Much like our ‘Retro Rewind’ and ‘From the Vault’ segments, readers of That Grape Juice know what avid music lovers we are – especially of hits past.  So in a quest to re-spin the gems and jams of yesterday we introduced a new retrospective segment – ‘TGJ Replay’.

Unlike its ‘Rewind’ and ‘Vault’ predecessors, ‘Replay’ looks to dust off and showcase albums (and eras) from a library of pop music hits.  Today, we press play again on Tweet‘s 2005 criminally underrated sophomore album ‘It’s Me Again’…

Fans went nearly three years without hearing a peep (outside of intermittent collabos) from soulstress Tweet after her groundbreaking debut album ‘Southern Hummingbird’. That all changed in early 2005 when the beauty dropped ‘It’s Me Again’ – her second release from the Missy Elliott-imprint ‘The Goldmind Inc.’

Led by the Kwame-produced single ‘Turn Da Lights Off’…

It appeared the songstress was back in full form, soaring where her vocals seemed to nest best – over retro R&B-themed offerings. Much like her inaugural LP’s ‘Oops Oh My’, the lead single was probably the most radio-friendly of ‘Again’s recordings and not completely representative of the entire body of work.

Fans nor critics seemed to mind as the album won rave reviews from both. Quickly likening the album to a long-awaited ‘part 2’ of her debut, songs like ‘Cab Ride’ and ‘Two of Us’ flew to lists of fan favorites. The latter of the two featured guest vocals from her daughter (whose vocal stylings are uncannily similar to that of her mother’s)..

‘Cab Ride’

‘Two of Us’

Upon its March release, the album was found perched atop R&B charts and landing right in the Billboard 200’s top 20 with 55k sold its first week (less than a third of her first album’s first week numbers).

Despite not featuring as many heartbreak anthems as its predecessor, ‘It’s Me Again’ still had its number of somber tunes – a style the singer had become synonymous with (see: ‘Iceberg’ and ‘I’m Done’).

‘Iceberg’

It’s shelf-life on charts was short lived however. Some attribute its chart performance to lack of promotion while others cite the dominance of crunk music. Be that as it may, fans of the neo-soul sect seem to still be appreciative of Tweet’s sweet soulful coo over instrumentals that would appease even the most diehard of R&B and hip hop genres – straddling the line between the two in ways few before her had done.

‘I’m Done’

Yes, the later 2000s saw the term “tweet” take on new cultural significance, but that has not stopped true R&B fans from equating the term to Miss Charlene Keys. 2013 is seeing Keys take flight on digital charts yet again and we at TGJ are excited to see what else is in store for the southern hummingbird in coming months.

Your thoughts?