Soul Fixin'

'Leena Covers L.Boogie
An artist should wait at least 12 years before remaking a hit song, remaking classic songs that are still crisp in the listeners' mind isn't the best idea. Case in point, Luther Vandross recorded 'A House Is Not A Home' well over a decade after Dionne Warwick's voice soared on the Bacharach gem, En Vogue did the same thing with Aretha's 'Giving Him Something He Can Feel.' K- Ci Hailey cut a masterful version of the Bobby Womack classic 'If You Think You're Lonely Now' 13 years after the original. There have been a few exceptions, Aretha made 'Respect' her own a year after Otis Redding recorded the song, as did Al Green with The Temptations 'I Can't Get Next To You'. However, Aretha and Al brought new dynamics to the aforementioned songs and made you forget about the original. For her upcoming release, Chapter 4: Labor Pains, Syleena Johnson wraps her vocals around Lauryn Hill's 'Ex-Factor'.( It's hard to believe Lauryn blessed us with The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 10 years ago.) Even though Syleena has the vocal chops to match, she falls short on remaking this classic song. Syleena does very little to transform the song and make it her own, she simply follows in the footsteps Lauryn laid in the ground 10 years ago. If anything, Syleena forces you to go find L.Boogie's brilliant debut album and listen to 'Ex-Factor' on repeat and reminiscence over poisonous relationships of the past. For those who don't know, Syleena Johnson's fourth album Chapter 4: Labor Pains hits store September 2 via her own Aneelys Records.