A young woman awakes early Saturday morning to start her weekend full of to-do list items and small errands before painting the social night life with her friends. She enters into a nearby coffee shop for her favorite cup of Joe before starting her day. A young man opens the door for her and holds it open as she walks through. She doesn’t say thank you or acknowledges him, she just continues to the line to grab her coffee. Once her caffeine fix is filled, she heads to the post office to drop some mail off and a package she had to send for a project due. While standing in line, she drops her pen on the floor and a middle-aged gentleman picks it up for her. She takes it out of his hand and heads to the teller since she is the next one in line. She has a lot of things to do before nightfall, so she continues to motor through her day without noticing what has happened to her. After a couple of more stops she heads to a local Mediterranean spot to grab some lunch. A gentleman in front of her offered to allow her to be served in front of him. She just walked in front of him and ordered her food without saying thank you. The gentleman tried to start a conversation, but she had nothing to say; she just took her food and left to eat. Now she is home and a friend of hers calls her to tell her he’s in her neighborhood and wanted to stop by. He brings her over her favorite cupcakes & some medicine that she complained to him that she was out of when she needed it. He brought the things over and had a brief conversation but she rushed him off…she had to get ready for the night because a guy she was infatuated with would be at the club she was heading to that night. Now she is out with her friends’, having fun talking about who looks a mess, guy drama and the latest republican presidential race happenings with her friends. Her crush finally shows up with his boys; he sees her but they head the opposite way to the bar to get a drink. She walks over to say hello and he greets her, but nothing beyond that. She tried to make her way over, get a dance but he didn’t bite or make an advance all night. She didn’t particularly like the way the night was going but she played it off… After the night was over, a couple more guys she knew in mutual circles offered to walk her and her friends to their car. They did that and chatted about the night for a few, but not so much as a response from her; she just texted her interest and said that it was nice to see him. He never replied…when she got home she called her friend who brought her cupcakes earlier that day to vent about why this guy wouldn’t notice or advance at her and how she is such a good woman he should take notice. He stayed up with her for a couple of hours that night and listened, offered some unwanted advice and the day ended… See, it’s just not about what someone does for you, but how you respond. Well, that’s just a small snippet into a Nice Guy’s day…but Eric Roberson gives more in his latest album Mr. Nice Guy, a 15-song compilation of musical stories touching on many different subjects based upon occurrences in the daily walk of nice guys that go unmentioned. Being a nice guy is not just about being nice to a woman of interest, but being kind and considered on a consistent basis with anyone… Let’s dig into Eric’s new album to see how he illustrates the life of a Mr. Nice Guy…
Eric Roberson – Mr. Nice Guy
When we look at the title track of the record “Mr. Nice Guy”, I think the hook says it all…
This song sets the tone for the album. Stating the case for a nice by depicting a date situation where he goes all in on a dinner with a sister he’s in pursuit of, and here she is being trifling inviting all of her friends and using him for a free meal. Typical situation with a nice guy, last to be thought of as an intimate connection, but first on the list to be used or taken advantage of while they are being used by the one they have interest in. Yet, at the end he doesn’t bend and chase what most men do, he sticks to his guns waiting on that someone who will appreciate what he has to offer. The next single is called “Strangers”, a record about a man a woman who were strangers before they met, fall in love, but love loses the battle and become strangers and go back to where they started. An intellectual and refreshing description of how people fall in and out of love. You can hear in this song how the organ and piano dominate the production in this track. So here is inside note this song, the track was actually the first part of a 3 part change in the original version. The original actually had two different changes, but as it turned out Eric chose to stick with the first part of the song and here you have the final product. You have to love the way the hi-hac seems to ricochet after each snare hit.
Eric Roberson – Mr. Nice Guy feat. Chubb Rock
George Benson – Give Me The Night
The next record is your new millennium summer classic “Summertime Anthem” featuring the legendary emcee Chubb Rock who gave you the hip hop classic “Treat ‘Em Right” that was released on his 1991 album The One. This is meant to be a summer theme that can be played at your family reunion picnics, Memorial Day barbeques, 4th of July house parties and Labor Day cookouts. Originally, the production of this song was based on a sample from George Benson’s “Give Me The Night”. Jermaine Mobley, the producer of this record and long time friend/producer of Eric Roberson who also produced another Erro classic “Previouscats” that Musiq Soulchild did, as well as mixing & engineering a lot of the material on this album. Well, unfortunately the sample didn’t get cleared in time and this song almost didn’t make it onto the album, but Jermaine went back into the lab and was able to re-produce that Benson sound without infringement and create what you hear. Eric hooked up with Chubb Rock after an interview he did with the famed hip hop star on Chubb’s radio show on WBLS 107.5 FM in New York City. “Come With Me” is a record that just makes you feel good. It’s about looking at life as the beautiful place that it is, seeing the good and bad of it and counting it all joy. Part of being a nice guy is also being encouraging. You can’t look at life and only love the good things that happen to you. You realize everyday that you wake up you have an opportunity to shine. This is the first song that features Eric Roberson’s father, James “Pop” Roberson on vocals in the hook, as well as the first song released by Eric that he didn’t write. The song was written by this group The Ones whose members are Khari Lemel and Yaw who are also featured vocalists on the song as well…
Sometimes you hear a song and know it’s a hit; then are songs you know you will never forget. It is rare when you find a musical combination that seems to never miss when they collaborate, and that happens to be when Eric Roberson and Phonte Coleman, better known as Phonte combine to do a record together. “Picture Perfect” is just magic in the form of song. I was talking to a friend about this song and she described it perfectly when she said “The lyrics of this song are simple, but the way Eric Roberson delivers it with his delay just make these lyrics amazing”. You have to understand, a nice guy understands it’s not what’s right about her, but her imperfections that paint the picture. No matter her size, shape, or anatomy…we see more beyond the physical; and in our eyes you couldn’t be drawn any better than you are. The truth about this record is when Eric sent this record to Phonte along with others; he didn’t think Phonte would chose this record to be on. Yet, if you know Phonte from his mastery with The Foreign Exchange, you understand that this was the perfect for Phonte to display what he is lyrically and musically. His verse on this song spells out the simple message Erro gives throughout the record.
“Listen!
If you must know girl you’re my experiment
Your body is a canvas and Imma hit her with long
Brush strokes, got her calling my name
I ain’t formally trained, I’m just drawing from experience
Worth more than millions, holler if you’re feeling it
Real love that takes care of all of your needs
So beautiful you fall to your knees
In an instant like it was a Rembrandt or a Matisse
Cause it’s nothing like the new freedom of two beings
Being in love, you see ‘em
Holding hands brought daylight to pm
Perfect portrait that’s worthy of a museum
I can’t call it, conclusion I can’t draw it
Can’t understand why so many still heartless
Trying to find imperfections in the Mona Lisa
Even if you find one baby, it’s still flawless
Check me out!”
When Phonte laced the song, it actually got inserted in to the song where the ending vamp was, so producer Aaron Hardin found a clever way to add an extension to the original track to include that vamp, and that made the picture perfect ending to the perfect ballad of 2011. There wasn’t a more beautiful song created about the way a man should see the love of his life than this. This song will be a timeless creation that will outlast even those who created it.
