Jodeci were the heirs apparent to the New Jack throne vacated by the disbanding of Guy. A little tougher, perhaps. A little more street, definitely. A little more gospel tinged, too. They'd already enjoyed good success with their 1991 debut album, Forever My Lady, which more or less passed me by thanks to the awesomeness of Guy's The Future, released the same year, which stole all the limelight, as far as I was concerned... but that's another story (and another selection of posts).
However, forward on two years to '93 and Guy had gone their separate ways. Good timing then for Jodeci to drop their much harder, more "gangsta" 2nd album Diary Of A Mad Band, which (deservedly) blew up in a huge way. There were no filler tracks, save for Jodecidal Hotline, which was a skit anyway, and only three ballads, and then, a gradual slide into dirtier, and funkier territory with each track after that. It was a real tour de force.
Really though - this album was a straight banga.
The album served as a launching platform for such greats as Timbaland (who was an understudy of Devante), Missy Elliott (heard rapping on two of the tracks) and Ginuwine - they were all members of DeVante's Swing Mob team at this point.
It was a huge hit... and what do you know? Before the year was out, from H-Town to Kreuz, every R&B band and their dog were sounding like Jodeci.
That same year, Jodeci contributed an upbeat party jam to the excellent Who's The Man soundtrack album (I've still never seen that film, but I always loved Ed Lover and Dr Dre on "Yo! MTV Raps") called Let's Go Through the Motions. It wasn't one of their bigger hits, but remains a club smasher. It was a new track, not culled from Diary..., although later editions of that album would include Let's Go Through The Motions, and their cover of the Stevie Wonder classic Lately as extra tracks. The track itself features funky fresh hip hop production feels and just bangs. Utterly essential.
I love this track, hope you do too.
Enjoy!
- Kymba :)
Tracklist
- Let's Go Through the Motions (radio)
- Let's Go Through the Motions (instrumental)
- Let's Go Through the Motions (intro radio)
- Bonus - Let's Go Through the Motions (album version)
PS - I've also included the original full-length track from the Who's The Man album, in addition to the three tracks on this CD single.
