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Teena Marie's Sapphire -- named after a nickname given to her by onetime partner and late funk legend Rick James -- doesn't sound like the work of a 50-year-old artist. While 2004's La Doña, Marie's first commercially released album since 1990, hardly sounded like the work of a 48-year-old artist, it's clear that she was only getting started (again). As with La Doña, there's the odd verse where Marie sounds like she's trying too hard to be hip. Longtime fans might also be a little surprised to hear Marie more sexed-up than ever, but any faults or jarring traits are canceled out by the supreme excellence of Marie's voice and the quality of the songs she has written and produced. (She gets some assistance, along with some guest spots from Smokey Robinson, George Duke, Gerald Albright, Kurupt, and daughter Alia Rose, but she calls the shots here as much as she did on any of her albums since Wild and Peaceful.) This is another very long album that never runs out of ideas, with plenty of room for some of her classiest throwback ballads and her most up-to-date, colorful jams. Though some of the songs might be skippable -- it all depends on the mood of the listener -- there's no more meandering here than on any of Marie's half-as-long albums. There's a handful of particularly commanding songs to get stuck on. "Cruise Control," with Smokey Robinson, gets the album going and is pitched brilliantly between Marvin Gaye's "After the Dance" and Robinson's own "Cruisin'." "Make It Hot" bounces and struts with as much irresistible playfulness as "It Must Be Magic" or "Square Biz." "You Blow Me Away," a heartbreaking ballad, references "You and I," "Fire and Desire," and makes its subject completely clear at the very end: "I love you, Rick -- there, I've gone and said it." The greatest knockout of all is "Love Is a Gangsta," a fresh, dynamite acknowledgment of prime Dr. Dre-generated G-funk, with whining synths, sinewy wah-wah guitar, and layered vocal hooks that might make Nate Dogg keel over. Marie is her bad-ass best on this song, and her shout to Pam Grier is extremely apt. Why? Because Sapphire is her Jackie Brown.
© Andy Kellman /TiVo
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SMOKEY ROBINSON, FeaturedArtist - Eric Zobler, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Teena Marie, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 2006 Cash Money Records Inc.
SMOKEY ROBINSON, FeaturedArtist - Eric Zobler, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Teena Marie, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 2006 Cash Money Records Inc.
Kurupt, FeaturedArtist - Eric Zobler, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Teena Marie, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 2006 Cash Money Records Inc.
Eric Zobler, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Teena Marie, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Chad Wright, Drum Programming, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2006 Cash Money Records Inc.
Kurupt, FeaturedArtist - Doug Grigsby, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Teena Marie, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Robert Brooks, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2006 Cash Money Records Inc.
Doug Grigsby, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Eric Zobler, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Teena Marie, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Robert Brooks, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2006 Cash Money Records Inc.
Doug Grigsby, Producer - Eric Zobler, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Teena Marie, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Robert Brooks, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2006 Cash Money Records Inc.
Allen Mcgrier, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Doug Grigsby, ComposerLyricist - Eric Zobler, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Teena Marie, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Robert Brooks, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2006 Cash Money Records Inc.
Queen, FeaturedArtist - Doug Grigsby, Producer - Eric Zobler, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Teena Marie, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Gail Gotti, FeaturedArtist - Robert Brooks, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2006 Cash Money Records Inc.
Larry Corbett, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - James Stewart, ComposerLyricist - Gerald Albright, FeaturedArtist - Gerry Hilera, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Rudy Stein, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - Doug Grigsby, Producer, Bass Guitar, Keyboards, Drum Programming, AssociatedPerformer - Eric Zobler, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Dennis Molchan, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Maria Newman, Viola, AssociatedPerformer - Scott Hosfeld, Viola, AssociatedPerformer - Igor Pandurski, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - John Acosta, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - Mike Markman, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Teena Marie, Producer, Guitar, Keyboards, Drum Programming, Background Vocalist, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Robert Brooks, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Carolyn Riley, Viola, AssociatedPerformer - Charlie Everett, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Mike Vaccaro, Unknown, Other - Edmund Stein, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Nick Grant, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Paul Manaster, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Victor A. Vanacore, String Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Ed Persi, Viola, AssociatedPerformer - Yao Zao, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - Alicia Engley, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Robert F. Peterson, Unknown, Other - Todor Pelev, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Hernon Constantino, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Allen Grier, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Eleanore Choate, Harp, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2006 Cash Money Records Inc.
Larry Corbett, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - Gerry Hilera, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Rudy Stein, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - Doug Grigsby, Producer, Bass Guitar, Keyboards, Drum Programming, AssociatedPerformer - Eric Zobler, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Dennis Molchan, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Maria Newman, Viola, AssociatedPerformer - Scott Hosfeld, Viola, AssociatedPerformer - Igor Pandurski, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - John Acosta, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - Mike Markman, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Teena Marie, Producer, Guitar, Keyboards, Drum Programming, Background Vocalist, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Robert Brooks, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Carolyn Riley, Viola, AssociatedPerformer - Charlie Everett, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Mike Vaccaro, Unknown, Other - Edmund Stein, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Nick Grant, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Paul Manaster, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Victor A. Vanacore, String Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Ed Persi, Viola, AssociatedPerformer - Yao Zao, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - Alicia Engley, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Robert F. Peterson, Unknown, Other - Todor Pelev, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Hernon Constantino, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Allen Grier, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Eleanore Choate, Harp, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2006 Cash Money Records Inc.
Doug Grigsby, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Teena Marie, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Robert Brooks, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Lady Levi, FeaturedArtist
℗ 2006 Cash Money Records Inc.
Larry Corbett, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - Gerry Hilera, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Rudy Stein, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - Doug Grigsby, Producer - Eric Zobler, Recording Engineer, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Dennis Molchan, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Maria Newman, Viola, AssociatedPerformer - Scott Hosfeld, Viola, AssociatedPerformer - Igor Pandurski, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - John Acosta, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - Mike Markman, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Teena Marie, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Robert Brooks, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Carolyn Riley, Viola, AssociatedPerformer - Charlie Everett, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Mike Vaccaro, Unknown, Other - Edmund Stein, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Nick Grant, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Paul Manaster, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Victor A. Vanacore, String Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Ed Persi, Viola, AssociatedPerformer - Yao Zao, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - Alicia Engley, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Robert F. Peterson, Unknown, Other - Todor Pelev, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Hernon Constantino, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Eleanore Choate, Harp, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2006 Cash Money Records Inc.
Eric Zobler, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Teena Marie, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Robert Brooks, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2006 Cash Money Records Inc.
Doug Grigsby, Producer - Eric Zobler, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Teena Marie, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - James Allen, Keyboards, Drum Programming, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Robert Brooks, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2006 Cash Money Records Inc.
Eric Zobler, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Teena Marie, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Alia Rose, FeaturedArtist
℗ 2006 Cash Money Records Inc.
Album review
Teena Marie's Sapphire -- named after a nickname given to her by onetime partner and late funk legend Rick James -- doesn't sound like the work of a 50-year-old artist. While 2004's La Doña, Marie's first commercially released album since 1990, hardly sounded like the work of a 48-year-old artist, it's clear that she was only getting started (again). As with La Doña, there's the odd verse where Marie sounds like she's trying too hard to be hip. Longtime fans might also be a little surprised to hear Marie more sexed-up than ever, but any faults or jarring traits are canceled out by the supreme excellence of Marie's voice and the quality of the songs she has written and produced. (She gets some assistance, along with some guest spots from Smokey Robinson, George Duke, Gerald Albright, Kurupt, and daughter Alia Rose, but she calls the shots here as much as she did on any of her albums since Wild and Peaceful.) This is another very long album that never runs out of ideas, with plenty of room for some of her classiest throwback ballads and her most up-to-date, colorful jams. Though some of the songs might be skippable -- it all depends on the mood of the listener -- there's no more meandering here than on any of Marie's half-as-long albums. There's a handful of particularly commanding songs to get stuck on. "Cruise Control," with Smokey Robinson, gets the album going and is pitched brilliantly between Marvin Gaye's "After the Dance" and Robinson's own "Cruisin'." "Make It Hot" bounces and struts with as much irresistible playfulness as "It Must Be Magic" or "Square Biz." "You Blow Me Away," a heartbreaking ballad, references "You and I," "Fire and Desire," and makes its subject completely clear at the very end: "I love you, Rick -- there, I've gone and said it." The greatest knockout of all is "Love Is a Gangsta," a fresh, dynamite acknowledgment of prime Dr. Dre-generated G-funk, with whining synths, sinewy wah-wah guitar, and layered vocal hooks that might make Nate Dogg keel over. Marie is her bad-ass best on this song, and her shout to Pam Grier is extremely apt. Why? Because Sapphire is her Jackie Brown.
© Andy Kellman /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 16 track(s)
- Total length: 01:17:04
- Main artists: Teena Marie
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Cash Money
- Genre: Soul/Funk/R&B R&B
© 2006 Cash Money Records Inc. ℗ 2006 Cash Money Records Inc.
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