What's Good Ya'll! Happy Black History Month! Now I know its coming to an end but for real we celebrate and honor our ancestors/people all year long around here! I didn't create a playlist this month, trying to catch up on all the new music! But I did want to highlight a really dope underrated Black History Month Track that I think you should check out if you haven't before.
One of my favorite albums growing up that stayed in heavy rotation was Tevin Campbell's second studio album, 'I'm Ready'. All 14 tracks had me in a chokehold, however when you think of this album or hear people talk about it the two songs people always bring up are his most two famous hits, 'Can We Talk' and 'I'm Ready'. While those songs are huge soulful bops, both written by Babyface, we can't forget the rugged, funk part of the album that was heavily influenced by Prince.
There are a few songs on the album Prince wrote, but one of the ones that stood out the most to me (right after Halls of Desire because that song is a whole vibe ok lol) was Uncle Sam.
What is so cool about Prince's influence on this album is you wouldn't know unless you were a true Prince fan, not just because of the sound of the records he arranged (I mean that alone is a dead give away) but Prince was credited on the album under each song he had written and produced using the pseudonym Paisley Park, also with co-writing credit given to Paula Sherield, who wrote the song’s rap fro 'Uncle Sam'. While specific recording dates are unknown it was said that this track along with the others Prince wrote and produced on the album were all recorded in Paisley Park in Minnesota. How dope!?
While the history is amazing my favorite part about this song is the lyrics and the sound itself. For Tevin to experiment with funk and rock sounds on his second album was bold especially for an artist who didn't give off that vibe. Prince strategically gave him tracks that fit his sound to execute and he did it so effortlessly. Prince is also no stranger to being very vocal about black issues and being socially conscious to the times. Within the lyrics there's a mention of being a soldier in Vietnam and walking in Birmingham and while Tevin wasn't alive yet during both of those events, Prince was, so it was beautiful to see the memories of another artist reflected during what was at the time a modern sound.
Check out the song below, let me know what you think it means:
I'm a Tevin fan ok! I have loved this man forever lol So trust me when I say you have to run this album back! If you can remember, we were first introduced to Tevin when he was a child, with this album Tevin steps more into his grown man for sure, vocally he's grown so much here and its a joy to listen to. So Happy BHM ya'll and salute to the ICONS Tevin Campbell and Prince, who gave us not only unforgettable tracks but also paved the way for the next generation of artists.
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