Does Secret Garden even drop today? Would it brick? Could you do a concept album like this today? Is it too, metaphoric, too subtle, too mushy for a modern audience? I don’t mean for a younger crowd, but for a modern, 2007-2008 crowd?
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People say they want more subtly, more romance, etc. but when you give it to ‘em they don’t buy it, it seems…
Consider the lineup: Q. James. Al B., El (Word up to VIBE!)... Crooners, soulmen all. But would people have the attention span for this today? And would people be cool enough for the um... "diversity".
Make no mistake, when this joint dropped back in 1990, 1991 there's a reason you didn't see B-dub's rotund rear-end in the frame. As cool as his voice was honchos were convinced that that the once the honeys realized that the lovahman voice was attached to two tons of fun, this sure-fire hit would brick. And Barry White knew the game and played along... And Quincy knew to enough to get the then new jacks like Al B. and El on the track for his comeback. so who knows...
But you wanna hear something weird? Barry White came to my high school back when i was 17 years old to promote Back on the Block. And lemme tell ya'll... The brotha was swole!!!!! but he was smooth. And you know what? Out of all the famous people that came to my high school Barry White drew more girls than any of them.
Swear!
Every dude sat back in awe. We'd be like, "the dude weighs 375lb! He look like he goin' into labor! he sweatin' barbecue sauce!"
Females didn't care, i mean it--they did not care not one iota. They hung on every single word he said. Girls sat in those auditorium chairs glued to everything that came out his mouth. Eyes big as saucers. Every time we'd crack joke on him they were like, "i don't care. he's chocolate and fine! Keep talkin' Mistah White, don't mind 'nem (shushin' us) they flunkin'!"
And he spoke for like 90 minutes. He didn't even sing. All he did was talk music theory, his history in the music game which got him on topics like ownership, publishing, education... It was heady stuff for high schoolers. (And of course, "buy the album when it drops."). He had that long black coat, those wet lookin' curls.... that "sho' ya' right" from 1974 swag that ya' crazy creole uncles and Mississippi kin used to spit...
Teachers. Students. Female security guards... They were all over this cat. I never saw so much swag on one man ever. Ever. Not to this day.
Yeah...
Barry White would get a deal. I don't know about anybody else on that Secret Garden project. But Barry White would get a deal on swag alone.
He'd come out of a meeting with execs, advance money and publishing rights in hand.
Sho ya' right.
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