Sweet Thing

I wanted to highlight some of my favorite performances for Black Music Month but we can all see how far that's gotten (and if you haven't checked in for a bit, that would be nowhere). But I can make it all right with one song. This is originally a Chaka and Rufus tune, and that version is fantastic. It's the one I grew up with and would have been perfectly happy with all my life- if I hadn't ever heard this one by Mary J. Blige. The reason I like this one more is the intensity, the raw and ragged desperation in her voice that never lets up. I mean, that opening lyric puts everything on the line, right up front- 'I will love you anyway, even if you cannot stay... ' The vibe in the Chaka & Rufus version goes back and forth from desperation to laid-back funk. In Mary's version, the tension builds and builds, and I think it takes over in the second half of the song, from the 'you are my heat, you are my fire...' When Mary belts out that 'love me now or I'll go crazy' right there, you fear it may already be too late. I love the Chaka and Rufus, but Mary makes me break out in a cold sweat. Every time.

Some of her stuff can be too over the top for me but on this one, I think she gets it just right. It's from her first album, What's The 411, which I can't really recommend like I can her second, My Life, but I do have a soft spot for it. It's a little rough around the edges, not nearly as slick as her others. It's available everywhere.

Sweet Thing