The disc D'Wayne Wiggins recorded two years ago to mark his
independence from Tony Toni Toné sank beneath its own
anonymous professionalism. This solo debut from Tony's true creative
center is so quirky, so idiosyncratic, that I'm now convinced the
Saadiq-penned 1996 R&B hit "Let's Get Down" was indeed trying to
simulate drunkenness. The groove here doesn't propel the music
forward so much as tow the line, dragging just under the surface like
a pool skimmer. And just marvel at all the muck Saadiq's caught in
his net: a tuba tag that reappears in the mix minutes later;
impromptu sing-alongs; hooks that lag ever so slightly behind the
beat; even silence, as in the false ending of "Body Parts"; and the
three separate (bonus? hidden?) tracks that make up the stellar
15-minute finale, "Sky, Can You Feel Me." All of which dissolves the
boundaries between individual songs and makes hay of our
background/foreground distinctions — not just in the music but
in our day-to-day drift.
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