Random Jam: Tweet-"Heaven" (2002)

Man. When I tell you I used to love this woman...still do actually. Tweet's debut album Southern Hummingbird was one of the most pleasant surprises I ever had. I was a regional college promotional marketing representative (fancy way of saying intern) for Elektra records when this album dropped. When they sent me some snippet CDs to give away, I knew the album was gonna be pretty good based off what I heard on those. But man, when the actual full length came out, daaaaaaaaamn, this shit was jamming. To this day I still think she got absolutely cheated at the Soul Train Lady of Soul awards when they gave Ashanti the Best New Female Artist Award that year. Ashanti couldn't hold a candle to Tweet. Tweet actually wrote and produced on her own stuff...and played guitar.

But yeah, I have alot of favorite songs on this album and "Heaven" is probably my absolute favorite. First time I heard the song, I just thought the sparse beat with the guitar in the back was straight fie. I loved the melody, but didn't really start paying attention to the words until the 5th or 6th time I listened. After I fully understood the feelings she was conveying on this song, I loved her even more as a songwriter. Fortunately the relationship I was in at the time was "Heaven" and I couldn't relate...but after growing in and out of some others since then, I absolutely relate to this song and I'm sure some of you feel me on that. This and "Always Will" are songs that still float around in my head to this day because of the experiences I've had.

But yeah, I used to really love this woman. Her chocolate skin, he smooth voice, her dark eyes, everything! I think the thing I loved the most was that while I thought she was very pretty, she wasn't "perfect." I read that she hated smiling because she didn't like how her teeth looked. I used to feel the same way about my grill, ahahha. Don't get me wrong I around here looking like Too $hort, but I know ain't Shermar Moore 'round this b*tch either. But yeah, I really related to the vulnerability and sometimes brutal honesty that Tweet conveyed in her music (and indirectly in her image). She let you know that she enjoyed being in love, but that loving yourself first was always the first priority...and that "loving yourself" was ok too, ahaha.

I've heard that Tweet actually lives in Atlanta now and has been working on stuff here and there. The only thing I've heard is that song she did with T.I. a couple years ago and a jamming ass song "Cruisin" I found on youtube last year. (UPDATE: just found this jamming ass song called "Its You" too)

But yeah, Tweet...please come back. I don't know if anyone misses her, but I know I do.

Bonus: "Smoking Cigarettes"|"Beautiful"|"Motel"