eaglebear4839 said:

So, do you think they should be like Prince? Do the same thing for many years and not sell? These people are out there to make a living. If that means they get a "hip" producer/writer, that's what they have to do to survive.

Why else would Lionel Richie, who is a great songwriter, have Akon and others do his entire project? It's about money!

Well, I've heard the entire album, and so far the 1st track "The Pressure" and "Ear Candy 101" are the highlights. she does a drop dead gorgeous song which is the last one "The Rose n Thorn". I haven't heard anything that's even close to being classic Teena. Which is a bummer, I still love her though!

benjaminira said:

Yeah,based on the clips I heard,these two songs sound the most promising to me.Especially "Ear Candy 101".These two songs also sound more uptempo than the other tracks.



Can't wait to hear that one.I've noticed on her last few albums,she seems to save the most soulful,most powerful songs for the very end.She likes to save the best for last.





You know what,though? As a fan,I'm just thrilled that we're still getting new music from Teena.On a regular basis,too.You know how it works....when you reach a certain age,it becomes harder to get a record deal.Or if you do manage to get a deal,the record label forces you to make a predictable covers album,lol.Fortunately,Teena is still able to get these deals and,for the most part,she gets to make the type of music that she chooses.

Here she is at the Brian Mcknight Show. She still got the chops.

Interview plus some singing:

http://www.brianmcknights...spid=33024

NMuzakNSoul said:

AMG Reviw of Congo Square...

Review by Andy Kellman
Inspired by discovering that some of her family roots are in New Orleans, a city with which she has long felt a deep spiritual connection, Teena Marie frames Congo Square around the Crescent City. It's her third solid album of the decade, but somewhat ironically, it's not on the New Orleans-based Cash Money, the home of 2004's La Doña and 2006's Sapphire, but Memphis' Stax. Like her two prior albums, Congo Square is a long, sprawling set of songs with plenty of room left for guests who share, never steal, the spotlight. Its center, naturally, is the title song, where Marie pays tribute to several generations of music legends (from Louis Armstrong to Erykah Badu), as well as the slaves who gathered to dance and play music at Congo Square. If anything, the whole set projects a sense of comfort, whether romantic or spiritual, maintaining a mellow sound that stimulates far more often than it does not. Singers half Marie's age could make a killing off some of the hooks, especially the ones deployed throughout the first four songs and "Milk 'n Honey," another showcase for her daughter Rose. What is most remarkable about Congo Square is how Marie continues to fly around in her private orbit, indulging her ambitious whims, while sounding every bit contemporary.

I downloaded it today.
Happy on the first listen.
Immediate standouts for me:
The Pressure
Ear Candy 101
Milk n' Honey
The Rose N' Thorn

You Baby sounds very radio-friendly.

SoulAlive said:

I LOVE Passion Play (at least I did back then) but can't find it on cd.

I had it on tape.

daPrettyman said:

-----
Don’t waste your time trying to explain anything to these folks. They seemed to have forgotten that the music business is a business. As you get older it is next to impossible to get radio airplay so the record labels want you to act your age to attract listeners who know you already or they want to bring in younger listeners so they bring in the hot producer and young acts to team the older star up with. Meanwhile the fans complain that you have sold out or you need to act your age.

It appear to be a lose/ lose situation but in the end if the artist is working for a record company they need to sell CDs.

johnart said:

-----
Great some who can really can sing needs to be on the radio.

laurarichardson said:

So true.

daPrettyman said:

I understand what you're saying to an extent. Now what happens if
the new audience you're trying to connect with doesn't work. More
than likely they would rather listen to an artist that are more
their peer audience than an old school artist trying to connect
with them. I'm not saying this is the case with Teena.
When these older artist do that in hopes of "making a living" and it
doesn't work anyway all their doing is pissing off the fans that
love them for who they are.
Just because lionel is working with the new generation writers doesn't
neccessarily mean his album is going to go gold or platinum and in
essence he is alienating his core audience. You think his 80's fans
are impressed with this new direction?

phunkdaddy said:

They must be. Lionel's projects have sold well in the last 15 or so years. He did something right to appeal to his old audience. Not sure how many new fans he's gained, though.

I guess he's like The Isley Brothers, they stopped doing their own thing a long time ago. Now everybody creates songs for them.

daPrettyman said:

Seriously? Actually lionel took a brief hiatus between 1992 and 1996 due to
personal problems. Louder than Words was pretty decent but there
was no Akon, Stargate, or Neyo's writing songs for that album.
It was lionel, babyface, and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. That's
why you got a decent project there. His subsequent album called
Time sucked. That album didn't sell. Nor did his subsequent
island album. He didn't really make a dent on radio between 1997
and 2005 until 2006's I call it love. I can't say how well his new album
is or isn't doing but i know where i live the only time you heard
the lead single from just go Good Morning was at 2:am all of
2 weeks. I've yet to hear Just Go on any of the local stations
where i am. I don't think Lionel is selling records these days
which is not really the issue for me versus putting out quality
music. I remember someone posting earlier on the org that his
first weeks sales were pretty bad.
[Edited 6/9/09 20:28pm]

phunkdaddy said:

The strange thing with him is that he tends to do well on AC stations. R&B stopped playing his music until "I Call It Love" came out.

1996 Ordinary Girl Adult Contemporary 9
1996 Ordinary Girl Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks 76
1996 Still In Love Adult Contemporary 10
1998 I Hear Your Voice Adult Contemporary 15
1998 Time Adult Contemporary 7
2001 Angel [Metro Mix Album Version] Adult Contemporary 4
2001 Angel [Metro Mix Album Version] The Billboard Hot 100 70
2001 Angel Hot Dance Music/Club Play 32
2004 Just for You Adult Contemporary 6
2004 Just for You Hot Dance Music/Club Play 14
2004 Just for You The Billboard Hot 100 92
2004 Long Way To Go Adult Contemporary 20
2006 I Call It Love European Hot 100 Singles
2006 I Call It Love Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks 9
2006 I Call It Love Hot Dance Music/Club Play 10
2006 I Call It Love Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks 19
2006 I Call It Love The Billboard Hot 100 62
2006 What You Are Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks 57
2007 All Around The World Hot Dance Music/Club Play 6
2009 Just Go Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks 11
2009 Just Go Hot Dance Music/Club Play 42

I live in Dallas and listen to the local AC station quite a bit. They did play the singles from most of his projects, but they quickly died. I don't know where the spins are coming from, but they are coming from somewhere for sure.
[Edited 6/9/09 21:35pm]

Teena Marie phone interview (June 9,2009)---discussing the new album

johnart said:

I haven't listened to it yet.I'm going on vacation in one week and I'm gonna listen to it on the airplane and during a road trip that I'm taking.

I have more respect for those older artists who strictly tour small venues like casinos or music festivals or even star in those gospel stage plays to make a living more than I do the ones that sell out to this dull ass generation's form of so-called "music". For those that do sell out, it pleases me to see their sellout album flop and I hope it teaches them a lesson that the majority of the younger audience does not want to hear them no matter what they release, so if they are going to try to please someone, they need to start trying to please the people that made them stars to begin with, their original fans.

As for Prince releasing the same type of stuff for all these years and it not selling, that's not true. Prince has been very lucky that he has such a large and loyal fan base that has stuck with him all these years and buys every single thing he releases on the very first day of it's release. Prince has done very well, the problem is, he's not satisfied with it and wants more and also wants to be part of the mainstream again but keeps failing. I have tremendous respect for Prince being the only one continuing making funk after all these years. However, if he continues trying to please these little young shit hoppers with elements of their type of music in his and their shit hop slang, I will drop even Prince and stop supporting him also because that is contributing to the problem and not trying to rid the world of it or at least give people that hate that bullshit form of music and everything connected with it, an alternative to listen to.

Exactly. I'd have more respect for them if they sold ass on the corner for two dollars rather than sellout to today's music.

SoulAlive said:

There are some production attempts at making some songs on this "modern", but I would not say it's anything that's overwhelming or that over-takes the album as a whole.

It's still mostly the type of material you'd expect from Lady T.

I'll bet my entire paycheck that there's nothing on there like "Behind The Groove" or "Square Biz".

vainandy said:

Of course not.
But there hasn't been anything like either of those in years.

And I mean YEARS.
Post "Ivory" at least.

We can't always expect artists to deliver the same (our favorites). I am guilty of this also. I do it with Prince all the time. It's unrealistic (and putting money/sales aside) probably boring for the artist if they feel they're in a different place or exploring/telling a different story.

There will most likely never be another Behind the Groove (or Emerald City ), just like there will never be another "Head" or "Erotic City".

Depending on how into the artist we are and if we feel they still offer quality work, we either take it or leave.

Teena's still got chops and musicianship. There is quality work in this album.
[Edited 6/10/09 9:20am]

vainandy said:

I know Prince has done well, but there was a time when he wasn't selling very well. Especially after the name change. Not to mention, he pissed off so many fans with the Crystal Ball fiasco. It wasn't until 2004 that he saw a big boost in his career.

You can also say that Prince is too stubborn to let anyone write or produce for him. Teddy Riley and Pharrell both have tried to reach out to him and he turned them down. He allowed them to do remixes for him, but never worked with them in the studio (as far as we know).

I totally get your point about the respect for older artists that do the plays and festivals. The thing is, some of these artists/acts don't want to act or constantly tour. Someone like Lionel Richie has a fatter bank account than Teena Marie. Lionel could get away with taking 4 and 5 year breaks in between albums. Whereas, someone like Teena can't do that. Not to mention, she is not a consistent seller.

I heard her on Wendy Williams' radio show and she mentioned how she sold instruments and personal belongings to buy Christmas gifts and pay bills. She didn't say what year, but I would assume it was the mid-90s.

Teena is one of those people who has released several albums within the last 10 or so years, but only a couple of them have done well. It wasn't until she went the Cash Money route that she kind of got her recording career on track. Before that, she was touring. I saw her twice in Dallas in the late 90s. So,

I guess I'm trying to say is that everyone doesn't have the crossover appeal or large fan base like Prince. L

johnart said:

I'm sure some of that is because she is signed to Stax. They seem to let their artists do their own thing. I know Angie Stone talked about that in some interview saying that J Records didn't allow her to release the kind of music she wanted. Where as with Stax, they viewed her as an artist and let her manage her own creation.

johnart said:

The main difference with Prince compared to others is that he has continuously released up tempo and funk songs throughout his career. Sure, there may not be another "Head" or "Erotic City", but you still got "Dance 4 Me", "Musicology", "Everlasting Now" amongst others.

Teena has avoided trying to get funky for years.

NouveauDance said:

It was totally attrocious. I love this single with Faith Evans though I can do without the funk as long as there are slammin croonin goin on. I'm pickin this one up.

daPrettyman said:

True. I mean say all u want about Prince but between Black Sweat.. Ol School Company...If I Was The Man In Your Life, Fufture Baby Mama, Chocolate Box...can't really say he has not been pleasing his original base. Teena..in some ways have, however how many albums are we going to get of slow jams? That's why he last album didnt sell as well as the first Cash Money album...a lack of a difference...people don't want to hear the same album twice. I bet the older fans was like..."ok wheres that funk"? Young fans.....probably didnt buy that ish.
[Edited 6/10/09 10:47am]

But if you notice, for the longest, with the exception of the song "Musicology", the lead song that he usually gives to the radio for airplay is a slow song but he still has funk on the albums. Prince is going to sell well regardless because of his loyal fanbase whether the radio pushes his lead slow song or not so I realize that he's got much less to lose than Teena.

However, Teena could still do the same thing. Since we know the radio is so fucking dull that they are only going to give something slow a chance, she could lead her album off with something slow for the radio but still have lots of funk on the album. Radio isn't going to play all her other stuff from the album anyway so why not fill it with some funk so that her fans who grew up throwing down and aren't dull would have something to enjoy?

vainandy said:

Truthfully though even when teena was funkin with the square biz's, i
need your lovin, lovergirl, jammin, Work it, sucker for love
she always balanced it out with ballads. She's not funkin like that
no more but she's still puttin out quality albums although a little
ballad heavy but who cares as long as she's sangin. My only complaint
is sometimes is seems on a few songs she makes a conscious effort
to include today's slang in some of the songs like when she makes
a reference in Marry Me about her soul mate poppin his collar before
the rev speaks. No hard funk on this album but i dig the uptempo
The pressure, Ear Candy 101, and Milk n Honey. The ballads Can't Last a
day, Lover's lane, and Marry Me are real nice. I like the jazzier cuts
like Congo Square, Harlem Blues, and Ms Coretta too. Nice album overall.
My favorite album of the year so far besides Prince's Lotusflower disc.
Don't hurt me Vain for saying that.
Have you checked out Congo Square yet?