Release Some Tension: The 20th Anniversary
After two successful albums, SWV returns right away with a third album that was completely different. Their 1992 debut album “It’s About Time” showcased them as the “around the way” girls with the golden voices bopping their heads and dancing in baggy clothes with long nails from The Bronx and Brooklyn. Their sound was new jack swing and heavy New York hip hop boombap with a combination of their soothing and beautiful voices on a love song with a little bit of rapping and playfulness that represented how strong their bond was as sisters who have finally made it out the hood. Four years later, their 1996 sophomore album “New Beginning” was a more softer side of the group. Way more ballads and left their home girl looks for the more feminine look in high heels and fur coats and then a year later, right after, on August 13th, 1997, the group released their third album “Release Some Tension.” This album was more of a combination of the two previous albums before because there are both hip hop vibes and love ballads at the same time. The only difference is that this album had way more collaborations and features than the other two. All of the guest appearances were hip hop. Diddy, Foxy Brown, Redman, Lil’ Cease, Missy Elliott, Lil’ Kim, E-40 and Snoop Dogg all appeared on the album. All of the singles released were a hit and definitely a banger, the entire album is a masterpiece to me personally. “Can We” originally appears on the soundtrack to the “Booty Call” movie starring Jamie Foxx, Tommy Davidson, Tamala Jones and Vivica Fox. “Someone” features a small rap from Diddy and is sampled from Biggie’s “10 Crack Commandments.” “Lose My Cool” is a very cool song featuring Redman. It’s funny because he sings along towards the end of the song which gave it a more “homey” feel to the track and of course Redman is being himself and could do no wrong and the final single “Rain” balances the album’s singles out with a slow ballad. The music video guest stars Tyrese. Besides the singles, the title track song and “When U Cry” are my top favorites on the album. It’s a classic that’s under appreciated to me. It holds a special place to me when it comes to girl group albums because I grew up on it so I know the album very well. It’s an album I grew up hearing all the time. 20 years later, I still appreciate this album like I did as a kid. Very nostalgic, takes me back to when I was 3. Happy to be here to see this joint turn 20 and to see Coko, Lelee and Taj still doing their thing. They’re a legendary girl group, a top 5 girl group for me personally.