This week’s The Best You Never Heard serves up unknown to the masses cuts by Destiny’s Child, 3LW, Jamelia and former Xscape member Kandi. Do you have any suggestions for future instalments? Drop me an email at sam@thatgrapejuice.net
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Destiny’s Child – Gots My Own
Though a very solid effort, one thing that till this day puzzles me about Destiny Child’s 2004 LP ‘Destiny Fulfilled’ is that a sizable proportion of the bonus, international only etc tracks could easily have featured on the album – most especially considering it’s overly generous track list size (11 tracks). Perhaps, one of the best of these tracks is the Rodney ‘Darkchild’ Jerkins produced ‘Gots My Own’. The song, which is very much in the vein of DC’s ‘Independent Women’ stance, is great IMO primarily because its Old Skool feel is so far removed from your typical Darkchild production, and moreover the expected Destiny’s Child sound. Also, the ladies’ unmatched harmonies/vocal arrangements work particularly well here.
Listen: Gots My Own
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3LW – Feelin’ You (ft. Jermaine Dupri)
With new member Jessica in tow, 3LW looked set to make another attempt at hitting it big in 2006, under the label guidance of Jermaine Dupri’s So So Def imprint (which at the time was an off-shoot of Sony). For one reason or the other, their ‘comeback’ album ‘Point of No Return’ was shelved (See: The Cheetah Girls); the girls did, however, release ‘Feelin’ You’ as a single (albeit an under-performing one). With top notch production courtesy of JD himself, the song managed to blend the their soft vocals with a befitting beat that still possessed that trademark JD ‘knock’. Great one for the summer.
Listen: Feelin’ U (ft. Jermaine Dupri)
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Jamelia – Beware Of The Dog
Many in the industry were initially touting UK R&B star Jamelia as our answer to Beyonce. Indeed, as well as her imaging, videos (See: ‘Superstar’) etc, the fact she was doing it so BIG over here at the same time as the Destiny’s Child front-woman, no doubt further fuelled the comparisons. However, with her last LP, 2006’s ‘Walk With Me’, the mother of 2 switched things up radically sound-wise, serving up an album full of R&B tinged Pop/Rock/Dance tracks – one of the standouts being ‘Beware Of The Dog’. With it’s hard hitting, rousing feel, the song isn’t far removed from some of the better cuts on Rihanna’s ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’ CD. Good stuff.
Listen: Beware Of The Dog
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Kandi – I Need
Some of you may remember Kandi as one quarter of 90’s R&B vocal group Xscape. Having gone on to pen smashes for the likes of TLC (‘No Scrubs’) and Destiny’s Child (‘Bills Bills Bills’), she launched an ill-fated solo career, which in all fairness to her, did spawn the moderate hit ‘Don’t Think I’m Not’. Fast forward to 2006 and with talk of a new album in the works (which has yet to materialize), she dropped ‘I Need’ as a buzz single. Detailing the stress of her day to day life (“Got my baby daddy talking to me sideways, got a stack of bills sittin’ that I ain’t paid”), there really is no other way to describe this other than R-E-A-L. Lyrically the track is as engaging as they come; the beat goes hard too.
Listen: I Need
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Your thoughts: Hit(s) or Miss(es)?
As expected, things got pretty intense in R. Kelly’s trial today as the prosecution’s star witness took the stand to give evidence:
