djzyonseven
There are certain albums that don’t just remind me of a period in my life.
They remind me of a whole atmosphere. 🌙🎶
Joe’s All That I Am is one of those albums.
By 1997, I’d already spent years behind a microphone and behind the music, and Quiet Storm was very much in my blood.
Around this period I was working with 1.FM as their R&B DJ.
Different DJs handled different genres, but R&B was mine.
And at night, I could really get into my zone with the Quiet Storm, sometimes going from around 10 at night until 2 in the morning.
Sometimes even 3 or 4.
I loved those hours.
Still do.
There’s something almost therapeutic about being a late night DJ.
You’re not just playing records.
You’re setting a mood.
The lights are low, everybody else is winding down, and you’re sitting there deciding what song needs to come next. ❤️🎧
And Joe was made for that kind of radio.
All That I Am was his second album and his first for Jive Records.
Released in 1997, it became his breakthrough, reaching No. 13 on the Billboard 200 and No. 4 on the R&B album chart before eventually going platinum.
And this album came READY.
It opens with All the Things (Your Man Won’t Do), which had already appeared on the Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood soundtrack.
Joe co wrote it with Joshua Thompson and Michele Williams, and Joe and Thompson produced it.
The song reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 2 on the R&B chart.
Then you get The Love Scene, Don’t Wanna Be a Player, Good Girls, All That I Am and No One Else Comes Close.
Bruh. 😏
ALL!🔥
That’s not an album casually flirting with the Quiet Storm.
That album walked in, dimmed the lights and made itself comfortable. 😂
What I appreciate even more today is how involved Joe was creatively.
I knew he was a songwriter, but looking back at the credits reminded me just how much producing he was doing too.
He’s credited across the album as a producer, writer, musician, programmer, mixer and executive producer.
That matters to me because I’ve always had another level of respect for artists who can sing, write AND produce.
That’s the trifecta.
You’re not simply performing somebody else’s vision.
You’re helping build your own musical destiny. 🎹🎤
And he had some serious people around him.
Joshua Thompson, Edwin Tony Nicholas, Larry Rock Campbell and Gerald Levert were among the album’s producers.
A young Rodney Darkchild Jerkins produced Don’t Wanna Be a Player, which Joe co wrote.
That record also appeared on the Booty Call soundtrack and became another major R&B hit.
Then there’s No One Else Comes Close.
That’s my mfing jam!
Joe co wrote it with Gary Baker and Wayne Perry and co produced it with Tony Nicholas.
Two years later, the Backstreet Boys recorded the song for their monster 1999 album Millennium.
That tells you something about the strength of the songwriting underneath all that smoothness.
But again, my connection to All That I Am will always come back to those nights.
When I hear this album, I can hear the Quiet Storm again.
I remember what it felt like sitting there late at night, playing music for people who were driving home, lying in bed, falling in love, making love, nursing a broken heart or just needing some damn good R&B before they went to sleep. 🌃❤️
I 💜 djing late night Quiet Storms.
I’ve done Quiet Storm radio for a big chunk of my life, and lately I keep thinking about doing it again.
Maybe another internet radio station.🎙️
Maybe another late night show.
Because the more I think about it, the more I realize I don’t think I’m finished with that chapter yet.
And if that microphone ever comes back on late at night, trust me…
Joe is going back into rotation.
𝑫𝑱𝒁7
In my opinion, earlier this month, Joe won that ‘Donell Jones‘ VERZUZ battle.
For the record, I 💜 both of their catalogs.
But Donell Jones was real pitchy! 🗣️
#TheSoundtrackOfWhoIBecame, #JoeThomas, #AllThatIAm, #90sRnB, #QuietStorm, #SlowJams, #RnBMusic, #ClassicRnB, #90sMusic, #AlbumBlast, #djzyonseven, #thesoundtrackofmylife
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