police chasin' after them
Catchin' up to, friskin' and askin' them
Where the packs at? Who yo' cheif is? Where the straps at?
Am I thinking too hard? Or perhaps that's reality
In a project mentality, but through it all
I hope we learn more than how to be whores and how to move a ball

Dude is on another level. I am throughly impressed with this album and I look forward to more from this dude. Toanyonewho reads this blog PLEASE support REAL RAP/HIP HOP MUSIC.

SUPPORT LUPE FIASCO

Put Your Hand

On Friday my mother was sent back to the hospital and will likely remain in there until Tuesday or Wednesday. I don't even have the capacity to even write out how I'm feeling right now.. All I ask is that you keep my mother in prayer.

I think the video below sums up what it is I need to do

Introspection... and what it all means

On Sunday June 25th I received news that one of my classmates was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident. He makes our 5th classmate to die in 12 years. I was shocked by the news and in all honesty it didn't even seem real. My former classmate and I weren't really close but we were cool and we had close friends in common. It was kind of weird hearing about his untimely death because it was only a few days earlier that I actually chatted with him briefly on IM.

Today I attended his funeral and during the funeral I mostly thought about myself and how life is truly a precious thing and no one knows their last day on earth. One of the main things I kept wondering was if Antwain served his purpose in life. Many of the speakers and friends of Antwain said he was a fearless young man who was not afraid to live life. As this theme kept ringing through the day I began to look inward and realized that I operate much of my life through fear. I'm not sure WHY I even do this. I know true believers in God should never operate in a spirit of fear, but almost everything in my life has been calculated to point. I rarely step outside and do things out of the ordinary. I don't even go to the store unless its planned...lol. I'll be the first to admit I am a boring and somewhat predictable person. I certainly wouldn't want to die tomorrow and have people describe me in that manner. I'm 29 and have so much to do and see. Even though I subconsciously knew this it took the death of a classmate to make me verbalize it and decide to do something about it and I AM going to put my trust in God and take that leap outside the box(whatever that may be). I hope to make my life meaningful not just to friends and family but mostly to myself and God. I pray that God will continue to reveal my purpose

I stated earlier that I kept wondering if Antwain served his purpose in life... well I'm not sure if he served HIS purpose but I can in retrospect say that for someone who I was not close with in high school or college that his death has forced me to realize some things about myself I was not ready to admit or not realized before. Antwain's death made me realize that life is not granted or guaranteed to anyone and it is up to the individual to make the most out of their time on earth. It was great to see a lot of old classmates that came to the funeral (even though one in particular kept pushing up on me..:(....)

R.I.P. Antwain and even though you will never know it.... thank you for showing me that living life to the fullest (and sometimes the edge) may not be such a bad thing.