With everyone so busy ripping off T-Pain ripping off Roget Troutman, everyone forgot about the other big trend of the past year – ripping off Mark Ronson ripping off Motown. A few weeks after Bs little sister re-lit the torch, Raphael Saadiq has grabbed it and carried it across the finish line for The Way I See It, a tribute to Detroit and Phillys founding fathers of Soul.Honestly, with Saadiq being a thoroughly capable songwriter in his own right, its a touch disappointing to hear him push his own unique style to the side for a concept album that other artists have made their own innovative versions of lately (see: Gnarls Barkley). With that said, what The Way I See It lacks in innovation it makes up in general quality. 100 Yard Dash is so pitch-perfect in its authenticity that it doesnt much matter that isnt a Masters Thesis in Pro-Tools.Saadiqs interpretation of the classic sound comes off as sincere (or at least very well studied) and rather than try to revise the decidedly old-school sound with 808s and sampling, he sticks almost entirely to a simple array of instruments and techniques. If Saadiq and Doc Brown hopped in a time machine and went back 45 years or so, he easily couldve sold most of these exact songs to The Four Tops (Love That Girl), The Supremes (100 Yard Dash) or The Stylistics (Oh Girl).A few moments stray from the albums lane by going against the grain and trying to pull in concepts that are out of place but they arent huge errors. Throwing Jay-Z on the remix to Oh Girl is also a bit contrary to tradition but hey, its Hov. His performance meets Saadiq a little more than halfway so as a bonus remix instead of the songs original presentation, its a fun addition.Ultimately, The Way I See It relies heavily on the listeners academic appreciation of his goal and thus can very quickly turn into an all or nothing project. Without a built-in ear for decades old R&B, the tracks may come off as boring or misguided but on the other hand, it isnt as if his references are particularly obscure. Those who have the disposition for Saadiqs trip down memory lane will be glad they went that wont be a large majority of the public, but for that crowd, theres a perfectly serviceable Ne-Yo album this week as well. Love That Girl – Raphael Saadiq
