From The Vault: Shaï – ‘If I Ever Fall In Love’

Published: Sunday 27th Jul 2014 by Joe

At a time where male R&B is on the up, we’d like to pay tribute to a song that  helped popularize the genre in the first place. Shaï’s ‘If I Ever Fall In Love’ is today’s From The Vault pick.

Released in a Boyz II Men-dominated era, the A Cappella track is a harmonizing masterclass that took the R&B world by storm in 1992. Written by band member Carl Martin, it was blocked from the #1 spot by Whitney Houston’s gargantuan smash ‘I Will Always Love You’ and had to settle for a #2 placing – for 8 weeks – on the Billboard Hot 100. It did get to the top spot of the Billboard Hip-Hop/R&B chart. It was also a UK Top 40 hit and placed 4th in the Australian charts.

The Ian Fletcher-directed video uses the same “less is more” approach the song does with the guys standing in a circle while singing the  track and a scant beauty shots injected for good measure. For us, the simplicity  allows the lyrics to really shine through, but most importantly the gentlemen’s voices to take centre-stage.

******

We wish more artists today would be as vocally adventurous as Shaï and other acts from the 90’s with their vocal arrangements. Though autotune and studio trickery is a necessity for a slew of modern acts, we feel some might rely on it too much, resulting in robotic, soulless deliveries. Furthermore, the EDM era seems to have sacrificed melody in favor of anthemic hooks and repetitive riffs.

Hopefully, the reemergence of organic music will mean more melodically and vocally rich tunes that will go on to inspire the next generations the same way ‘If I Ever Fall In Love’ has inspired ours.

Shaï, we salute you, we thank you.

shai

Your thoughts?

Posted under:

Comments 9

Please Post Your Comments & Reviews

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. PeaceMaker July 27, 2014

    Who??

    • ~The Arcade~ July 28, 2014

      Oh just SHUT UP!!! Ironically your username is ‘peacemaker’ smh

    • etesseinxb July 28, 2014

      .Are you still single ? You are not alone. JOIN FIND Black Men Dating White Women, White men Black Women dating on== ♥ BlackMen Dating WhiteWomen(.) o r g ♥ == Thousands of Black Men, Black Women, White Men and White Women Free Join Here Everyday. This common interest will help make dating easier, more effective, and more successful. Have a try. You are not alone.

  2. ceer0624 July 27, 2014

    I support interracial relationship. And you? If you are single and open to look for interracial partners,then don’t miss it. All members in this group believe Interracial relationship. That is –► ____ “MixedPartner.C❤m “….. ___~
    Why not google it and get more information about it? You can google-►Mixed Partner

  3. iffamsuxbc July 27, 2014

    .Are you still single ? You are not alone. JOIN FIND Black Men Dating White Women, White men Black Women dating on== ♥ BlackMen Dating WhiteWomen(.) o r g ♥ == Thousands of Black Men, Black Women, White Men and White Women Free Join Here Everyday. This common interest will help make dating easier, more effective, and more successful. Have a try. You are not alone.

  4. Stephy July 28, 2014

    This is the type of music I LOVE! Shitt gives you chills!

  5. ~The Arcade~ July 28, 2014

    Thanks TGJ for educating these mindless 90’s babies on REAL MUSIC!

  6. Absolved July 28, 2014

    Never cared for this acapella version. I preferred the remix that had music.

    1993 was the year of the R&B vocal group. They popped up like weeds and were literally everywhere. During the same period, you had Shai, SWV, Jade, Silk, UNV, Xscape…plus other groups that had emerged a year or two before like Boyz II Men, En Vogue, Jodeci and to a lesser extinct TLC. All clamoring for airtime and playing to that same demographic.

    Shai seemed earnest and charming at the time. They were one of the better looking groups and vocally they may have been stronger than most of their peers at the time (I would even argue that they could outsing Boyz II Men)…but lyrically they were as sappy as a tree. They were a little TOO emotional. I think that’s why they burned out so quickly. The Valentines Day card type songs that they did became less and less solid as time went on.

  7. JOHNVIDAL July 28, 2014

    Can you imagine something like Whitney Houston´s eternal hit at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and this other song at #2 (and only by that you can imagine how great the rest of the top10 was) nowadays??? Seriously! 80s and 90s… that´s not going to happen again it seems… 🙁

Recommended Posts
..**