| Product Summary | | Label: Elektra/asylum Records | | UPC: 00075596274623 | | Release Date: 4/2/2002 | | Buy.com Sku: 60543088 | | Item#: MSHQRD | Format:  CD |
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| Prepare to be wowed by a bold and beautiful new force about to shake up the music scene--a stunningly refreshing new presence on the R&B horizon whose breathtaking songs capture both the heartbreak and joy of being alive. Or, as superstar hip-hop artist and executive Missy Elliott puts it: "She hits that point of no return between love and hurt." Missy's talking about the new singer-songwriting-guitar playing sensation Tweet, whose debut album Southern Hummingbird is a sultry and soulful exploration of the heart. The charismatic Tweet is not afraid to explore love's darker passages with songs like the plaintive "Smoking Cigarettes" and the haunting "Always Will." The latter is a slow burning gauntlet thrown down from one ex-lover to another. "I wrote that to a man I dated for eight years," says Tweet. "I know he won't be able to love another like he loved me and I have no problem putting that into a song." In fact, the entire album reads like a diary of the young vocalist's torrid life. Songs like "Motel"--"That's about when I caught my man coming out of a motel with somebody else," she says; and the prayerful "Beautiful"--"is about when someone so stirs your soul they make you lose your religion"--cover both ends of Tweet's incredible depth of range. the uplifting "Beat Friend," dreamily swoops around her angelic vocals, while the Timbaland produced hip-hop tinged, sex-knock-around "Oops (Oh My)"--complete with a Missy-as-bad-girl interlude--rivals even Prince's most ravishing moments.
| | Album Notes and Credits |
Notes & Personnel Info |  | This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files. | | Contains 2 untitled hidden tracks after "Southern Hummingbird (Outro)." | | Personnel includes: Tweet, Missy Elliott, Bilal. | | This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files. | | Prior to her debut album, Southern Hummingbird, Tweet made her name as a prot?g?e of Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, appearing as a backing/guest vocalist on a few tracks with Elliott and, naturally, Elliott's producer, Timbaland. It should come as no surprise that those are the two dominant personalities on Southern Hummingbird, even if Tweet produces and co-writes several cuts here, since this whole axis has one sound that has served them well. Served them so well, it's given them critical and chart hits, along with a host of imitators, so there is no reason to abandon it now, even if the skeletal rhythms and endlessly looped riffs are beginning to wear a bit thin. This formula depends more on the overall sound of the track than the charisma of the singer -- but, ironically enough, it works best when its fronted by somebody with personality, like Elliott. Tweet fades into the mix. She's attractive and is sweetly sexy, but isn't forceful. That works to her advantage on the lead single, "Oops (Oh My)," where she's so taken by a seduction she can barely speak, or even name who's taking her. Driven by a clever Casio-bass clarinet loop, it's the hottest thing on the record, punctured slightly by Elliott's disarming murmur, "I was feeling so good I had to touch myself," but it's good enough to withstand that. The rest of Southern Hummingbird sustains the essential feel of that track, occasionally forcing a Sign o the Times-era Prince to the forefront (which is welcome), and it does have a few songs that distinguish themselves, such as "Smoking Cigarettes," but it all blends together a little bit too much to be distinctive and, as such, it has a faint feel of product, a slow seduction record for the Timbaland-worshipping hipster set. A feel that is only enhanced by the end of the record, when Tweet actually records her thank you shout-outs as a full track, then, as a bonus, there are two uncredited Missy Elliott tracks that don't seem to have a trace of Tweet to them. Their inclusion is puzzling, unless you consider them the overdue payment of distinctive hip-hop for those hardcore fans who sat through the even-handed, stylish but samey urban soul that is Southern Hummingbird. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine | | Despite being a protege of hip-hop artist Missy Elliott, Rochester native Tweet has a style much more in common with the urban soul of India.Arie. Having spent nearly a decade trying to get a big break, Tweet offers a more mature approach to her relationship themes. Despite the presence of executive producers Elliott and longtime creative partner Timbaland, much of SOUTHERN HUMMINGBIRD is steeped in Tweet's honeyed vocals and acoustic guitar woven around languid grooves. | | Songs like the slow-jam "Smoking Cigarettes" and "Best Friend" (featuring Bilal and his Prince-like falsetto), play up the pain of love and loss while uptempo jams like "Boogie 2Nite" and "Make Ur Move" use infectious beats and juicy harmonies to cast these weightier concerns to the wind. Hip-hop heads end up getting their Jones fed with "Oops (Oh My)," the lead-off smash duet with Missy, defined by Elliott's subtle electronic-flavored production hand. Tweet's organic musical approach comes across best on "Motel," where the soulful siren uses a single acoustic guitar and a dash of background vocal accompaniment to sing this tale of a jilted lover getting busted in the act. SOUTHERN HUMMINGBIRD is a musical tonic guaranteed to make your soul soar. |
Producer: Missy Elliott; Timbaland |
Musical Guests | | Missy Elliott | | Bilal |
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| | Technical Info | | Release Date : 04/02/2002 | | Original Release Date : 2002 | | Catalog ID : 62746 | | Label : Elektra Entertainment | | Number of Discs : 1 | | Studio/Live : Studio | | Mono/Stereo : Stereo | | SPAR Code : n/a | | UPC : 00075596274623 |
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| | Professional Reviews | | Q (6/02, p.123)
- 4 stars out of 5 - "...Another Missy Elliott and Timbaland-produced gem. Located-musically and vocally- somewhere between Aaliyah and Brandy...Tweet is heavy on the ballads but she avoids excessive sugariness via edgy, sensual lyrics..."CMJ (4/1/2002, p.11)
- "...Tweet calls upon the gods of dance and soul to showcase her wide range of talents....the musical equivalent of white cotton string-bikini underwear and thigh-high leather boots..." Mojo (Publisher)
(7/02, p.108)
- "...It's hard to miss an echo of the young Tina Turner...she produces as well as writes leaving few emotional stones unturned." NME (Magazine)
(5/18/02, p.35)
- 6 out of 10 - "...An agreeable collection of R&B, soul and disco singles..." |
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| | Bio | | | Her strength comes from her family. Both of Tweet's parents thrived in gospel groups, as well as being astute musicians. The youngest of five children, Tweet also learned her sense of musicianship from her siblings. Her three brothers and one sister have mastered, among other instruments, the piano, bass guitar and drums. "I think coming from a musical family centered me,'" says Tweet.. "I inherited a real passion for music, and a respect for those who dedicate their lives to it as a career." A quick glimpse into Tweet's journal might reveal that her real best friend just might be Missy Elliott herself. They met each other back in the days when they were both aspiring performers. Missy, of course, eventually went on to her own unprecedented solo fame, but Tweet languished under a heavy handed production deal that--as she puts it--kept her in a holding pattern with a group that never really got off the ground. "There was promise after promise that we'd make an album but it was always a trip. We were getting more and more frustrated." Tweet finally abandoned the project, depressed and penniless, she fled to her parents' place in Panama City, Florida. For the first time in her life, the girl who was inspired to pursue a music career from her church singing days in her native Rochester, New York was thinking of giving up her dream altogether. "It was worse than that. I was so depressed I began to contemplate suicide." Tweet says she even rehearsed how she would do it. "I was going to take a bunch of pills. I had gone through this period of looking for any regular job I could find and coming up empty. My love life was deteriorating. The music business seemed a million miles away. I was just existing, hiding from my parents how deeply depressed I really was. Miraculously, old friend and confidante Missy Elliott called Tweet the day before she was going to go through with her fateful plan. "The phone rang and I couldn't believe it was Missy asking me to sing background vocals on her [...So Addictive] album. We hadn't spoken in a long time but I felt I could tell her the truth about how I was feeling because she and I had come from the same place having been through the same ordeal. I call her my guardian angel now because she truly rescued me from ending my life... She was God sent! The songs, written on napkins and scraps of paper, seemed to serve as a road map of some of the more painful moments of Tweet's life. The singer picked up a guitar in Missy's studio one day and began to sing an acoustic version of "Motel." "She's one of the few female songwriters who doesn't try to sugarcoat anything," says Missy. "I could hear every ounce of what she went through in those songs." Tweet's impromptu audition impressed Missy so much, she had her bring the very same guitar to an encore performance for Elektra Chairman/CEO Sylvia Rhone. "It was all like a dream, really." says Tweet. "Especially when you consider where my head was at. I guess in a way, the music I was writing at the time was like my therapy." Tweet now makes her home in Atlanta, which has become the new musical mecca for many R&B singers. Asked if the twists and turns on the road to her long awaited debut album have caused her to change the way she looks at life, she pauses thoughtfully. "Everything happens for a reason. I think all the experiences, even the unpleasant ones, have made me stronger. You have to suffer sometimes in order to gain anything. I know there's a time and place for everything in this life."
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