Even though Michael Jackson is one of the weirdest musical artists around – including, but not limited to, his relationship with Lisa Marie Presley and his pet chimp Bubbles – his endorsement still carries some clout.
When a message from him appears on your answering machine saying, “I’m really interested in that stuff coming out of your studio. That Floetry stuff is really cool,” it may be the official announcement that you’ve made it.
He’s right too – “that Floetry stuff” by British duo Marsha Ambrosius and Natalie Stewart, who specialize in soul-hip hop fusion, is really cool.
Even though every song on Floetry’s debut album “Floetic” features both singing and rapping, the album still contains plenty of diversity, alternating between soulful ballads and more upbeat dance tracks.
This does pose a slight problem for the album because the faster songs, including their first single “Floetic,” often seem misplaced on the album. Floetry flow much better on the slower tracks, which often expose more of their vulnerability.
The band’s beautiful, distinct style is most apparent on “Headache,” a song about worrying a lover is going to leave, not wanting them to and the pain that accompanies those feelings.
MC Stewart calls the song the most floetic on the album, with its contrast of spoken poetry and sung vocals and she couldn’t be more right. Everything about this song fits together perfectly.
Singer Ambrosius channels Jill Scott for the other two stand-out tracks on the album, “Sunshine” and “Getting Late.”
Judging the chorus of “Sunshine,” a song which tests the limits of the pair’s friendship when one wonders what the world would be like if the other was dead, one would think the song is just another attempt to be deep by one of the teeny-bopper girls.
Surprisingly enough, the song is actually one of the deepest and most emotional tracks on the album.
“Sunshine’s” chorus reads “I just want to see my lovely sunshine/I just want to bring back all my blue skies/And if you take away my rainbow, I will cry/Give me back my sunshine.”
Don’t worry about the death song, though – most of Floetry’s songs aren’t quite as emotionally harsh.
“Getting Late” takes the lyrics in a complete 180, moving from a friend dying to getting hurt again by a second-chance lover.
Love in all its forms is the most common theme of Floetry’s music – ranging from fun, purely sexual relationships to the initial feelings of love at the start of a relationship.
On the tougher end of Floetry’s love spectrum, “Ms. Stress” is a little more like an India.Arie track, with plenty of heartfelt feelings going into the lyrics.
Just like the title suggests, the song is about being the other woman of a married man, and coming to the realization the relationship isn’t going to work out in the end.
The song’s hook says, “It’s better that it hurts/It’s better that love hurts me/Because then I can overcome it.”
“Hey You,” the last noteworthy song on the album, seems to take its inspiration from another neo-soul song, Alicia Keys’ “A Woman’s Worth.”
Although the lyrics are a little depressing, “Hey You” is the song that may transform “Floetic” from a good album into a great album. It’s one of those hidden little gems that would never make it as a single and would probably be passed over on just a casual listen.
When the song is actually listened to more closely, the warmth and beauty of the song truly shine. The song’s story revolves around a woman in heaven, crying down to a missed lover, saying, “I’m sorry that I had to leave, but I’ll try to come back.”
“Butterfly,” the song that made Michael Jackson excited about Floetry in the first place, isn’t quite the great song it’s made out to be.
Appearing as a bonus track (Jackson actually released his own version of it on his latest album “Invincible”), the lyrics constantly sound like they come in just a beat too early, throwing off the flow of the entire song.
Other than the occasional miscue, Floetry nails everything on the album. Its poetry with flow doesn’t break away from the established neo-soul path blazed by the likes of Scott, Arie and Keys, but it’s just distinct enough to really set the album apart, making it well-worth a listen.
