Jeai(pronounced Jay) is quickly heating up the airwaves in his native VA with the track “Callin’ Out Your Name”. The song, written and produced by Bo-Ty Productions (we ride with these guys!) continues to prove to this reviewer that there are artists and producers committed to making great R&B records.
One of the phrases that kept coming to mind as I was listening to the production comes from the sage emcee laureate Rakim “This is how it should be done…”. What I mean by that statement is that if you are going to do R&B, do R&B just like if your going to play the Blues, play the Blues etc., Sure, the music is always changing and redeveloping but a lot of what passes for R&B is not R&B, it’s something else altogether which is fine, we just need to come up with a name for it. But I digress…
Jeai provides something very striking and refreshing in his performance on “Callin’ Out Your Name” yes it’s evident that he can riff and run with the best of them but that’s not how the story unfolds here. Each section of the song is sung in a manner that causes the listener to clearly remember the melody. Melody is king here. It is also very refreshing to hear Jeai move through different passages of his vocal range, he possesses equal facility throughout.
Musically and production wise “Calling Out Your Name” is as smooth of track that I’ve heard in a while on the contemporary landscape. All the pieces of the production work very well together here and every instrument has its own individual space, yet they all work together to support the vocals. As you all know I am a huge, huge fan of bridges in songs and “Callin’ Out Your Name” does not disappoint. I always listen for the bridge to transport the sound of a production and the bridge here is used strategically to setup a very nice key modulation for the out chorus. I didn’t mean to get too geeky on that last sentence but that was what I was alluding to earlier in this review: it’s these very subtle nuances in a production that clue you in as to the level of skill that you are presented with.
Bottom line, I am expecting to hear more great music from Jeai and the great folks from Bo-Ty Productions. This is definitely one for your music collection. If you love great music please support these independent artists, writers and producers by purchasing their music.
Ivan Orr is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, performer, and writer. A native of Charlottesville, Virginia Ivan was involved with the forming and nascent days of The Music Resource Center as its first Program Director. A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Music, Ivan currently resides in Richmond, VA where he maintains an active performance and production schedule while serving as the Music Editor for Grown Folks Music, a position he has held since 2010.
