J Majik Featuring Kathy Brown – Love Is Not A Game

What SWERVE number!!! Hearing this track casts my mind back to those Velvet Room Wednesday nights (on Charing Cross Road, right next to Tottenham Court Road, in London) between 1999 & 2000... Dancin' all night long to tracks like this, being spun by the likes of Bailey, DJ Flight, DJ Lee, et al.... Not to mention the mighty Fabio and Grooverider, who were commonly seen playing back to back sets here! But I digress...

While this is only a single sided release... The production on it screams class! Metalheadz protegee J Majik's original mix of 'Love Is Not A Game' is a breathless excursion in minimal Drum & Bass, one that shows off his skills as a producer, beautifully working the husky soulful vocals of Kathy Brown into a hot, frenetic blend of orchestrated 21st century dance floor Chicago Soul.

Certainly, for all those Drum & Bass heads out there, J Majik needs little introduction... However, it should be noted that Brown, too, has gained quite a musical reputation of her own... Especially for any soul fans! Starting her career as an American R&B Dance/House singer from South Carolina, she originally began singing in her local Gospel choir... Eventually she joined the contemporary R&B group 'Sweet Cinnamon' where she linked up with New York-based producer David Shaw through a mutual friend. This collaboration led to her first single, "Can't Play Around," released in 1993 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUCTz4csreI). After this introduction, Brown scored her first number one success as the lead singer of Praxis, a musical project assembled by David Shaw and Cevin Fisher. Praxis' "Turn Me Out," which was first released in 1994, has been remixed and re-released numerous times now, achieving great acclaim in the clubs back in 1997, when Strictly Rhythm Records re-released it as "Turn Me Out (Turn To Sugar)" where it hit number one (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nulyok6SpzM). After this success, Brown collaborated with David Morales on "Joy" in 1999 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HPLjQzRnpU). After which, having become somewhat disenchanted with the US music scene (so I'm told), she was open to ideas when Metalhead J Majik approached her and rustled up this nugget of fusion soul here.

For me... This release manages to forge a classic bit of fusion between two highly dynamic and respected genres of music... not to mention it always gets the older generations asking "Is this Drum & Bass then? Wow! I actually like it!" 5/5