One of the dopest things about social media is that I have not only been blessed to become friends with SOOOOOO many dope people but I've literally met folk that I consider to family! And while for most folk I can't remember how or when we connected, the one person who I know the exact moment we got cool is my bro JR. See, Leon Bridges had just dropped his debut album "Coming Home" and JR did a video about it around the same time I was writing a review on it and we both saw each other's tweets about it, which started a convo and now three years later, dude is fam. It's literally to the point that I can't even think of Leon Bridges without thinking of JR. It's like the two are synonymous which one another. And when it comes to Mr. Bridges I can't even begin to tell ya'll how much of a fan I am of this dude. I LOVED "Coming Home" and PLEASE don't even get me started on Mick's CLASSIC remix album "Coming Home to Texas." But the only question I had when it came to dude's music was what's he gonna do when this whole "old school sounding like Sam Cooke vibe" gets that was dope back in the day gets played out? Welp, with his new album "Good Thing" on tap I guess we're about to find out.
Now, here's the first problem with "Good Thing." The first song "Bet Ain't Worth The Hand" is just too damn good! The first day I literally listened to this song for a hour straight. Then turned it off to go make beats because I was so inspired. Came back the second day and damn near did the same thing again! I don't know what it is about this song but it just feels right...if that even makes sense. One of my biggest beef with music nowadays is that so many albums don't start off on a strong note but Leon made sure that wasn't a problem with "Good Thing." "Bad Bad News" gives you a glimpse into what it would sound like if Leon got his hands on some of Tip's SP discs when he was cooking up "People's Instinctives..." and is just flat out stupid. "Shy" just continues the stupidity and has Leon singing, "I just want to see ya, you could come over/I know ya shy, you can be shy with me/you know I need you and I’m not quite sober" over a beat that will bring back memories of the late great J. Dilla and "Beyond" has a Leon wondering if this new shorty in his life is the one, I'm scared to death that she might be it, that the love is real, that the shoe might fit/she might just be my everything and beyond, space and time in the afterlife/will she have my kids, will she be my wife/she might just be my everything and beyond."
"Forgive You" has Leon forgiving a shorty who did him dirty, even though his friends tell him not to, "Lions" has a D'Angelo "Brown Sugarish" feel to it which is dope as hell while "If It Feels Good (Then It Must Be)" and "You Don't Know" are both uptempo dance bangers that are both in the vein of a Jake One & Mayer Hawthorne's Tuxedo vibe. "Mrs" breaks down the struggle of being in a relationship that you wanna get out of but for some reason, you just can't. "I tried to let go we end up on the floor and you try to leave when I need you the most, sometimes I wonder what we holding on for/then you climb on top of me and I remember/you know that I think you the love of my life, but lovin’ and hatin’ is such a fine line/sometimes I wonder why I went knockin’ on ya door/then you climb on top of me and I remember" and when I tell you I don't know if there's a doper way to end an album then with the flat out AMAZING "Georgia to Texas" I really mean I don't know if there's a doper way. Usually with reviews, I save this outro sentence to shout out my fave song off the album but here's the second problem with "Good Thing" I've got four favorite songs! Whether it's how the album sets off with the first three songs or how it ends with the last song, there's absolutley no way I can pick just one favorite song off "Good Things" and I have no idea when's the last time that's happened.
The wild thing about "Good Thing" is that I had absolutely no idea it was even dropping. And I'm ALWAYS up on when new music is coming out! I was in Target with baby girl and thought I was buggin when I saw it and ya'll already know the first person I called was JR and he said the album was SICK and guess what? He wasn't lying. Is it in the same vein as "Coming Home?" Well, kinda sorta, sorta kinda but he's mos def tries to update his style which may take some folk a minute to get used to. I won't hold you, there's nothing wrong with his "new sound" whether it's the uptempo bangers or his more jazzy steez cause to be honest, dude is like the Steph Curry of soul music. Cause the same way that no matter what defense you throw at Steph he's still gonna drop 30 with his eyes closed, Leon is still gonna kill whatever genre you mix his voice with. Would I have preferred an entire soul/jazzy album from him with songs like "Bet Ain't Worth The Hand" and "Georgia To Texas?" No doubt. But the dope thing is that no matter what you prefer to hear Mr. Bridges over, if you love soul music no matter how you define it or break it down, then you'll mos def LOVE Leon's latest offering cause that dreaded sophomore slump isn't rearing it's ugly head 'round these parts.
4 outta 5 mics
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