Great to be part of the org finally. Long time reader first time poster. So I was reading the "Best 3 vocal performance" thread and felt that I had to bring up this song, because who would even mention Love 2 The 9's in the categori as say "Adore". Well, I felt that we would do our best to shine some light on this masterpiece.I listened to the Peach & Black podcast about the album. What struck me is the word one guy said about the song "Arrangement, arrangement, arrangement". I felt exactly the same way the first time I heard it (together with the video actually. That hairdo, perfectly trimmed beard and Mayte=Perfection. Has the guy ever looked so good before or after. Watch closely at the 0.39 mark when he's sitting at the table. D&P is the closest I guess.). That guitar lick right in the beginning to start up the song, the "clapping" drumsticks , that piano(!!!), those horns(!!!) and Prince's silky smooth vocals. All combined in a unmatched fusion that makes this track undoubtedly one of the standouts on this album and may I even say this whole era (and 90's). Yes, that's right. Love 2 the 9's has always been in my top 5, if not my top 3 since the first time I heard it.

Of course we have to mention "that" part in the song. Personally I never really liked the first piece with Prince rapping. But hear me out. In the middle part THAT is how you use Tony M. No rapping rather just talking. And I find the part with Mayte great. After it all switches up in the first part later it combines some of the elements from the very beginning of the song. With the horns definitely forefront. For instance:

"Tony:Name

Mayte:Arabia (Horns:duh-duh-duuuuuh)

Tony:Occupation if any

Mayte:Sex symbol but I really got a beautiful mind (duh-duh-duuuuuuh)
.......

Last but not least. Why haven't I yet read someone even discussing the part from 4.35 into the song. Whenever a friend or a new fan are interested about his mythical falsetto THIS is the part I play to them. 1.10 of pure perfection. To dig even deeper, let's say part "Wanna' be yeah...for all time!!!" (4.49) "Ohhh wiiiieeehaha!!!" (4.55). And the best part from 5.05 which cannot be explained in text, you just have to hear it to believe it. He sounds like a screaming b*tch alá Carey only better 'cause you know... He's a guy! So what are your thoughts on this song?

[Edited 11/27/14 2:31am]

[Edited 11/27/14 2:33am]

[Edited 11/27/14 2:36am]

[Edited 11/28/14 7:40am]

[Edited 11/28/14 13:56pm]

Great song! And welcome to the org!

I love how at the end of the song you just have those harmonies getting stripped back and his voice just becomes really loud and clear and it just sounds like he's right infront of you. Well from my laptop anyway.

It's a bit like a 1990s version of "In A Large Room With No Light". It goes into different territories during the second part, but the intro, verses and the chorus have something similar going on.

I think I appreciated the song "as a whole" more when I was younger. It was quite common to have that type of songs with completely different sounding sections on them in the 1990s ("The Same December" is another example), but they do sound a bit odd these days.

The thing that trips me out in this song, besides Prince's vocals, is the keyboard. The keyboard gets a little more intricate as the song goes along.

yeah...one of my all time fav's for sure...

As cringe-worthy as the album was, it had some unforgettable tunes.

It's Mayte not Carmen. It's a brilliant song, I've always loved it. Back at the time the soul/funk mix with hip-hop still sounded daring and was still relatively uncommon, it impressed me a great deal when the album was released. It's a delicate, elegant, sophisticated song.

Shockedelicus said:

As cringe-worthy as the album was, it had some unforgettable tunes.

one of his best albums none the less....

Don't use the magical
Mysterious, intoxicating, joy fantastic
Fascinating word called love
Unless u love me 2 the 9's
This is the only kind of love
That I've been dreaming of
The kind of love that takes over your
Body, mind, and soul
Love 2 the 9's

Song is perfection!!! Above is my favorite part of the song

Find a copy of "This is My Night" and listen to the closing track mashup of Sexy MF and 2 the 9's.

He had a bad cold and did the aftershow anyway, his voice is couple of steps low.

Still sounds like him and, in this song especially, it sounds really cool.

the beggining and end are friggin' perfect (the end is heavenly) but the song is fairly ruined by the stooopid "Make dat booty boom" garbage.

classic

Beautiful song, one of my favorites from this album.

.

Don't use the magical
Mysterious, intoxicating, joy fantastic
Fascinating word called love
Unless u love me 2 the 9's
This is the only kind of love
That I've been dreaming of
The kind of love that takes over your
Body, mind, and soul
Love 2 the 9's

^

^^^ My favorite part of the song too & as someone mentioned the fluttery guitar intro is great!

the beggining and end are friggin' perfect (the end is heavenly) but the song is fairly ruined by the stooopid "Make dat booty boom" garbage.

-------------

word....classic example (of many) of Tony M ruining a perfectly perfect song... never understood what P saw, or heard, in dude...and how do you make a booty boom?..is that a poop?

RJOrion said:

It's the musical equivalent of falling in luv. Complete wit sum poser tryin to steal ur stella.