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’ll reach out and touch the play button on Amerie‘s best-seller – 2005’s ‘Touch’…
After the warm reception of her 2002 Gold-certified debut ‘All I Have’, R&B singer Amerie Rogers reached out to Rich Harrison for a redo. As fans know, Harrison acted as the primary contributor (on the production front) to ‘Have’ – lending his signature hard hitting and D.C.-centralized “go-go” sound to the songbird’s mellow grooves.
What the two cooked up would go on to be the chanteuse’s most prized offering to date – her sophomore album ‘Touch’. Led by the single ‘1 Thing’, the album was given a dynamic launch after actor Will Smith tapped the songstress to include the song as the lead single from his ‘Hitch‘ movie soundtrack…
‘1 Thing’
The result of which saw the tune explode onto charts – eventually peaking in Billboard’s top 10 (her only top 10 to date). The video (and those legs) landed Miss Rogers in mention with the genre’s top divas and brought D.C.’s long “underground” go-go sound to the masses.
‘Talkin About’
But, while the funky ‘1 Thing’ and ‘Talkin About’ combo were drenched in go-go stylings, the rest of the album was signature ‘Amerie’ – rhythmic, urban pop decorated by her harmonic layering . Swiftly becoming a critic favorite and hoping to capitalize on the momentum of the ‘Crunk’ movement of the day, Amerie tapped T.I. and Lil’ Jon for ‘1 Thing’s banging follow-up ‘Touch’…
‘Touch’ (title track)
While ‘Touch’ didn’t exactly touch Billboard charts in the way its predecessor did, it still showcased a new Amerie – sexy, confident, and upped her diva game on stage.
‘1 Thing’ (World Music Awards)
To date the album remains a fan favorite, despite barely passing Gold status. While some thought it would signal brighter days ahead for the songstress, a number of label dramas caused the delay and/or consequent dismissal (from buyers) of the two efforts that followed it.
‘Come With Me’
Either way, ‘Touch’ is still on constantly play here at TGJ HQ nearly a decade after its release. As we anxiously await news on her serially delayed ‘Cymatika’ album, we will play jams like ‘Rolling Down My Face’ and ‘Falling’ with hopes that even if the new project is EDM dominated (as reports indicate), that she sneaks in a few Urban pop numbers like this…
‘All I Need’