Raphael Saadiq @ Sugarhill 10/02/2008
By Olamma N. Oparah
It seems, with the rise in popularity for artists like Amy Winehouse and Solange, that the Motown sound is back again. Some may argue that the greats who originated the now old school genre sang and performed it best, and the current fad of recreating the throwback sound should be thrown away. But these nay-sayers might not yet have experienced the revamped sound of Oakland, Ca,. artist Raphael Saadiq. The former front man for 90’s R&B group Tony Toni Tone, Saadiq is now on tour promoting his third solo album “They Way I See It” (Columbia) and was in Atlanta last Thursday at Sugarhill in the Underground. The performance was a refreshing break from the in-your-face, crotch-grinding attitude of today’s R&B.
Saadiq, backed by a seven-piece band, burst onto the stage dressed to the nines in a marigold serge suit reminiscent of those worn by The Temptations. The crooner ripped into his catalogue beginning with “100 Yard Dash,” and his first single “Love That Girl,” and with the help of his two background singers, intricately swirled and stepped in formations that would easily out-do “Smokey and The Miracles.”
Perspiring hard enough for drops of sweat to turn his dapper suit a deeper orange, he launched into an amalgam of songs from not only his new solo efforts but singles from his collaborations with “Lucy Pearl” and “Tony, Toni, Tone.” The 23 song set climaxed as guitar clad Saadiq, began to play his 1991 hit single “Just Me and You,” and as he held his microphone towards the audience he laughed and shook his head, “Ya’ll don’t know the words.” As the band lowered its volume you could hear Saadiq’s nasal tenor over the hoots and hollers of the crowd, “Don’t worry ‘bout, Ricky. Don’t worry ‘bout Mike. Don’t worry ‘bout Bobby baby.” The lyrics were, he explained, a tribute to his favorite group, New Addition. And as the crowd sang along, waving their hands and bopping their heads to the melodic baseline one could understand why the resurgence of such a throwback sound is a good thing.
