From The Vault is back this week and salutes a seismic jam from pioneering R&B quartet Jodeci. Today’s pick is 1995’s fiery ‘Freek’n You.’
Lifted from the group’s third studio album, ‘The Show, the After Party, the Hotel,’ the track was serviced as the set’s lead offering and made a mighty splash upon its arrival.
Members K-Ci, JoJo, Mr Dalvin, and DeVante Swing were riding high from the success of their previous LPs ‘Forever My Lady’ and ‘Diary of a Mad Band’ and were poised to further cement their status as music royalty.
And this classic saw them bring said aim to fruition.
Penned and produced by group member DeVante Swing, the song made no apologies for its bedroom agenda. Scintillating, hypnotic, and vocally astute – thanks to dynamic delivery from lead singers K-Ci and JoJo – the track saw Jodeci serenading their love interest with lyrics attesting to how much they wanted to “freek you.”
Its accompanying music video, which was directed by filmmaker Brett Ratner and featured models Beverly Peele, Veronica Webb, and Kara Young – played up the group’s sex symbol status at the time as well as the album’s titular theme.
As 90s R&B slow jams and visuals go, ‘Freek’n You’ remains emblematic of the era ’til this day.
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Echoing the age-old adage: sometimes it’s useful to look back to move forward.
And we feel this is oh so applicable to the state of male R&B in the contemporary climate.
We’d love to see a re-embrace of the serenading brand of the genre amongst this era’s male vocalists.
The convergence with Hip-Hop sonics and culture has brought with it a more hard-hitting strand of R&B delivery.
Though we’re here for it and can point to many an act who have roused us with this more hybrid sound, it’s relegated some of the more core aspects of R&B to the extreme fringes of the adult contemporary. Specifically, melody, narrative-driven lyrics, and potent vocal performance.
Perhaps by borrowing from Jodeci’s masterful handbook, the new class can inject additional heart back into our beloved R&B.
