Raphael Saadiq: The Way I See It

Some might say the quality of music is on the decline. If you look at the current top ten songs on the U.S. billboard charts, you can see why this is said. Many of the songs, without naming them, are superficial, filled with electronically produced rhythms, computer altered voices, and repetitive themes. Increasingly, however, there’s a resurgence of music produced that strays away from the generic tunes heard on the radio today and tries to recapture what music sounded like in the past. Among the artists who have done this are Alice Smith, Leigh Jones, Fiona Apple, Christina Aguilera, Solange Knowles, Amy Winehouse, and recently Raphael Saadiq (former member of the R&B group known as Tony! Toni! Toné!). On his latest album, ‘The Way I See It,’ Raphael tries to capture the sounds of 60's and 70's soul and R&B, drawing inspiration from The Temptations, Al Green, Gladys Knight & The Pips, and The Four Tops, among others. The first track starts off with “Sure Hope You Mean It,” which has Raphael singing about a woman whom he hopes is true to her word when she says she loves him. As soon as the song starts, you can’t help but tap your fingers against the nearest surface and bob your head to the infectious rhythm and beat. The song stays true to its roots, which gives the impression that perhaps you’re listening to a recording done forty years ago. The album continues in the same style and momentum for several tracks with “100 Yard Dash”, “Keep Marchin”, and “Big Easy”, a deceptively up-tempo song that deals with the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. Listening to these tracks will genuinely make you want to swing and shift your hips, evoking images (and perhaps memories) of people in afros and jerri curls, dressing fashionably in silk clothing, doing the same in fun abandon. Whether intentional or not, ‘The Way I See It’ brings out a deep sense of nostalgia. “Calling” is the first of two ballads in ‘The Way I See It,’ a song that has Raphael pleading for his lady-love to pick up the phone. Saadiq’s voice shines on this track, sounding earnest and passionate without overdoing it. Interestingly, the song has elements of Spanish, which makes the track stand out and grab the listener’s attention. What truly makes ‘The Way I See It’ remarkable is that almost every track (with the exception of the 12th one which is a Sam Cooke cover) is original, created from the ground-up. This is quite an achievement that should not be overlooked. In addition, the album never sounds repetitive - although many of the songs deal with love, Raphael explores the different aspects of it, creating catchy hooks in the process such as on the track “Staying In Love.” Sings Saadiq: “Falling in love can be easy/ Staying in love is too tricky.” Only one minor flaw can be found in Raphael’s album and that is perhaps on the last track, which is a remix. The song features Jay-Z rapping, which makes the track seem a bit out of place in a Motown-sounding album. Raphael probably stands on the overlooked side of the recording industry, most likely because he does not give in to what’s popular in mainstream music today. ‘The Way I See It’ is no doubt this year’s masterpiece of the R&B music genre and can be seen as a true test for what people really want to hear. Would this album be dismissed or recognized for it’s achievement in capturing the essence of Motown? It would be interesting to see what answer time will give us.