Composition
Opened by falsetto ad-libs, an organ refrain and pulsating bass lines, [2] the title track "Brown Sugar" features a dark, thick texture and a gutbucket-jazz style and rhythm. [3] The instrumentation throughout the song, highlighted by Jimmy Smith-style organ work, atmospheric percussion and snapping snare drums, has been described by music writers as "organic". [4] [5] The song's sound is also similar to the work of funk, soul and jazz musician Roy Ayers, [6] while D'Angelo's soulful tenor-delivery throughout the song's verses is stylistically similar the flow of most emcees at the time. [6]
Misinterpreted as a traditional love song about a femme fatale by most R&B audiences, [6] "Brown Sugar" is actually an ode to marijuana use through its use of the personification of a brown-skinned woman. [7] This thematic substitution is a conventional lyrical technique in hip hop. [8] Music journalist Peter Shapiro wrote of the song's lyrical content, stating "D'Angelo was extolling the pleasures of pot-fuelled solipsism ('Always down for a ménage à trois/But I think I'ma hit it solo/Hope my niggaz don't mind') and intimating that love, or at least love of the herb, leads to insanity ('Brown sugar babe/I gets high off you love/Don't know how to behave')." [5] Writer and academic Todd Boyd compared the song, along with Dr. Dre's The Chronic (1992) and Styles P's "Good Times" (2002), to Rick James's "Mary Jane" (1978), stating that the song "celebrated his love for gettin' blazed and spawned ... a truly large following." [9]
Critical reception
Gil Robertson IV from Cash Box named 'Brown Sugar' a standout track of the album, [10] saying, "It blends the right mix of down home slow groove funk with a caressing jazz texture that's bound to get folks out on the dance floor. Produced by Ali from A Tribe Called Quest, this track is loaded with a classic old school led and provides a great introduction for this promising young talent." [11] Pan-European magazine Music & Media wrote, "Don't expect a Stones cover, D'Angelo provides us with original material in a jazzy hip hop vein. Bass and drums are lazy, while the Georgie Fame-like organ adds a touch of class." [12] Dele Fadele from NME commented, "On this occasion, he relaxes over a mid-tempo late-nite groove with an ode to a mysterious 'Brown Sugar' who doesn't mind being caught up in a ménage-à-trois. Which is the same thing as saying D'Angelo rates Marvin Gaye's perverse period highly, if not Prince, who he self-consciously tries to stay away from. Soon to be darling of the chi-chi set." [13] Ann Powers from Spin described it as "softcore", remarking that songs like 'Brown Sugar' "get serious with soul's erotic undercurrents, reaching for the exquisite tension of early Prince and late Marvin Gaye." [14]
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