Usually rap and singing do not come from the same throat. Either you rap or you sing. A combination of both is a rarity. T-Love (La Tosha Williams), however, is a favorable exception. Long Way Back opens with the beautiful jazz ballad Sweet Malindy, in which T-Love proves that it can handle complicated material. The fans of this genre, however, only get their money's worth at the end of the CD when
… T-Love indulges during the Oh-So Suite. The space in between is very pleasantly filled with a large collection of cool funky tracks (thanks to Jay Dee and The Herbaliser, among others), on which T-Love sounds like a cross between Erykah Badu, Meshell Ndegeocello, Lauryn Hill, Jill Scott and Bahamadia. Still, she's careful not to sound like a cheap imitation. Each song sounds completely different due to the number of different styles that T-Love uses in a very convincing way. This makes Long Way Back an instant soul classic. (AD)more
