Lucy Pearl by Lucy Pearl (Cassette, May-2000, Beyond Records)

Album Features
UPC:	639857805942
Artist:	Lucy Pearl
Format:	Cassette
Release Year:	2000
Record Label:	Beyond Records
Genre:	Contemporary R&B, R&B

Details
Playing Time:	55 min.
Contributing Artists:	Snoop Dogg, Q-Tip
Producer:	Raphael Saadiq, Rafael Saadiq
Distributor:	Universal Distribution
Recording Type:	Studio
Recording Mode:	Stereo
SPAR Code:	n/a

Album Notes
Lucy Pearl: Dawn Robinson (vocals); Raphael Saadiq (guitar, bass); Ali Shaheed Muhammad (bass, programming).Additional personnel includes: Snoop Dog, Q-Tip (rap vocals); Carl Verheyen, Edward "Spanky" Charmers, John "Jubu" Smith, Rob Bacon (guitar); George Shelby (flute); Mike Baird (drums); Taku, Paulinho Dacosta (percussion); Jake & The Phatman (programming).Recorded at Toast, Larabee Sound West, and Leftside Studios, West Hollywood, California."Dance Tonight" was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.Doing for soul what bands like Crosby, Stills & Nash and Cream did for rock & roll, Lucy Pearl is a supergroup culling personnel from different corners of the rap and contemporary R&B world. The brainchild of Tony Toni Tone's Raphael Saddiq, the band is rounded out by Ali Shaheed Muhammad of hip-hop innovators A Tribe Called Quest, and former En Vogue vocalist Dawn Robinson. Lucy Pearl fits squarely into the '90s nouveau soul movement that counts D'Angelo (replaced in Lucy Pearl by Robinson following schedule conflicts) and Lauryn Hill as members. This trio infuses its debut with plenty of rolling beats, funky licks and crackling rhythms.The vocal ying and yang Saddiq and Robinson provides throughout these 15 tracks is particularly apparent on numbers like the harmonically rich "Trippin'," and the buttery smooth "Dance Tonight." DJ Ali's programming skills also come to the fore on the thumping "They Can't," and the bouncy "Don't Mess With My Man," featuring Dawn Robinson tearing a vocal hole through the roof. Other highlights include the lyrical trade-off between Snoop Dogg and Muhammad's former Quest running partner Q-Tip on the head-bobbing "You," and the rock guitar-laden "Hollywood," a stylistic cousin to En Vogue's "Free Your Mind."

Editorial Reviews
3 stars out of 5 - ...Superb vocalists, effortlessly letting fly with gorgeous harmonies...
Q (20000801)

...With its head-bobbing beats and go-anywhere arrangements, Pearl's debut is as innovative as it is infectious. - Rating: B+
Entertainment Weekly (20000526)

8 out of 10 - ...The trio lands a tastefully subtle blow against gender segregation and post-Puffy arrivistes, sounding current by making neo-soul's retro grade....It's the sound of new money chilling - comfortable, amused, never effete, just smooove...
Spin (20000701)

3.5 stars out of 5 - ...[Their] melodies and rhythmic moves are fluently composed yet are unafraid to take unexpected exits off the 2000 R&B freeway. Their self-regarding mix of immediacy and indirection is a little like Chic's in the '80s...
Rolling Stone (20000525)