Babyface: 'Girls Night Out' Era

[SHOOTER]

1. Intro feat. Angie Martinez & La La Anthony
2. Liquor feat. Ari Lennox
3. Seamless feat. Kehlani
4. Keeps On Fallin' feat. Ella Mai
5. Game Over feat. Queen Naija
6. Simple feat. Coco Jones
7. Say Less feat. Tiana Major9
8. Whatever feat. Tink
9. Don't Even Think About It feat. Baby Tate
10. The Recipe feat. Muni Long
11. One Good Thing feat. Amaarae
12. G Wagon feat. Sevyn Streeter & Tkay Maidza
13. Girls Night Out feat. Doechii
14. Sometimes feat. Jenevieve (Target Bonus)
15. If You Knew How feat. BJRNCK (Target Bonus)

Babyface's 11th studio album will be released on October 21, 2022 via ECAF/Capitol.

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1. We've Got Love
2. Fight for Love
3. Exceptional
4. Walking on Air feat. El DeBarge
5. I Want You feat. After 7
6. Love and Devotion
7. Standing Ovation
8. Something 'Bout You
9. Our Love

Babyface's tenth studio album was released on December 4, 2015 via Def Jam. It debuted at #39 on the Billboard 200 with 19k SPS (18k sales).


(#9 Adult R&B)


(#11 Adult R&B)

[#LisaRinna]

I like the album cover.

[Rican@]

So "I Want You" is his song and not After 7?

[Deleted]

Pitchfork gave the album 7.2/10.

In the late 1980s and early '90s, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, along with songwriting partners Daryl Simmons and L.A. Reid, developed a form of pop soul that's as geometrically precise as it is weightless. Songs like Toni Braxton’s "Breathe Again", Madonna’s "Take a Bow", and Boyz II Men’s "Water Runs Dry" occur in a seamless universe, all undisturbed surfaces that relentlessly shimmer. In 1995, "Water Runs Dry" itself seemed the most formally perfect incarnation of one of Babyface's primary pop expressions, the vaporous ballad; it’s gently animated by a brushed snare and an acoustic guitar, over which the members of Boyz II Men weave their voices together in fluid braids.

Babyface’s aesthetic is a distant refinement and elaboration of Prince and, beyond that, Curtis Mayfield, both of whom condensed pop and soul into irreducible collage. He’s capable of elastic funk and vast balladry but both are organized by an unusual pop sensitivity. Return of the Tender Lover, his first solo album of originals in 10 years, is part a period of renewed productivity for Babyface. Last year he released an album with Toni Braxton called Love, Marriage & Divorce, which described the length of a relationship through both gliding surfaces and reduced, raw circumstances; this year he contributed minimal blossoms of acoustic guitar to the Ty Dolla $ign single "Solid". But his new album is a kind of retreat—Babyface reduced to plush textures. Though Return of the Tender Lover deliberately references his sophomore album, 1989’s Tender Lover, nothing here is as dry and muscular as "It’s No Crime", or generously expansive as "Whip Appeal". In their place is buoyant, effortless pop soul.

It sometimes feels like a conscious inversion of Love, Marriage & Divorce; where that record was often capable of a fluorescent hostility, Return of the Tender Lover almost exclusively communicates security and support. "We've Got Love" and "Love and Devotion" convey an inflexible confidence, and the songs also seem supportive in their structure, as if engineered for maximum uplift. Babyface’s voice is as smooth as it's ever been, but it’s also always been somewhat granular in design; it sounds like a bloom of smoke.

El DeBarge appears on "Walking on Air", his first duet with Babyface since 1994’s "Where Is My Love"; like Babyface, DeBarge has been minimally present in the music industry over the past ten years, except for a solo album, Second Chance, in 2010, and in brief flourishes on DJ Quik records. His presence here is satisfying both texturally and textually, and "Walking on Air" is as rich and vivid as their previous collaborations. DeBarge’s voice is miraculously preserved, an incandescent peal capable of infinite ascent; in "Walking on Air", it seems to land somewhere in the troposphere. The only other collaboration on the record is with After 7, an R&B group from the '90s that contains two of Babyface’s brothers. On "I Want You", they supply harmonies, adding considerable weight to Babyface’s nimble vocal, and repeating the title until it melts into a kind of plural exhalation.

The collaborations on Return of the Tender Lover and the design of its production feel traditional, in the sense that they don't attempt to update Babyface's sound and instead lean comfortably on a long, established career. This dedication to tradition and honoring of his craft is less a throwback than a micro-adjustment of an enduring formula.

pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21228-return-of-the-tender-lover/

[Deleted]

This is his best album since the 90s. Classic Babyface. My favorites are "We've Got Love," "Exceptional," "Walking On Air," and "Something About You".

[Deleted]

All Music Guide gave it 4/5.

Babyface's Def Jam debut, Return of the Tender Lover is also his first solo album of original material in a decade. After the one that preceded it, Grown & Sexy (2005), there was the covers set Playlist (2007) and the Grammy-winning Toni Braxton collaboration Love, Marriage & Divorce (2014). While this is titled in reference to his triple platinum 1989 release, there are no attempts at rewriting "It's No Crime" or "Whip Appeal." Instead, Return of the Tender Lover is inspired more by the crowd-pleasing "feel good" performance model perfected by recent tour mates like Charlie Wilson and Maze. Some echoes of the latter's gently uplifting, summer evening grooves -- such as "Golden Time of Day" and "We Are One" -- can be heard in "We've Got Love," "Exceptional," and "Something Bout You," all of which are highlights that still sound like Babyface songs. For the cheerful "Walking on Air," he switches it up with a Smokey Robinson nod that features a reunion with El DeBarge (whose Heart, Mind & Soul was dominated by his contributions). "I Want You," another track that involves a reconnection, easily incorporates background vocals from After 7 (a group that made its first and greatest splash with Babyface/L.A. Reid magic). Short, sweet, and steady at nine songs that vary little in quality and sentiment -- it's resolutely smooth, all about romance, devotion, and perseverance -- Return of the Tender Lover is among Babyface's best. Credit him and songwriting partners Daryl Simmons and Kameron Glasper, along with hall of fame-level session musicians like Nathan East and Greg Phillinganes, for ignoring the increasingly narrow sound of commercial R&B. They've done so with a satisfying album that sounds as if its organic making necessitated little exertion.

[Rican@]

The album is excellent. The album title is so fitting.

[stunnedout]

He killed "We got love" on The View.

[stunnedout]

His album is AMAZING! My favorite R&B album in years.

[George]

Eliminated tonight off DWTS (w/Vanilla Ice as well):

[Deleted]

[🇯🇲 lucy88 🇯🇲]

I'm glad that he's alright!!! We've been losing too many legends lately...

[Deleted]

There were over a half million people watching the IG Live battle with Teddy Riley last night. I couldn’t even get it to load properly there were so many people.

[Ky]

Apr 21, 2020 10:31:19 GMT -5 @jazzysoul47 said:

There were over a half million people watching the IG Live battle with Teddy Riley last night. I couldn’t even get it to load properly there were so many people.

Same here!

[Linnethia Monique]

Apr 21, 2020 10:31:19 GMT -5 @jazzysoul47 said:

There were over a half million people watching the IG Live battle with Teddy Riley last night. I couldn’t even get it to load properly there were so many people.

I had to switch to my laptop and it worked fine after that. It overloaded the mobile side of IG and even their communications team had to send out a message. A legendary night! On Saturday — when Teddy was doing his foolishness before the rematch — they even had Adele in the comments cutting up.

[think pink.]

It was actually more than 500k too. The number we see at the top is just the amount of people that are interacting in the chat.

The power of urban culture.

[Linnethia Monique]

Apr 21, 2020 14:24:11 GMT -5 think pink. said:

It was actually more than 500k too. The number we see at the top is just the amount of people that are interacting in the chat.

The power of urban culture.

Black people and their culture.

[think pink.]

Apr 21, 2020 15:19:03 GMT -5 Linnethia Monique said:

Apr 21, 2020 14:24:11 GMT -5 think pink. said:

It was actually more than 500k too. The number we see at the top is just the amount of people that are interacting in the chat.

The power of urban culture.

Black people and their culture.

That’s what I meant ☺️.

[SHOOTER]

I was living for the smooth shade Face kept throwing and the flex when he bust out the guitar for a mini performance!

I didn’t know remixes were allowed. That’s okay; I don’t do remixes anyway.

[Deleted]

There were over 4M viewers.

http://instagram.com/p/B_S4woBlRje

[think pink.]

Incredible. Makes me emotional lol.

They trying to get Diddy and Dre next...whew.

[Linnethia Monique]

Apr 22, 2020 23:14:50 GMT -5 think pink. said:

Incredible. Makes me emotional lol.

They trying to get Diddy and Dre next...whew.

Hell Teddy had Dre on Facetime when he dropped No Diggity! He was going to pull that rabbit out of the hat during the battle but Uncle Teddy can't get sh!t working right. The people want Pharrell and Kanye so bad but it will take a human sacrifice and three goats to get that conjured up. It was such a kii when Swizz Beatz and Tim called Pharrell out saying, "I know his ass is lurking and listenin!" and the next day his shady ass posted an IG captioning it "Listening".

[think pink.]

Apr 23, 2020 10:23:46 GMT -5 Linnethia Monique said:

Apr 22, 2020 23:14:50 GMT -5 think pink. said:

Incredible. Makes me emotional lol.

They trying to get Diddy and Dre next...whew.

Hell Teddy had Dre on Facetime when he dropped No Diggity! He was going to pull that rabbit out of the hat during the battle but Uncle Teddy can't get sh!t working right. The people want Pharrell and Kanye so bad but it will take a human sacrifice and three goats to get that conjured up. It was such a kii when Swizz Beatz and Tim called Pharrell out saying, "I know his ass is lurking and listenin!" and the next day his shady ass posted an IG captioning it "Listening".

I feel like Pharrell would smoke anyone's boots in these battles tbh. They should probably just leave him alone lol.

I was thinking about Darkchild vs Jermaine Dupri maybe?. We need Brian Michael Cox too.

[SHOOTER]

We definitely need Darkchild in the mix!

[SHOOTER]

Insane!

http://instagram.com/p/B_YQhcejF8a

[🇯🇲 lucy88 🇯🇲]

Lol wow! That is insane! 🤣

[George]

[Caviar]

Find me dead on the floor.

[PGriffin]

awww that's cute! He should throw out a track (with Toni) now since he is back in the spotlight.

[Deleted]

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_0vvHsJzJn