If folk come 'round here enough then you already know that Raphael Saadiq is my main man. (I watched a lot of throwback eps of Inside Stuff this weekend with Ahmad Rashad...if you're younger then 35, that probably went right over your head) I truly believe dude exemplifies EVERYTHING there is about not only being a performer, producer, composer, etc. etc. but also about true musicianship. I mean, look at money's track record which starts WAAAAAAAY back in the late 80's. Now we could start & end the convo right there cause how many artist in any genre of music can you say started off in the game in '88 and are still just as dope almost 30 years later? Trust me, there aren't many...if any. And to be honest with ya'll, I rock with Saadaiq much harder now then I did 26 years ago. So while most artist are at the height of their career when they first drop or at least in that same decade, this dude is still holding it down and is at the height of his career some 25 years later. Come on ya'll, this dude has been making classic songs since I was a freshmen in high school with It Never Rains, Me & You, Whatever You Want, It Feels Good and Hey Little Walter. Then money kept holding it down through my college years with Still A Man, Lay Your Head On My Pillow, Let's Get Down and Anniversary. (I would listen to "Anniversary" over and over and over in my Chemistry class on my headphones which is one of the reasons I damn near failed the class) and do I even need to go into what Saadiq has been doing since he left the Tony's?
The Lucy Pearl album was dope and don't even get me started on his 4 solo albums which have all been at least 4 mics or better. ("Instant Vintage" is 5 mics and "Stone Rollin" is like a 4.75 in my eyes) And after all of that, I haven't even touched on the stuff he's produced for other folk, like Erykah's "Love of My Life", Bilal's "Soul Sista", D'Angelo's MONSTER hits "Untitled" AND "Lady" and if ya'll haven't heard Joss Stone's "Introducing" album that Saadiq produced just kill yourself, not now but right now. And on the musicianship tip I know my mom's generation has christened James Jamerson, the best bass player ever and there may be no truer statement in music but if Jame's is #1 then Saadiq GOTTA be #2 cause no artist has made me want to learn how to play an instrument as much as Saadiq has made me want to run out here and buy a bass! As a quick salute to one of the ILLEST who ever did it, I put together this mix of rare acoustic versions of some of my fave Saadiq songs, him live in concerts, one of my fave Dilla remixes and a rack of instrumentals for cats to just vibe out to. If ya'll can't rock with this, then ya'll must not like music. #Salute
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