For those who haven’t heard his smash hit, “Don’t Know” or his new single “Somebody Else,” you definitely recognize his trademark phrase “Turn the light on”.
It’s been regular uttered on the radio by the likes of Usher, Trey Songz, Kelly Rowland, Beyonce, Brandy, Chris Brown, and Diddy. After a decade of writing and producing some of your favorite R&B songs for your favorite artist, Rico Love is stepping from behind the curtain. The product of this decision is an album entitled, Turn the Lights On.
When asked about the choice of title for the album, Rico Love chuckled as he cited the obvious opportunity for branding, but it was his concept and mantra of “All things must come to light…” that truly inspired the album and the phrase. The album follows Rico Love as he tackles every facet of love, monogamy, and marriage as he is trying to come to terms with his own success and the demons that all blessings come with.
Rico Love keeps the feature list small as Raekwon the Chef, Action Bronson, and a new up and coming NY rapper, Armani Caeser, are the only other voices on the album. He spoke on his need for the creation process to be organic and how “calling in favors for big names” can, at times, get in the way of the vision for a project. That being said, Rico Love’s trademark production and gift for lyrics are more than enough to keep any listener captivated in the story line.
The album manages to keep a delicate balance of R&B, Rap, and Pop as Rico Love switches effortlessly through the mediums. Rico takes it a step farther by adding “big band” sounds, courtesy of the TTLO Orchestra, throughout the album, particularly present on songs like “Run From Me”. Songs like “TTLO”, “Bad Attitude”, and “Trifling” give you hard-hitting production. While ballads like, “Amsterdam” and “Somebody Else” will have any listener’s mind stuck on “the one that got away”.
Why should any lover of music listen to this album? Because, Rico Love refuses to be boxed in by the typical label genres. He makes a pretty clear statement with this project, by using a diverse range of sounds, that he values genuine exploration over adhering to prescribed music success formulas. He said, by painting a vision you’re passionate about an artist can be transparent.
When asked about number predictions and the current state of R&B, he said, “R&B music isn’t dead. It’s just changed and transformed”, pointing out the movement of labels pushing mediocre music onto the radio and overall public acceptance and conception of these products as a cause of a new found neglect and distrust of the radio among new artist. But, with this new album, Love, hopes to open up a dialogue on love that will cause people to not only react, but go as far to support the artist who created it.
-JT Tarpav
