Music Review: The Role Of A Lady, According To S.P.O.T.
Rapper puts the spotlight on the role of women in relationships.
It's like you’ve been in three musical worlds in a space of a single song when you listen to ‘Falling', the first track on S.P.O.T.’s album, The Ladies Edition.
The track, which features Louie Rich and Moe Flava, starts with the voice of a lady (probably a sample), singing
You have no right to treat me the way you do
The lady continues
Things can't go on this way
So meet me at the place we fell in love before so we can fall in love again
Louie Rich takes the first verse.
The lady’s last words are ‘close your eyes', and then Louie Rich, in his first verse, addresses a certain lady whom he calls a ‘modern day Cinderella’.
I smile when, in a rhyme that follows, Louie Rich raps, ‘I was your umbrella’.
There's that male rap energy, the voices are deep.
It's a song where the dudes reminisce on girls they used to know. Now that they're older, they regret how they treated the lady, but tying in nicely with the wishes of the lady we met at the beginning of the song, they're surprised when their paths meet again.
For an album that’s dedicated to ladies, and for an artist who says songwriting is his strengths, the storytelling leaves many questions unanswered. For example, why are the ladies being sung about not mentioned by name?
‘Room Service’ introduces us to a lady who reflects on how a woman’s job, rather than be the one who's being looked after by their man, is looking after their woman.
The lady comes again at the end of the song, with her final words being
Men have feelings too
The theme of regret is touched on again.
‘Do you think about S.P.O.T.?’ asks the rapper in ‘Every Night’. He asks this ’cause when he thinks of a queen, we hear him rap, he thinks of her. S.P.O.T. addresses this woman as the ‘mother of the first born, mother of the first song’.
On ‘Every Night', S.P.O.T. goes harder on his rhymes and pace as he praises his woman.
But if S.P.O.T. goes hard on ‘Every Night', he goes easy on ‘Salute', a song where we see the return of Louie Rich. Dedicated to a ‘boo’ who always holds it down and stays true, the song is frustratingly unclear. Who is this boo?
The need for the rapper's woman to take good care of her, is explored for the second time on ‘Whatever It Takes’.
Again, we hear the voice of a lady. This time she’s asking a couple of questions: ‘When was the last time a woman took you out on a date?’; ‘When was the last time a woman said, “I value you.”?’
On the song, S.P.O.T. raps
Whatever it takes
No matter the stakes
If the beats on The Ladies Edition sound heavy, ‘On Ya' is on the electronic or bright side. On the song, we're introduced to a male singer who sings the chorus (‘Turn the lights down low'). Again, the song has to do with a woman.
‘Are you ready for the time of your life?’ S.P.O.T. raps, and then a couple of lines later
Five minutes on the couch, and I'm holding you tight
S.P.O.T.’s modus operandi is to go hard on some songs, and then easy on some. He alternates between hard and easy. On ‘Hot Sauce’, S.P.O.T. is in a more reflective, or meditative, mood. He meets this lady at a corner store, a lady who he calls the ‘true definition of a queen' later in the song. Before her, S.P.O.T. raps that he used to be a player.
Sometimes it feels like I'm moving at the speed of light
I used to be a player: two girls one night
I knew that something wasn't right
Tell me what I’m looking for
While S.P.O.T. touches on what he wants in a woman, he doesn't neglect to reflect on who he was as a man, and what his own role is. I'm reminded of an earlier song from the album, him rapping about doing ‘whatever it takes no matter the stakes’.
Almost a clean album, things changes with the erotic ‘Inside’. S.P.O.T., now having managed to bring the woman home, or the woman having allowed him inside her house, raps about the lady telling her that her pussy is his.
Looking into those pretty eyes
Looking at those thick thighs
Oh my!
‘Can I put the tip in?’ he raps on the song, and tells us that the woman responded: ‘You're tripping'.
On ‘Love', which is the last song on the album, we hear S.P.O.T., in his deep voice, singing ‘I just want to fall in love. He alternates this deep singing with slow raps, at first rapping, ‘They say if you're looking for love, you’ll never find it’.
And then later on, he raps:
What if you're not looking for love and then you find it?