RAPHAEL SAADIQ: MOVING PASTWARDS
Raphael Saadiq: Sometimes
Raphael Saadiq: Oh Girl
From The Way I See It (Sony 2008)
Raphael Saadiq has enjoyed a serendipitous path through the world of soul. He first came to fame in the Bay Area family group, Tony! Toni! Toné! and while most others from that new jack era of R&B-meets-hip-hop soon faded into obscurity (En Vogue anyone?), Saadiq has thrived over the course of his 20+ year career, whether it was the Lucy Pearl project of 2000 and more recently, taking the reigns of Joss Stone's Introducing Joss Stone album from last year.
Saadiq's solo career, by comparison, has been quieter. He had Instant Vintage in 2002 and Ray Ray in 2004 but despite that, his reputation as a producer has still outdistanced his other accomplishments. With The Way I See It, Saadiq makes a provocative shift away from the neo-soul sound of his previous works - think soft, mellow arrangements with a subtle hip-hop snap - and throws a hook at the retro-soul sound of Amy Winehouse and Sharon Jones. Obviously, Saadiq's not the first (see my Little Jackie post) but he's no newcomer just angling for any point of entry. I can't think of anyone with as deep a catalog as Saadiq trying out a retro-soul approach but it probably says a lot about his deep musical background that dude is pretty good with it.
That's not to say you're going to be magically transported by The Way I See It back to the heyday of the Supremes, Smokey, Otis and Aretha. But unlike the approach that Mark Ronson took with Winehouse (and subsequent producers have copied), you get the feeling that unlike younger cats who know about soul mostly though recordings, for Saadiq, this also means revisiting his own childhood and the kind of music he grew up with.
Take something like "Sometimes." The drum programming is definitely post-hip-hop but the string and piano arrangements have a deep, gospel quality that, combined with the vocals, is unmistakably a nod to the stirring soul that Sam Cooke pioneered in his tragically brief life.
Likewise, on "Oh Girl," Saadiq does a practically pitch-perfect riff on the Philly soul style of songwriters/producers Gamble and Huff that made groups like the Delfonics and Stylistics so popular in the 1970s. And his early leak, "100 Yard Dash" has that slick, slinky uptempo groove we associate the best of Motown's late '60s catalog.
What's different on Saadiq's album compared to other examples is that Saadiq goes beyond the musical arrangements and production and even finds ways to record his vocals as if they came from 40 years back. It's hard to describe - better to just listen and compare the sound of his recorded voice with, say, Akon's and it becomes pretty obvious that Saadiq purposefully opted for a more lo-fi or mono approach that recalls the oldies hits of yore.
All this good stuff aside though, sometimes the mark is so close, you have to ask if Saadiq's motive here is mimicry or if dipping to the past is meant to enrich the music of his present and that's harder to say. For one thing, Saadiq is effective as a singer but not the greatest voice you've ever heard - it's one thing to reference Cooke, it's something else to have the late singer's aural impact. The lyrics aren't as lazy as those from Al Green's recent album but I can't say I had magically memorized them either after a few lessons. That's the great thing about the best of Motown or Stax - they had great hooks that you had to try to forget. With Saadiq, there weren't many moments where I found the songs seeping into my subconsciousness even if my conscious self enjoyed the the experience.
If it sounds like I'm damning with faint praise - I'm not. I really like this album and historically, I've never been a big fan of Saadiq's songs. But I guess part of me, aware of his years of experience and expertise, wanted to see him do something more than making a really credible Smokey Robinson and the Miracles-sounding song.
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