Tweet — Southern Hummingbird

Oops (Oh My) is currently in the charts. This particular song was produced by Timbaland and Tweet is being marketed as a protegé of Missy Elliot. This seems a bit unfair reading the credits on Southern Hummingbird as Charlene Keys a.k.a. Tweet produced the bulk of the songs.

There are only 3 songs produced by the creative producer and as a bonus a Missy Elliott track is added (which seems a bit out of place, but hey: it’s a bonus). The current hitsong is rather typical Timbaland material: minimalistic but very groovy. Call Me displays Timbo’s love for middle-eastern samples once again and is also typical (and good). Make Ur Move reminds me of Prince’s early work and is not so easily recognized as a Timbaland production.

All the other tracks are produced by Tweet herself though: and not bad either. She proves herself a creative artist who can stand on her own and is capable to make a great R‘n’B record that might appeal more to Jill Jones and India.Arie fans that to Usher and Destiny’s Child devotees. The acoustic guitar pops up many times and the, as the title suggests, ‘southern’ feel is present in a lot of songs (including the current hit).

Tweet’s voice and vocal style sound more ‘rural’ than most R‘n’B artists, who usually have a more urban sound with heavy influences from typically ‘streetwise’ styles like hiphop. Old an new go hand in hand on Southern Hummingbird: electronic basslines, acoustic guitars, drumcomputers and even a pedal steel (in Complain)! Tweet has a sexy voice and she exploits that it songs like Oops and My Place. Bilal assists in Best Friend (and kinda overdoes it, I think: it’s the most ‘typical’ R‘n’B song on the album) and she shows a slightly ‘polically incorrect’ side of herself songs like Smoking Cigarettes and Drunk (that particular song makes you kinda drowsy even without alcohol).

Even though this album supposedly was made to get her demons out, Southern Hummingbird is a pleasant listening experience. This album has everything between the acoustic Motel (just guitar) and the funky dancetrack Boogie 2Nite. The general feel of the album is rather relaxed and it has a soothing ‘late-night’ smoothness.