Slow Grind

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So I think I’m starting to feel like my parents. A true sign that I’m getting not just regular old, but real OLD. Since my wedding anniversary is coming up, I decided that I wanted to take it back to our earlier years and make Julius one of those “slow grind” mixes!

DISCLAIMER** If you are under the age of 21 (90s baby), you won’t know what I’m talking about so don’t read ANY FURTHER (this is grown folk talk).

When we were young, we would listen to the radio and record the songs onto a cassette, and then later try to blank out the commercials (remember that?!). As we got older, we started burning the songs onto CDs. Now…what the hell am I supposed to do? Send him the song list in an email? Where’s the fun in that? The whole point of the CD was to put on the craziest, sexiest, love inspiring songs that you knew, and get excited about not knowing what the next track was going to be when you were in the groove (iPods spoil all the fun). Now, although I’m pissed about this cramp in my old school style, that really isn’t the point of this post.

As I started going through my iTunes repertoire I got downright disappointed. I wanted to put some “new” school songs on my slow grind CD, but soon realized that there wasn’t anything really (post 2008) to put on there. I mean, yea sure, you’ve got “Invented Sex” by Trey Songz and “Motivation” by Kelly Rowland, and those are suitable for the slow grind mix, but really, what else is there?

See, the slow grind mix is not a sex CD, it’s a lovemaking CD. While it will have, “Greatest Sex I Ever Had” by R. Kellly (the king of the slow grind) and “Red Light Special” by TLC…it will also have “My First Love” by Avant and “Let’s Get Married” by Jagged Edge. It is a subtle mixture of all things sexy in a relationship.

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What our parents were pissed about was that all of our songs were about sex. Quite frankly, as I got older, I realized that theirs were too! Difference being, our generation was more explicit whereas the artists in their generation were more subtle (i.e., “Let’s Get it On” versus “Invented Sex”). So don’t think Ron Isley, Gerald Levert, and Teddy P. didn’t make it to the mix too! I won’t say whose was better. But I will say that these youngins out here have no idea. They have NO clue who Boyz II Men is! They will never know what it means to have a verse where you just TALK to emphasize your point. Remember when deep sexy voice dude from Boyz II Men talked for a WHOLE verse on “End of the Road”. We knew he couldn’t sing; he was just in the group to TALK!! Who’s talking now?

This new generation will never write a “4 Page Letter,” understand what a “Faded Picture” is, know what kind of song will have them “Speechless.” I mean really, who is going give them their slow grind mixes…Willow Smith? It’s kinda disheartening.

Yes, I’m disappointed, but I guess for my 2011 “slow grind” mix, I’ll just take it back to the good ole days. Julius is probably yearning for something to tickle his memories anyway. Therefore, Julius, I will “Cater 2 U” “Slowly”, “Make it Last Forever” because quite frankly, “I’m going down, cause you ain’t around.”