‘Lovesick’ Is Produced Entirely By Apollo Brown And Features Collaborations With Westside Boogie, Skyzoo & 3D Na’Tee
‘Lovesick’ Will Be Released On 6-4-21
Soul is more than a sound. It is a timeless idea and an immortal condition. It can’t be borrowed or traded, bequeathed or imitated (no matter how much they try). Soul isn’t the blues, but the best blues has soul. Hip-Hop isn’t soul, but it’s the most fundamental component of its DNA. R&B is the genre, but soul is the yearning, the lust, the regret. Without soul, love is merely sex. With it, you get something like Lovesick.
Lovesick is a collaboration between the 3x Grammy-nominated singer Raheem DeVaughn and the hip-hop producer, Apollo Brown, best known for making hip-hop so grimy that it permanently lodges in your lungs and underneath your fingernails. It is a work of startling beauty, a blend of modern R&B, classic soul, and guttural funk that recalls Smokey Robinson, Al Green, and Marvin Gaye. Yet it doesn’t sound out of step alongside DeVaughn’s peers The-Dream, Anderson .Paak, and Miguel. It is an album that bears the echoes of Jodeci and James Brown, but it is ultimately the clarion vision of two masters of their respective forms.
Released on Mello Music, Lovesick is a stylistic departure from Apollo Brown’s cold-blooded 21st century boom-bap, but it shouldn’t come as a shock considering his historical skill at soulful sample chopping. Still, it’s testament to the Michigan native’s versatility and emotional depth; he has turned a sonic left turn into an eternal groove — an expansion that feels reminiscent of DJ Premier producing for D’Angelo, Salaam Remi collaborating with Amy Winehouse, J Dilla’s bible material with Erykah Badu, or more recently, Knxlwdge’s NxWorries project with .Paak.
Credit DeVaughn for making the extraordinary feel effortless. In Lovesick, the Love King has built a vessel to transport you to a different, better time. It is a tribute to the artists who came before him: all those aforementioned names, plus Parliament and Prince. Listening to the lead single, “When a Man,” which was premiered by Rolling Stone, you intuit the sweat and soulful anguish of the hardest working man in show business, but also float from Apollo’s head nod to A Tribe Called Quest’s “Luck of Lucien.” The post-modern commentary seductively fused into a warm-hearted nostalgia.
After announcing the album with the Rolling Stone Premiered “When A Man,” Raheem and Apollo return with the project’s second-single “Zaddy” featuring 3D Na’Tee. “Zaddy” was premiered by Brooklyn Vegan.
“This is another soulful RNB release that makes it clear that the LoveSick album will be a summer of love classic” Raheem DeVaughn confidently asserted. “The lyrical conversation on ‘Zaddy’ between me and New Orleans Sensation 3D Na’Tee is tastefully sensual.”
“Zaddy” is undeniably one of my favorite joints on the album, and one of the earlier songs we worked on that set the tone for the sound of the project” Apollo Brown added. “As always, Raheem displayed his throne on the song, and it was an absolute honor to be blessed by 3D Na’Tee’s greatness. Beautiful music!”
For the legendary DeVaughn, Lovesick further cements his stature as one of the finest crooners of his generation. The DMV raised singer has sold hundreds of thousands of records, won BET Awards and been nominated for three Grammys, but this stands among his finest work. He has conjured the perfect record for the Sunday backyard BBQ and for riding in the car with the object of your affections, the ideal nocturnal soundtrack for when it’s time to lower the lights. For Brown, this is a panoramic expansion that shows the full range of his gifts. It is the home cooked meal, the perfectly rolled joint, soft lighting, a pledge to love and fidelity, and all the struggles with temptation. It is soul, as smooth and supernatural as it gets.
Lovesick will be released on 6-4-21 and also features collaborations with Shady Records Westside Boogie, Skyzoo and 3D’NaTee.
Stream Raheem DeVaughn & Apollo Brown Feat 3D Na’Tee “Zaddy”: https://soundcloud.com/mellomusicgroup/raheem-devaughn-apollo-brown-zaddy-feat-3d-natee
Checkout the Brooklyn Vegan Premiere: https://www.brooklynvegan.com/stream-raheem-devaughn-apollo-browns-zaddy-off-upcoming-album-lovesick/
You can now pre-order, add, and favorite Lovesick at your preferred DSP: https://smarturl.it/OfficialLovesick
Lovesick TRACKLISTING
If You’re The One feat Skyzoo
One Time feat Becky Cane
When A Man
If I Made Love To You
Just Fall In Love feat Westside Boogie
Broken Pieces
I Still Love You
Honey
Zaddy feat 3D’NaTee
Rick James
On Top
Everything Baby
***All Tracks Produced By Apollo Brown
