Music Review

Saadiq expresses romance

by Dimitri Watson
Staff Writer

For all you music lovers who love tunes that express how you feel, Raphael Saadiq's new CD "Instant Vintage" is a great choice. This CD has some deep songs that will make your mind roam and put you in that meditative state, especially if you understand the situation he is singing about.

Saadiq has been around for awhile. He produces and appears in a lot of albums. You will probably remember him best from the group "Tony, Toni, Tone." He is known for producing a couple of classic songs such as "Lay Your Head on My Pillow," "Anniversary" and "Whatever You Want"

"Be Here," the third track in the new CD, is played on the radio and on music video channels. This song features D'Angelo. Together they come across as a smooth, deadly combo. In the song the two artists go into all the reasons why "this woman" should be here with them. One verse goes "You should be here beneath me/ to feel me/ to heal me/ You should be here to wrap me/ to trap me to incline me."

In analyzing this verse it is easy to see how infatuated he is with this woman. You feel the pain caused from when this woman is not around.

But since he cannot have her at the current time for whatever reason, it becomes a pain. He feels she should be there beneath him to feel his infatuation.

Many people may be able to relate and feel what he is talking about. A special person may appear in your mind and make you feel that they should be there for you too.

The fourth track describes why Saadiq will always be with his girl. He gives a lot of detail and meaning in this song. One verse says, "Night is where I find you, and piece of mind. My days are filled with grief. That's why I truly give you what you need because you love me for me."

The song revolves around the hardships of life, but how Saadiq knows he can count on his centerpiece--his woman. You can tell he counts on this certain woman who will always love him for who he is.

We can understand this because we all have our centerpieces in our rough days.

Then he says " I'm funny like a clown but I'm never down, as long as you're around. "This verse probably means that his friends may depend on Saadiq for laughs.

Another verse says, "You'll never have to beg for me to come to bed. I'll walk you there each night."

This is a feeling that a person might love to feel but it just hasn't been brought out of them yet.

Track number seven is about the possibility of him and a special someone getting together. We should all be able relate to this one. He starts off by saying " How about the possibility of you and I, lady can we try, lady say you're with it. If you're not with it, then excuse me". That's the perfect verse to start with. It gets straight to the point, and lets the woman that interests you know of your obvious desire and of your fear as well.

It seems like he is confused about this special woman. First he says, "I got to stop wasting my time", then he says "I'm gonna try this one more time". A man can relate to him on this song. He just wants to know where he stands, and if this woman is worth pursuing. He knows he has to be patient but he doesn't know what he's actually waiting for or how long he will wait.

He wants this woman with a passion. But he's not just looking for a fling. He's a grown man, and he's looking for something serious and he wants her to understand why he says, "I won't make you stay, if you wanna go. I can't make you love me if your heart says no." But is there a "possibility?"

Another favorite on this CD, is the ninth track.

This track talks about hard times and living in bad conditions. It says no matter how rough a situation gets, you just need to keep on pushing. The song says just close your eyes, keep on pushing, just stop looking, and some one will show up.

The 10th track has a nice beat, which you can nod your head to. Saadiq describes how he will always wait on this special woman. The first verse goes " I'm here when you need me you should know. I can always listen, because girl you're my baby. This thing that you're going through, just do what you got to do, and love will show you the rest."

This is deep because this is not an easy task. Because the closer you get to this person the more frustrating it becomes not to have their full attention.

Track 17 is another smooth song. The beat behind this track is soothing and relaxing. It talks about how Saadiq is leaving this town and going uptown. He explains how he just wants to leave his hometown and all his problems behind.

You can feel his pain in this song. This song will really hit you if you have a problem that's just eating you up. It makes you just want to get away from world and find an escape route. What is uptown though? Does he just mean he wants to relocate and start his life all over in a different place? Or does he mean his time has come, and the man up above has called upon him, so he's going uptown to a better place.

Then again he could just mean he had a bad day and he can't wait to get home so he can roll up a fat joint, and float uptown. This is a song you have to hear a few times to determine what he is actually trying to say.

This CD is highly recommended to anyone who loves to really sit back and listen to music. If you like D'Angelo, Music Soul Child, Avant and Babyface, then this CD is definitely a treasure.

The CD's scheduled release date is June 11, 2002. Enjoy the fact that you got a glimpse into this CD earlier than anyone else.