Raphael Saadiq: The Way I See It : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

British bee-hive diva Amy Winehouse proved that Motown-style R&B can ignite an audience beyond old record-store geeks. Now, California soul brother Raphael Saadiq shows how we do it over here in America. With a supple tenor that glides up easily into Smokey Robinson territory, the former Tony! Toni! Toné! frontman has crafted a filler-free album that evokes classic Northern soul without sounding slavish. Saadiq isn't afraid to flaunt tradition: "Big Easy" employs New Orleans brass, "Calling" showcases Mexican balladeer Rocio Mendoza, "Sometimes" adds digital stabs to old-school string arrangements, and the bonus version of "Oh Girl" finds Jay-Z dropping loverman rhymes. And while Saadiq's lyrics aren't as flamboyant as Winehouse's, the singer is all 21st-century forwardness on the smoldering Temptations-style come-on "Let's Take a Walk," where he plainly tells his companion, "I need some sex." Sometimes a man has to lose the metaphors.