Whenever it comes to groups, it's always been the lead singer...and the rest of 'em. I know folk in my contacts who SWEAR they're music connoisseurs and can't name the entire Jackson 5 outside of Mike & Tito. And keep in mind they only know Tito cause of all the jokes. In fact, that's one of the reasons why I don't think we have any new R&B groups popping up anymore cause it's already a foregone conclusion that the lead singer is gonna leave to go solo so why even bother starting a group? All of that to say that nobody out the Destiny's Child squad has really done anything dope on the music scene except B. Hell, B was Destiny's Child so she's don't even count. Yeah, Kelly had that jawn "Motivation" which was dope but come on ya'll who's listened to all 4 of those Kelly albums? Yeah...that's what I thought. Ya'll probably didn't even know that she had 4 albums out. And don't even get me started on Michelle's gospel albums. Well to be honest I can't get started on 'em cause myself and along with both the saved and secular worlds never had any urge to listen to them. But when it comes to Toya, shorty's like that queen of diamonds that's in your hand during a spades game that you counted as a pos and if you play your hand right, you just might be able to make that queen skate. So since I've always had love for Toya, ya'll know I had to give her new album "Back 2 Life" a spin in my rotation. Now the real question is can I really get this Queen to skate or am I getting set?
The D'mile produced "I'm Ready" sets the Letoya Luckett show off LOVELY and the album's title track "B2L" sets off with Toya and her man beefin' & has her questioning whether she should stay or bounce in this relationship cause she loves dude, even though she know he's not good for her. "Show Me" is dope and has that 80's roller skating rink bounce to it and "Middle" has Toya taking a trip down to the trap & trying to figure out if she's getting back with dude even though she knows he ain't good for her so maybe they could meet somewhere in the middle, "ain't not a nigga in here that I could want more, but I know what happens if we go down that road/it's hard to measure the risk that we're taking, like who'll clean up that mess after we make it?" "The Grey" featuring Ludacris picks up where "Middle" leaves off because if Toya messes with ole boy like that they'll be in the grey area not knowing what they really are, "there's no way we can stay in the grey, we don't have to fall in love if that ain't what you want/but it's not ok for us to play in the grey, we don't have to fall in love but I know what I want." The Warryn Campbell produced "Name of Love" is cool and "My Love" is DOOOOOPE and if it said produced by Pharrell it would be getting played any and everywhere but since it was produced by Warryn Campbell...it won't smdh.
The Andre Harris (of A Touch of Jazz fame) produced BANGER "World's Apart" has Toya telling her dude this thing ain't gonna work cause they're worlds apart, "I believed that we had it all, thought we would last forever/through the ups and down I swore up and down you were mine/never loved anyone like you but you never gave me a reason to but that's why I can't find any excuse to keep holding on to you." "Weekend" has Toya back in the trap and has her telling a random that if he plays his cards right that he can have her but just for the weekend while "Higher" slows the party down and has Toya telling her man exactly what she loves, needs and wants. "Loving You" is dope and "Disconnected" ends "Back to Life" on a solid note but my favorite banger is the Jo Blaq produced "Used To" that has Toya breaking down how she's the shit, "I cannot lie, I do this I do this shit, come as no surprise cause I get the job done no pressure/not playing games I know how she moving, it's clear we don't think the same/anything that I desire I'm doing that, I don't like to share, if she gets you don't hold me back/don't compare me to these girls that's soft up in here, this is not arrogance baby, just being clear."
I won't hold you, this Toya album is MUCH doper then I could have ever expected it to be. Which makes me wonder, am I only feeling it because I didn't really have any expectations in the first place? And the answer is nah...not at all. This go 'round Toya mos def deserves all of the love I'm showing this album regardless of what my expectations were from the get go. And if by some strange chance you're wondering if my queen of diamond skated or not, that just lets me know that you've never played spades with me cause ya'll would know better....of course my queen skated.
4 outta 5 mic
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