| Product Summary | | Label: Bmg/arista/la Face | | UPC: 00730082604123 | | Release Date: 9/16/1997 | | Buy.com Sku: 60064631 | | Item#: MRD59H | | Buy.com Sales Rank: 25140 | Format:  CD |
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(P)(C) 1997 BMG Music
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| | Album Notes and Credits |
Notes & Personnel Info |  | Producers include: Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds, Sean "Puffy" Combs, Jermaine | | Dupri, Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence, Timbaland. | | Engineers include: Brad Gilderman, Drew Coleman, Michael Patterson. | | "A Song For Mama" was nominated for a 1998 Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal and for Best Song Written Specifically For A Motion Picture Or For Television. | | Personnel: Total, Usher (vocals, background vocals); Jay-Z, Kelly Price (vocals); Babyface (guitar, Wurlitzer organ, keyboards, drum programming, background vocals); Raphael Saadiq (guitar, background vocals); Darryl Pearson, Graig Love, Michael Thompson (guitar); Greg Phillinganes (piano, Wurlitzer organ); Tricky Stewart, Laney Stewart (keyboards, drum programming); Andr? Benjamin (drums, keyboard programming); Kalifani (congas); Stevie J., Teddy Riley (programming); Crystal Wilson, Dru Hill, Jojo , Melvin, Kevon, K-Ci & JoJo, Monica, Cee-Lo (background vocals). | | Audio Mixers: Neil Pogue; Jermaine Dupri; Jimmy Douglas; Jon Gass; Lane Craven; Phil Tan; Timbaland; Tony Maserati; John Hanes . | | Recording information: Brandon's Way Recording Studios, L.A., CA; Chicago Recording Co., Chicago, IL; KrossWire Studio, Atlanta, GA; Manhattan Center Studios, NY; MasterSound Studios, Virginia Beach, VA; Patchwerk Recording Studio, Atlanta, GA; Studio LaCoCo, Atlanta, GA. | | Arrangers: Chauncey Hannibal; Teddy Riley. | | Soul Food: The Best R&B of 2000 presents some of the year's top urban soul artists and hit singles. Some songs, of course, were bigger hits than others; some are by artists trying to gain a foothold in the crowded urban marketplace, while others are by well-established superstars. Fans of contemporary, hip-hop-influenced R&B will find this an entertaining sampler, with highlights including Toni Braxton's "Wasn't Man Enough," TLC's "No Scrubs," Aaliyah's "I Don't Wanna," R. Kelly's "When a Woman's Fed Up," and a remixed version of Sisqo's "Thong Song" featuring Foxy Brown. ~ Steve Huey | | As the first release from Babyface's movie studio, Soul Food was an auspicious beginning -- a rich, multi-faceted film that captured the complexities and emotions of a contemporary urban black family that never lapses into stereotypes. It was a minor gem, as is Babyface's soundtrack. Like his work on Waiting to Exhale, the soundtrack for Soul Food is a sampler of mainstream urban styles, featuring some ballads, some swingbeat, and some hip-hop. It's all tied together by his gift for melodic, well-crafted songs and production. Babyface is one of the few producers and songwriters who can function entirely on commercial terms and never seem crass. Nearly every track on Soul Food works, whether it's the hip-hop mix of Blackstreet's "Call Me," Total's rap "What About Us," the urban soul of Dru Hill's "We're Not Making Love More" or Boyz II Men's epic ballad "A Song for Mama." The album tracks from Xscape, En Vogue, Tony Toni Tone, Milestone, and Lil' Kim & Puff Daddy all meet the same high standards, which means Soul Food is one of the best records in Babyface's catalog. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine | | This companion to the 20th Century Fox film SOUL FOOD stands on its own as a solid compilation of mainstream R & B artists, including such performers as En Vogue, Boyz II Men, and Tony Toni Tone. Flawlessly produced by the team of Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Tracey E. Edmonds, and Antonio "L.A." Reid, SOUL FOOD is nothing if not soulful, from the tear-jerker "A Song For Mama" by Boyz II Men, to Dru Hill's lush ballad, "We're Not Making Love No More," and Xscape's sexy "Let's Do It Again." | | The Showtime cable channel's SOUL FOOD series has spawned an album of songs "inspired by" the show. Regardless of whether you think Montell Jordan, Kelly Price, and the other artists included on this disc have actually spent a great deal of time absorbing the subtleties of the program, the resultant album is an effective compilation of circa-2000 R&B (as indicated by the album's subtitle). From the forceful syncopation of Toni Braxton's "Wasn't Man Enough" to the languid, Stevie Wonder-ish "Where I Wanna Be" (Donell Jones) and Aaliyah's gently funky "I Don't Wanna," SOUL FOOD offers every variant on contemporary R&B a reasonable person could want. The icing on the cake is the inclusion of Al Green's "That's the Way Love Goes" as a bonus cut. | | As the first release from Babyface's movie studio, Soul Food was an auspicious beginning -- a rich, multi-faceted film that captured the complexities and emotions of a contemporary urban black family that never lapses into stereotypes. It was a minor gem, as is Babyface's soundtrack. Like his work on Waiting to Exhale, the soundtrack for Soul Food is a sampler of mainstream urban styles, featuring some ballads, some swingbeat, and some hip-hop. It's all tied together by his gift for melodic, well-crafted songs and production. Babyface is one of the few producers and songwriters who can function entirely on commercial terms and never seem crass. Nearly every track on Soul Food works, whether it's the hip-hop mix of Blackstreet's "Call Me," Total's rap "What About Us," the urban soul of Dru Hill's "We're Not Making Love More" or Boyz II Men's epic ballad "A Song for Mama." The album tracks from Xscape, En Vogue, Tony Toni Tone, Milestone, and Lil' Kim & Puff Daddy all meet the same high standards, which means Soul Food is one of the best records in Babyface's catalog. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine |
| | Technical Info | | Release Date : 09/16/1997 | | Original Release Date : 2000 | | Catalog ID : 26041 | | Label : LaFace (USA) | | Number of Discs : 1 | | Runtime : 56m : 35s | | Studio/Live : Studio | | Mono/Stereo : Stereo | | SPAR Code : n/a | | UPC : 00730082604123 |
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| | Professional Reviews | | Spin (11/97, pp.144-146)
- 6 (out of 10)
- "...Kenneth `Babyface' Edmonds, who produced, wrote or cowrote seven of this album's 13 tracks,...aims...his music...at the cloistered sanctity of the middle-class parlor....Babyface's ballads...are a kind of integration by melodrama....his music is the ultimate in middle-class insulation..."Entertainment Weekly (9/19/97, p.82)
- "...SOUL FOOD is full of fresh grooves and tasty hooks, [but] it lacks the focus that made [WAITING TO] EXHALE such a breathtaking album....SOUL FOOD seems more like a smorgasbord than a single-course soundtrack. There's a little bit of everything here, from salty rap to sweet soul balladry..." - Rating: B Rap Pages (11/97, p.110)
- "...a quintessential album defining Hip-Hop soul prepared by a master chef who can burn tracks much like Roscoe does on his best day with chicken and waffles..." |
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