Ugly Part of Me

If you are looking for some cool out music, something mellow and inspires you to light a few candles then check this out. The song is called Ugly Part of Me brought to you by the smooth voiced Avery Sunshine. Off of her self titled debut album, Avery sings a smooth song explaining how that ugly side of her reared its ugly head and caused her to "trip out" on her man. This is an apology and it's a damn smooth one.

Her entire album harkens back to the early days of Floetry and early Jill Scott, I think she is cut from a similar cloth as those exceptional artists both vocally and lyrically. This song however stands out as far as I'm concerned from all the rest because of it's beauty and significance. For a Black woman to admit that she has that ugly side feeds into that stereotype of the "angry Black woman". She sings lines like I don't know about you but I got an ugly side and Sometimes, sometimes there's just some things I can not have which are very powerful. To me this song is both heavy and beautiful and I can't stop listening to it.

Check this tune out and see if you don't feel the same way I do about it. Maybe you won't be able to stop listening to it either. Enjoy.

Give It To You

I was digging around in my collection of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis songs and this song popped me upside the head. For those that thought Robin Thicke and Justin Timberlake were the original white R&B crooners allow me to refute that claim with this artist and this catchy tune. The artist is Jordan Knight and the song is Give It To You off his 1999 release Jordan Knight LP. Jordan who was once part of the questionably talented New Kids On The Block had his biggest hit with this song which which was written by Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, Jordan Knight, and Robin Thicke and produced by Jam and Lewis. This song pretty much paved the way for Robin and Justin to be the artists they are today. It showed that white male singers could and would be accepted by Black audiences.

The song is fun. Seemingly inspired by carnival music and arranged in such a way that you would have to imagine it was fun crafting this song. It starts off with that carnival music and then Jordan comes in riding the bassline singing "You say it's been too long / Since you / Had some. You say I turn you on / Like the fire that's burning inside / You think that I'm the one (you see in your dreams) / I know what you mean". Basically it's yet another song about about a guy trying to get some. However, this song is a lot of fun to listen to.

The carnival vibe comes back into the song twice more, once at the bridge and the outro. What surprised me about this was that Jam and Lewis had a hand in creating it but the more I listen to it their influences are all over it, as are Robin Thicke's, especially in the vocal layering department. Either way, you may hate Jordan as a singer and artist and that's your prerogative or you may have forgotten all about this song as I did but maybe unlike you, I'm glad I found it again. Enjoy!