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Where Is The Love: Donny Hathaway Finally Gets His Due

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Ghetto Hymns: Deconstructing Jaheim's Blue Collar Soul

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                                                              Once upon a time, a slew of love men ruled the early 2000s R&B scene.  A June 2004 Vibe Magazine article ("Star Search") noted their distinctive attributes: handsome, talented, successful and forgettable. In danger of being swept away in a sea of anonymity, their capsized career highlights read like a epitaph: almost famous and unidentifiable. Destined to "languish in a murky zone of semi-stardom . There were a few glaring exceptions---R. Kelly was crowned "the undisputed king." Usher was hailed as "this year's Michael Jackson." Also on the short list of "bonafide superstars" was New Jersey crooner Jaheim aka "the blue collar lover."                                                As contemporary soul competed with Jadakiss' raspy charisma and Jay-Z's detached cool pose and DMX's grit, Jaheim cut across polarizing lines. Sexy enough for the ladie
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THOM BELL AND LINDA CREED: LOVE IS THE MESSAGE

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                                                                                                         Songwriting credits in today’s music industry read like names of prestigious law firms. It’s not uncommon to list five or six names as co-writers. Factor in samples/ interpolations and the number grows---a far cry from the days when writing and production teams were crews who worked in twos (and threes).  Ask your typical music aficionado these days to run down their short list of great songwriting tandems and they just might stop at LA and Babyface or Jam and Lewis and overlook the prolific genius predating contemporary R&B.                                                              Producer/arranger Thom Bell and lyricist Linda Creed helped brand the Sound of Philadelphia as the preeminent music during the first half of the 1970s. They would weave a string of Top Ten million-sellers into the tapestry of the Stylistics' three gold albums--- The Styli
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