djzyonseven
Let me put an album on blast!
Before I get into this Album Blast, let me say this.
Anita Baker’s Rapture was the first album I spotlighted this way, but it definitely won’t be the last.
You’re going to see more Album Blasts on The Soundtrack of Who I Became because sometimes one song simply isn’t enough.
Some albums carry whole chapters of my life.
Some I can put on, press play, and just let ride from beginning to end. 🎶
When this CD came out in 1991, it became one of my favorites almost immediately.
And yes, CD. I was already in my CD era by then. 😂
Jodeci’s Forever My Lady is absolutely one of those albums.
The first five songs were Stay, Come & Talk to Me, Forever My Lady, I’m Still Waiting, and U and I.
Basically, they came out the gate saying, “Oh, you wanted slow jams?“
We got you.” ❤️🔥
That run was ridiculous.
Those songs didn’t just live in my CD player either.
Stay, Come & Talk to Me, and Forever My Lady became regulars in my Quiet Storm world.
I played them during my college radio days, put them on slow jam playlists, and worked them into mixes I made for people.
If I was setting a late-night mood, Jodeci was somewhere nearby. 🌙🎧
And yes, let’s keep this personal because that’s what this site is.
I made love to those songs too.
More than once. 😏
That first stretch of Forever My Lady could soundtrack an entire evening without anybody touching the skip button.
I’m just saying. Some of y’all know exactly what I mean.
What made Jodeci different was that they could sound romantic without sounding polished to death.
K Ci and JoJo could take a love song straight to church, while DeVanté Swing and Mr. Dalvin helped give those harmonies that raw, pleading edge.
DeVanté was also the creative engine behind much of the album, writing and producing heavily throughout it, with Al B. Sure! contributing to the production and sound of several of those early slow cuts.
Here’s some trivia I didn’t know back then.
Gotta Love was actually Jodeci’s first single, released before Forever My Lady.
It didn’t become the monster hit the ballads did, but I loved it. 🔥
Gotta Love was one of my favorite uptempo cuts around 1991 and 1992.
That’s another reason this album worked for me.
Jodeci could have you laid back in full Quiet Storm mode, then turn around and hit you with New Jack Swing energy.
And the title song has its own story. Forever My Lady was written by DeVanté Swing and Al B. Sure!, and Al’s contribution was connected to Kim Porter, who was pregnant with their son Quincy.
Even that unforgettable opening, “So You’re Having My Baby,” reportedly caused some concern because Jodeci were so young.
Yet that line stayed, and thank goodness it did.
The album went on to become triple platinum, while Forever My Lady, Stay, and Come & Talk to Me all reached No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B chart.
Three number 1s on their first album! 🏆
Come & Talk to Me even climbed to No. 11 on the Hot 100. 📻
But charts aren’t why this album is here.
My Forever My Lady picks are Stay, Come & Talk to Me, Forever My Lady, I’m Still Waiting, U and I, and Gotta Love.
Those are the records that stayed with me.
Thirty-five years later, I can still put this album on and let it ride.
No skipping.
No overthinking.
Just memories, great R&B, and that unmistakable Jodeci sound. 💿❤️
That’s what an Album Blast is going to be about.
Not simply reviewing an album, but remembering where it lived in my life.
And trust me, I’ve got a whole lot more albums to talk about.
Decades of albums!
djz7
#TheSoundtrackOfWhoIBecame, #Jodeci, #ForeverMyLady, #90sRnB, #RnBClassics, #QuietStorm, #SlowJams, #NewJackSwing, #AlbumBlast, #RnBMusic, #djzyonseven, #thesoundtrackofmylife
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