“Smokin Out the Window” is an eventful tale of two musicians falling into heartbreak after simpin’ on the town jump off. Will this song live up to the epicness of “Leave the Door Open”? Who knows?
the Instrumentation
When viewing it through the lens of today’s watered-down RnB, the instrumentation is simply in a league of its own. But when you view it through the lens of 1970’s RnB, it’s routine and derivative…but that’s not such a bad thing in 2021.
During the Verse, the 16th notes on the hi-hat and silky-smooth driving bassline combine to create a groovy backdrop that gets your head nodding instantaneously. The Verse is kept grounded by some effects-laden guitar work deep in the mix and accented by staccato notes from what appears to be keys and a triangle.
The Chorus takes things a step forward with the defacto string backing arrangements common-place in 70’s RnB. Anderson really sets things apart in the Chorus with some really dope drum fills that give the song a little bit of its own character.
the Vocals
This duo has some of those coolest vocals flows in RnB, they effortlessly ride the backing track with swag and grace like very few can. They’re also great at playing off one another, for instance, in the first verse Anderson .Paak is doing adlibs for Bruno Mars and on the second verse they switch. We also see this chemistry with how they swap the singer of the bridge between verses. Is Silk Sonic the RnB version of Jadakiss and Styles P? The Chorus also has some extremely warm and gorgeous harmonies that will bring you to tears if you’re listening to this after getting dumped. Another great feature of the verses is that they follow a long-standing tradition of rhyming the end of every bar from Rap.
The lyrics shine because they take the listener down a journey of grief. We begin with the reminiscing, then move to the feelings of anguish, and arrive at feelings of confusion which is refreshing in this era. How many of us can relate to Bruno Mars as he sings, “Must have spent 35, $45,000 up in Tiffany’s, got her bad ass kids runnin round my whole crib like its Chuck E Cheese”? Granted, we may have to adjust the number of zeros or the shopping locale but in the end, most of us have extended ourselves for someone who would end up betraying us.
We see the anguish during the Bridge with Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars taking turns belting out: “This B*tch got me payin her rent, payin for trips, diamonds on her neck, diamonds on her wrists?” While it’s a catchy lyric, the subtext is “yo, the nerve of her to let me do all s**t knowing she was sleeping with LeSean and Meech?” Now I know that those who listen to 70’s RnB will take issue with the curse word, and it too caught me off guard but it makes sense, these dudes spent $40k at Tiffany’s on community property, give them a break.
Next emotion is confusion and how it rears its head in the Chorus “Smokin out the window singing how could she do this to me?” This is the point where we try to understand the other person’s logic, how could they stab us in the back knowing that we were so true to them? Throughout the song we’ve seen these two explore multiple emotions which gives the lyrics substance and importance to the overall composition.
the Conclusion
Smokin Out of The Window is the quintessential summer cruising jam which is disappointing as Drop Top weather is gone for 3 weeks here in Southern California. I’m giving this track 5 out of 6 Zeros as it hits on every beat but is for all intents and purposes 1970’s cover music.
P.S. Chris Brown tried to tell you all on Loyal, I guess y’all didn’t listen.
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