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TEENA MARIE DISCOVERS 'SAPPHIRE': R&B diva has a rare gem on her hands.
It seems that Ms. Teena Marie has been quite an elusive powerhouse when it comes to pegging her style and audience. From the beginning of her career, we’ve been uncertain of her cultural roots, but clear that her love of R&B, jazz, and hip-hop would eventually bring her back to us.
Her 2004 offering, “La Dona,” was her first album since “Passion Play” dropped in 1994. She showed that her musical talent and/or abilities had not missed a beat. The album dropped so hard, no one knew she had ever left the scene. But now that she’s released her second offering from the Cash Money label “Sapphire” which has sold over 100,000 copies, she is a force to be reckoned with. She may finally get the recognition that has been due her for so many years.
The album, so smooth, yet hard enough for a true playa to bump in his ride on the gangster lean, has collaborations with Kurupt and his wife Gail Gotti, Gerald Albright, and her personal favorite, Smokey Robinson.
“All the reviews have been great. There were like 18 reviews and 10 of them were five stars, four of them were four stars,” said Marie. “Everybody’s loving it. One of the ones I saw was cruel … There’s always gonna be somebody that doesn’t get it, but everybody has a right to their own opinion.”
She shared that she not only wrote and produced the album, but a lot of personal experience has been apart of the secret recipe that makes up the music in her brilliant career. Her style is obviously enough for her fans and she is not willing to compromise.
“I write about my life and the things that are around me,” said Marie. “And you know, one of the comments was, ‘She shouldn’t produce herself anymore. She shouldn’t write for herself.’ But that’s what I do. And ‘the lyrics were corny as compared to what’s out there.’ I’m just gonna keep doing what I do and appreciate the 15, 16 fans out of 18.”
But, this album differs from any of the others in her career. Her mentor, lover, one-time producer and friend, the infamous Rick James, was not by her side, not even a phone call away. The album isn’t a depressing sounding album, but just the opposite, though it was highly influenced by the pain of Rick James’ passing.
“This particular album, I was really in a lot of pain when I wrote it because of Rick’s passing,” admits Teena. “So, I think that this was God’s way of letting me write my way out of my pain even though the album’s not depressing at all … I felt like [Rick] was writing with me a lot … I’m glad that the whole record wasn’t reflecting my pain and what I was feeling cause I think that would’ve been very depressing. I don’t like listening to a depressing album.”
The album’s energy stays up with tracks like “Baby Whose Is It?” that features Kurupt. An interesting mixture between the diva and the rapper makes for one of the hottest tracks on the album.
“I just thought it was exciting and I thought the hook was real tight and I called Kurupt and actually I wrote the rap and when he heard it he was like ‘I don’t wanna change this, Ma,” explained Teena. “They all call me Ma … I got a whole other extended family. He was like ‘This is great, I’m just gonna say what you said.’ And so, I thought it would be really interesting if I sang it while he spoke it.”
While Rick was not in the other room physically, he certainly put his touches throughout the album via Teena’s spiritual connection with the funk genius. Not only that, he named the album … sort of.
“The album is called Sapphire because Rick wrote a song called Sapphire that’s never been released,” reveals Teena. “It’s a song that he wrote like right before he died; it was one of the last things he recorded. It’s a song about black women and their contributions in society, from Cleopatra to Nefertiti to Barbara Jordan, Harriet Tubman, and Oprah Winfrey. It’s just really, really a beautiful amazing song that he wrote … When I heard it I was like, ‘Oh Rick … I can’t wait for this to come out because people really need to hear this from you.’
The memory of Rick James, according to Teena, has been reduced to Super Freak. His talent is much more far reaching than one of the most recognizable, nearing satirical, songs of his career.
“When people talk about him they always gravitate to the whole Super Freak thing and it’s very disrespectful to me because he was such a brilliant writer and he wrote so many incredible songs,” she points out. “Ebony Eyes, all the Mary Jane Girls stuff, Déjà Vu with me, Fire and Desire, it goes on and on and on, but for some reason they just say, ‘Oh yeah, Super Freak!’ and it aggravates me. So when I told him that, he would always look at me and he would go ‘Yeah Teena, well, I look at you like Sapphire too. You’re Sapphire.’ So, that’s why I thought of that.”
One thing people may not realize is that her biggest influence is the legendary Smokey Robinson. He appears on one of the smoothest tracks of the set.
“I have idolized him since I was a young girl. I really feel that he was the one that I studied to learn how to write music,” says Marie. “When I was probably 15 years old, I used to go to the parties and stuff and take my guitar, and all my friends called me little Smokey because I knew all his songs and I could sing them and I could sing them just like him … I would study his music and I wanted to be that kind of writer. I wanted to write love songs.”
Then it would be only fitting that the set begins with a duet with Smokey that leaves Teena’s fans surprised and happy, even if it isn’t Rick holding the other mic.
“He (Smokey) heard “God Is Created” and he looked at me and was like ‘This is mean.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, but I got it from you.’ And I said do you want me to sit here and go over it a couple of times and he was like ‘no I got it.’ He heard it like once and he just walked in there and just laced it.”
Teena’s daughter Alia Rose also appears on the last track, Resilient (Sapphire). The appearances have been embraced well by reviewers. They complete the package that is Sapphire.
“I’m just really excited that people are liking it the way they do, they’re mentioning [Rick] a lot and that makes me feel really good, they’re mentioning Smokey, they’re mentioning my daughter. They really like the guest appearances on the record.”
Whether you’re a Teena Marie fan or aspiring to be, there’s no way this album can miss. The old sound is still brilliant and crisp as ever and it offers the new fan an updated Teena Marie that knows how to satisfy her new listeners, blending classic Teena with a new and improved Diva for the 21st century.
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