So everybody’s rocking to Beyonce’s Irreplaceable. It’s an insanely catchy song, and I love anything that comes pre-packaged with a dance. You can find me grooving “to the left, to the left” most mornings on my commute to work. There’s nothing like a classic breakup anthem to bring a woman’s sass to the forefront. It’s a grand tradition dating back to the days of “You’ll Lose A Good Thing” and “I Will Survive.”
My favorites are songs that reveal the scope of a relationship. Mary J. Blige’s “Not Gon’ Cry” is a perfect example that tells a realistic story, as is Whitney’s “Heartbreak Hotel” and “It’s Not Right, But It’s OK.” (on a side topic, I can’t wait for the killer breakup jams on Whitney’s upcoming album! She’s got to be bursting with material, for real). I love tracks that take both angles into account – Sparkle’s one hit wonderful “Be Careful” comes immediately to mind (As much as I loathe R. “Pee On You” Kelly, I gotta admit that he knows how to craft a powerful, timeless slow jam).
All of the modern breakup jams (like the modern love songs, and… well pretty much all recent R&B jams in my memory) concern themselves more with material possessions than with heartbreak. The latest crop all seem to follow a formula.
“You aren’t around/seem to want to be single, and you’re cheating on me in my own car/house. And to add insult to injury, you can’t pay my bills/buy me nice things. So pack up your ish and get out of my house. And oh yeah, give back everything I bought for you.”
I love lots of these songs, but the storyline is a bit ridiculous to me. I mean, who finds it believable that Beyonce would buy a car for a scrub who only seems to have a wifebeater and a pair of jeans to his name? Exactly.
Not all bad-ass breakup jams become big radio hits. Take for example Jaguar Wright’s “Free,” Monica’s “Knock Knock,” or Syleena Johnson’s “Guess What.”
The latest fresh-to-death breakup jam that I’m not hearing on the radio is by my girl Sunshine Anderson.
There’s something I love about Sunshine. She’s not pretty in a conventional way, she has distinctive features, killer pipes, and a no BS attitude.Apparently Beyonce’s been working on more than one break up jam behind the scenes: Sunshine Anderson’s Wikipedia entry says that “her sophomore album, Sunshine at Midnight, will have songs written and produced by Beyonce.” And she’s on Papa Knowles’s label, too. So fingers crossed for Sunshine to blow up big time.
“There’s Something That I Wanna Give You” is my jam. I love how matter-of-fact she delivers her diss. No heh-heh-hesitation.
Happy Friday, bellas!
Loved this! I didn’t even know she had a new video out. “Heard it all before” was my tune! Man I needed this. I’m still getting over a painful breakup and I’ve just started listening to breakup songs again (part of the healing process ;)). “Fool of Me” by Me’shell Ndegeocello is still occupying the top spot right now though.
There is a song by UK RnB singer Terri Walker has a song called “I Don’t Care”. The chorus says “So don’t let me break your heart, don’t let me tear it apart
I’ll change my mind and I won’t try I’ll do this time and time again, So don’t ask me if that’s fair, cos I don’t care.” Straight to the point!!
I love Sunshine, but I think I prefer her “Heard it all before” fresh look, the clumped eyelashes are not cute.
I know people rag on Beyonce a lot, but is she a great songwriter? I think her songs are not always that great, but she delivers them with confidence and courage with can be half the battle. I hope that Sunshine can do well, even if she has to sing songs written by B. Let us all say a prayer for Ms. Anderson!
I love this song.
Another Break Up Jam – Vivian Green’s Gotta Go, Gotta Leave (Tired).
Loved the song, you left out soul diva Angie Stone’s Coulda Been U, my favorite line from the song—–
You thought the grass was greener on the other side, you didn’t know your ass was color blind—
Tamia’s “me, myself and I” is just plain wonderful. P.s. so sorry to hear that she has MS.
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