From The Vault: Keri Hilson – ‘The Way You Love Me (ft. Rick Ross)’

“I’m swaggin’, I’m swaggin’, I’m swaggin’, I’m swaggin’”

From The Vault skews racy this week with Keri Hilson’s edgy ‘The Way You Love Me.’

A love song of a different kind to say the least, ‘Love Me’ was included on Keri’s sophomore effort ‘No Boys Allowed’ in 2010.

At the time, the Rick Ross assisted jam was quite controversial due to its no hold barred lyrical content. Indeed, in many ways the song dually served as a braggadocios account of her bedroom gravitas and an emphatic instruction manual for her male companion.

For Hilson though, the main message was one of female empowerment – something she stressed many times in promotional interviews.

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The formidable Laurieann “Boom Kack” Gibson directed the fiery visual. With cameos from JoJo, Dawn Richard, Columbus Short and Faith Evans, the video managed to solidly capture the essence of suggestive tune. Guns, frantic choreography, and scant outfits made it more than clear: the new and improved “Ms Keri Baby” had arrived.

[Sidenote: It’s mind-boggling how tame this plays today compared to the jaw-dropping response that greeted this on release.]

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We’re scratching our heads at how 8 years have flown by without any new Keri material. It’s been teased in earnest, but we hope to see a return in the coming months of an artist who seemed to be on the cusp of something big.

Ready when you are, Keri.