A lot of It’s About Time has the type of crunchy snares and almost subliminal basslines that nonetheless characterised the sound of the day, however the productions are crisp and spacious sufficient to retain their freshness. There’s not likely a sluggish spot on this assortment of hits and shoulda-beens—a number of album cuts, together with the title observe, would have labored properly on radio. Morgan seeded his productions with distinctive signatures—the hi-hat on “I’m So Into You” is a pattern from the ’60s that the producer declined to specify, whereas “Weak” has a bending bass line impressed by uptempo hits from Zapp & Roger and Tom Browne’s “Funkin’ 4 Jamaica.”
The album was simply the jumping-off level. SWV have been nothing if not savvy, and they also have been totally invested within the energy of the remix at a time when the shape was gaining a foothold on the charts. That was obvious in additional hits—the smoothed out “Proper Right here (Human Nature Remix)” (by Allen “Allstar” Gordon and Teddy Riley) that was tacked onto subsequent pressings of It’s About Time provided a glimpse into the longer term as a close to mash-up that mixed a rerecorded model of the group’s first single (a minor R&B hit) and Michael Jackson’s Thriller-era “Human Nature.” It additionally options an early recording of Pharell Williams, who spits the tag “S…Double…U…V” and whose falsetto sails within the background. In 1994, “Something” was remodeled (once more by Allstar) right into a stomping hip-hop observe that includes Wu-Tang Clan members Ol’ Soiled Bastard, Methodology Man, and U-God (and over a yr earlier than Mariah Carey would launch the “Fantasy” remix with ODB). Even single variations would have minor tweaks—the “Weak” video model did away with the echo on Coko’s lead vocal and added even sweeter harmonies and extra sturdy advert libs, reaching the unimaginable: It made an ideal music extra excellent.
Coko did ultimately discover love in her coronary heart for “Weak.” “We are going to ceaselessly work simply ’reason behind that one music,” she mentioned. To this point, that’s been the case. Within the ensuing a long time, SWV would make extra hits, break up, reform, and do a complete lot of actuality TV, however they continue to be a touring act largely primarily based on the exceptional success of their hit-laden debut. Even making an allowance for the grown-up subject material and the numerous edges that the group members have been tough round, there’s an innocence on It’s About Time that might be, by definition, unimaginable to duplicate. We are able to solely return to it and marvel at how three younger ladies had the drive, confidence, expertise, and style to walk proper into the music business, as if it have been some constructing in New York. The hits, the union of hip-hop and soul, the allegiance to the remix, the road model, and acutely aware class all contribute to their standing as a quintessential ‘90s R&B group, however greater than something, it was their capacity to make all of it look simple–attainable, even. It’s About Time is as a lot a relic as it’s a mannequin for projecting cool, directly very a lot of its time and timeless.
