Muni Long - Public Displays Of Affection (Album)
Is anybody like me, where they just can’t wrap their head around anybody who fixes their mouth to, not just say R&B is dead but simply are just constantly complaining about the state of it, as if we don’t have artists like Muni Long right under our nose, not even, in plain sight putting out some of the most earnest R&B you’ll hear period? I knew I wasn’t alone in this! Muni Long blessed listeners with 7 cuts of this album around November of last year that has only left R&B fanatics anxious as we awaited the combination & structuring of this album. There was always another EP released previously to that one that have now been made into a full album to really sit back & enjoy.
In the midst of discovering herself through her art, Muni has become the latest act to breakthrough the R&B scene. Her songs come from a real but casual place, which you’ll find interesting how a lot of these records came about, the magic usually happens when you least expect it. She opens up this album with “Conversation”, a plea for a more communicative relationship with her partner. She’s willing to maintain her patience as her partner becomes more comfortable with opening themselves up & there’s just not many messages like this being put out there. It’s everything but toxic, which is a lot of what people are complaining about when it comes to R&B. And especially to hear her let us men know that it’s okay to be vulnerable, at a time where there’s such a disconnect between both man & woman.
Who doesn’t love to he spoiled am I right? I always found phrases like “love don’t cost a thing” to be as funny as Muni finds it. Love can be expensive, a good woman for sure, is expensive so are you willing to shower her with all she desires, she’s fancying the latest in “Cartier” so if you don’t want that shade, you better pay up player. On “Crack”, she’s fed up with the many chances she’s given this person, only for them to continuously disappoint her & act like she was never nothing to them. Their loss though cause she knows she gave it her all & if they wanna run their mouth as if she didn’t, then it’s not her responsibility to heal that hurt. Getting out of a relationship like that can be scary but isn’t it amazing how after the fact, although we’re scared we’ll never love again, love just hits you out of nowhere as you find a partner who’s actually attentive? That’s what she finally basks in with the citrusy “Lemons”.
It “Ain’t Easy” to shake that cognitive dissonance but something’s gotta give eventually. Sure there’s pros to the relationship but when the overbaring cons outweigh them, then she knows she can’t keep justifying the back & forth, on & off relationship at play here, that’s too unhealthy a dynamic, though we can’t always recognize it when we’re in it. There’s a lot of push & pull with these records. On “To Do List”, she wants them to strengthen the relationship by doing more things that’ll bring them together, particularly sex cause with the connection coupled with the tension, she’s ready to check you off her list. Love these sexy records that play on this phrases! “Hrs & Hrs” was the single that broke her through & its such a sultry & soulful record to shoot her through the stratosphere & you can see why, from her vocal work to the passion she’s singing with, she really only fucks with this one person & they should be so lucky.
With “Plot Twist”, the fantasy becomes shattered when she finds out about this person’s secret life she’s been hiding from her. If you’ve ever been in that situation then you understand the pain it brings. Even she admits to trying to be a G about it but she’s too hurt to play it off like it doesn’t ache her heart. You too might be pining to enter a “Time Machine” after an experience like this, though this could cause a “Butterfly Effect” so she’s aware that going back in time to fix things just isn’t an option. Those experiences led her to the woman she is now but I feel it, if only she knew then what she knows now. “The Words” just get in the way don’t they? They either cause love or “Pain”. It’s perfectly okay to be angry but we can tend to say a lot of mean things in the heat of the moment & sometimes they’re revealing & sometimes we don’t mean it but we still said it & it still hurt. We don’t realize the power in our words a lot of the time, they can leave permanent scars on the psyche if we’re not careful but in a relationship, that verbal abuse is a no no. All in all, Muni’s “Public Displays Of Affection” is one of the best R&B albums you’ll hear all year & we’re excited to see how much further she takes it cause she’s a hitmaker & further proof that women can be themselves & still prosper in this industry that too often tries to act as if women, particularly black women, are not commercially viable in a genre that loves to pretend otherwise.