For those who havenโt heard his smash hit, โDonโt Know” or his new single “Somebody Else,” you definitely recognize his trademark phrase โTurn the light onโ.
Itโs 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 โAll things must come to lightโฆโ 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 โcalling in favors for big namesโ can, at times, get in the way of the vision for a project. That being said, Rico Loveโs 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 โbig bandโ sounds, courtesy of the TTLO Orchestra, throughout the album, particularly present on songs like โRun From Meโ. Songs like โTTLOโ, โBad Attitudeโ, and โTriflingโ give you hard-hitting production. While ballads like, โAmsterdamโ and โSomebody Elseโ will have any listenerโs mind stuck on โthe one that got awayโ.
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 youโre passionate about an artist can be transparent.
When asked about number predictions and the current state of R&B, he said, โR&B music isnโt dead. Itโs just changed and transformedโ, 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
