We first heard of LATOIYA WILLIAMS way back in 2003 when she duetted with Anthony Hamilton on the big, soulful ballad ‘My First Love’. Since then we’ve not heard too much from Ms Williams save that her people tell us that she’s been busy collaborating with people like Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, The Game, Dr Dre, Busta Rhyme, Talib Kweli, Young Buck and many more. That roll call should tell you that she’s a well-respected figure on the contemporary US R&B circuit… a kind of go-to-girl to help you lift your project. But big soul names are keen to use LaToiya’s talents too… she’s backing singer of choice for (amongst others) Gladys Knight and Yolanda Adams.
And indeed LaToiya’s latest solo album – the concise 8 tracker, ‘Blue Rose’, reflects that duality. Her music sits right on the cusp of modern soul and contemporary R&B. The set offers four tremendous potential dance floor fillers. The LP’s title track, ‘Can’t Decide, ‘Vintage Love’ and ‘One Call’ will all please the modern soul crew and the R&B crowd. They’re full of tight beats and luscious hooks and ‘One Call’, in particular, is rather wonderful… a joyous celebration of shaking off a dodgy lover!
The album also has a couple of bumpy R&B semi ballads, a big production slowie, ‘Change’ and a mature and classy cover of the Dinah Washington standard ‘Save Your Love For Me’. On the forlorn torch song, Ms Williams proves that the time’s right for her to step out of the background and take her own place centre stage… whether that be an R&B or a soul one!