This may be a combination of R&B Sunday and Turn Yo Headphones Up in one post. With an impressive musical catalog, Raheem DeVaughn doesn’t have a bad album…he also doesn’t have an album that has resonated at the registers. He tours with all your favorite folks, works with all your favorite artists, gets Grammy nominations and industry wide respect and yet, most of you haven’t heard a full album by Radio Raheem. I can’t say that he doesn’t have the label behind him because he’s on Jive Records, so what’s the missing piece (rhetorical)?
A Place Called Love Land (One of the Soulections 2013 albums of the year) may be his best album to date. One of the songs I’ve really enjoyed more as time goes on is “Ridiculous”. I consider this an updated version of “If Loving You Is Wrong” by Luther Ingram. Raheem smoothly croons that he and his woman may be soo in love that it’s ridiculous, but he doesn’t mind at all. This over 4 minute long ballad is constructed unlike present day music, and I mean that in the best way possible. It’s a throwback to that really good, thick and lush production that we miss. The more I think about this song and album, the more I think I may need to do a review of it…