#All donell jones songs plus
His sheer songwriting skill and golden voice did that fine, and neither of them have diminished whatsoever during his 20 plus years in show business.
#All donell jones songs free
This album made him free to do whatever he wanted to do with his follow up records, and since then his soul inflected R&B has bought him more critical notices than many others with better chart records, but the numbers were never what made Jones special. “Where I Wanna Be” was a bona-fide smash, going platinum within the year and yielding smash hit singles on both sides of the Atlantic. However, the stars would later align for him with his second record. The album was released in 1996 and “My Heart” was a respectable hit for someone on their debut effort, powered by a hit cover of Stevie Wonder’s 1976 single “Knocks Me Off My Feet” as its lead single. After “Think Of You”, a song that Jones wrote, was taken and made a hit by some no-hoper called Usher, the higher-ups at LaFace gave Jones the all-clear to record his debut solo album. Shortly afterwards he struck up a friendship with a DJ named Edward “Eddie F” Ferrell, and the two formed a creative partnership with LaFace Records. Fortunately for both him and us, Jones made the right decision to immerse himself in music rather than the gangs he grew up alongside, and made his official debut as a singer-songwriter in 1993. Donell Jones’ upbringing typifies this since he was born the son of a gospel singer, but early in his adolescence was tempted by the seedy goings-on of the south side of his native Chicago. Those that constantly have a devil and an angel on their shoulder and can’t quite decide which one they want to go with. Through slamming slap bass, masterful slow-grind and clear-cut self-obsession, Lyrics is a unified hip hop-tinged RnB mainstay, familiar without the distasteful nostalgia, and heavy on infectious beats.Sometimes the best music comes from those with the biggest divide in them. Whether it’s touches like the soaring harmonies on Just a Little’s chorus, the decided lack of big-name guests or the idea of a lothario being occasionally crushed, Jones is clever and sleek enough to pull this album off. But to criticise Lyrics for being unsubtle would be to miss the point – this is an album styled on caricatures, with strong tunes. His ‘type’ swings the pendulum between heinous chauvinist (see Blackmail’s flat-lined sneaking-out-the-mistress bragging) and changed man (on Love Like This). When the Chicago-born singer does take centre-stage, he juxtaposes overconfidence with shyness to great effect – each through the microscope he’s created. The song’s incisive Timbaland-style verses are brilliant, a tease for what can be achieved with a more liberal mind on production but he’s gone too far on being benevolent. More unfittingly, Jones selflessly gives away one of Lyrics’ 13 songs to Breeze – he isn’t even present on You Can Burn ("I usually don’t do this but I got to introduce y’all to Breeze). What’s Next, for example, sounds like the trajectory Usher should’ve followed – and the production is warm and luxurious. Jones’ impressively suave soft touch, soulful backing and bedroom vocals don’t require these self-justificatory mixtape-style intros. Jones / The rebirth of hip hop and RnB" foreword. The spoken pre-ambles recur too, but less humorously – it’s entirely unnecessary to introduce the album with a "Yo, it's your boy D. But that’s comforting rather than not, apart from when Jones’ mother introduces Your Place with the immortal words "Give them some of that Chicago-style RnB I brought you up on" – before the chorus strikes with its "Can we do it in your place baby" refrain. Subject-wise, it doesn’t stray too far from blush-inducing, unadulterated filth. The signature silky vocals are consistently come-hither, and the subject is so elementarily sex-focused – but rather than a soulless recreation of what he’s been doing since late-90s hit U Know What’s Up, it’s an enticing and still-current LP. Donell Jones’s self-produced sixth album, Lyrics, has a lot to treasure.