90s r&b albums were full of midtempos, even though it was usually the ballads or club bangers that got released as singles.
so, there are plenty of quality tunes that never really saw the light of day.
download 90s r&b midtempos
assorted phlavors – lovin’ on the d.l
the girls only released one album, and managed not to overdo the ballads. arrived at the same time as allure, who were more successful. well, they made it to three albums.
brandy – as long as you’re here
this is from brandy’s 1994 debut. like so many other r&b albums of its era, it had some tiresome interludes and so you often didn’t make it past ‘sunny day’, which is a shame as there were a couple of cool midtempos.
brownstone – revenge
like 3t, brownstone suffered somewhat from the michael jackson effect. believe it or not at one point he was considered a bit safe…anyway, by the time of the girls’ second album they appeared to have shaken off the worthiness that plagued parts of their debut.
braxtons – girl on the side
the fact that the sisters would only make one album was a foregone conclusion. spin-off family groups have limited success for a reason. if any were better than their famous sibling, they would have been the one with the career.
changing faces – am i wasting my time
less sleazy than their other earlier offerings. they marked their territory early with ‘stroke you up’, but could have had much more interesting careers if they’d switched to an A&R with a clue.
janet jackson – where are you now
janet only really started doing midtempos in the 90s as far as I can remember. this is the janet remixed version, which is far superior.
kreuz – crush on you
kreuz, in true copycat brit style, tried to emulate r.kelly with tunes like ‘slap and tickle’. this is so much better. these days, emulating r.kelly is best left to the comedians.
mariah carey – slipping away
not strictly an album track, but should have been as its better than the ballads on ‘daydream’. love this early 90s style mariah.
mokenstef – it happens
i always thought ‘he’s mine’ was a cute song, but didn’t have high hopes for the album. this is a really nice track, that could have made a great single.
shola ama – can’t have you
shola is the uk queen of midtempo soul, when she isn’t being remixed for the uk garage crew. that late 90s/early 00s style has been sounding tired of late but with the next decade approaching it will probably undergo a revival.
swv – coming home
swv’s first album saw many tracks released and remixed, but not this one. i think a remix would have lost the point, so its good that they left well enough alone.
xscape – is my living in vain
xscape don’t have a plethora of great album tracks in their back catalogue, their strongest tracks tended to get released, but this is the essence of their debut.
