F.P.J. Enters The Top 100 New Generation at #34!

Daddy B. Nice's #34 ranked Southern Soul Artist

"Still With Her"

F.P.J. Enters The Top 100 New Generation at #34!

August 1, 2024:

F.P.J. Enters The Top 100 New Generation Southern Soul chart at #34!

Daddy B. Nice's Profile:

The words say it all:

"I know my lady
She been doing wrong,
And my friends say I'm crazy
Cause I just can't leave her alone.

"But we got too much time involved
Just to throw it all away.
You see we got
Too many years, too many tears,
To let it all go to waste.

"That's why I'm still with her,
Still with her...
Trying to let somebody out there know
I ain't going nowhere.
Because I'm in love, lord I'm in love,
I'm still with her...
Through all the heartache
And all of the pain.

"And I know people talk behind my back
But I don't care
Cause I'm still with her.
Tell my momma and tell my daddy
I ain't going nowhere.
Still with her...
Still with her..."

Still With Her came out in early 2023 and has amassed more than twelve million views on YouTube. To say it has struck a chord with the southern soul audience is a huge understatement, and the 773 comments on its YouTube page (as of this writing)---all variations on the "still with him" or "still with her" theme---constitute a sobering testimony for romantic lovers contemplating partnering and marriage. Just as there is no joy without pain---no success without sacrifice---there is no long-term relationship without struggle, adversity and, as FPJ so aptly puts it, "too many years, too many tears".

And yet, F.P.J. has not only struck gold with this melancholy and ruminative ballad. He's the proud instigator behind one of the most mindless and party-hardy anthems of the last year, "Po Me Up Some Mo". In a southern soul genre thoroughly awash in lyrically cookie-cutter drinking songs, "Pour Me Up Some Mo" has somehow amassed an astounding 10 million YouTube views. I say "somehow" because it's rare for a new singer not only to exhibit this kind of range (slow vs. fast) but to be so successful at it. One of FPJ's chart-climbing young peers, Marcellus The Singer, by comparison, is becoming well-known for his mastery of the ballad form but seldom ventures beyond mid-tempo range. Yet FPJ appears comfortable belting out a fast jam like "Po Me Up Some Mo" one minute and a ballad like "Still With Her" the next.

In the current Top 10 Singles (July 2024), for instance, FPJ scores both an unadulterated club jam and an inspirational, mid-tempo jewel.

Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles For. . .

-------JULY 2024-------


....2. "Whatcha Know (About This)"-----F.P.J.

This is one of those club bangers that makes you leap out of your chair tripping over people to get to the dance floor. Husky and dark, FPJ's vocal tone grounds this bubbly groove that otherwise might float away like a kid's balloon and makes it down-to-earth, grown-folks real.

Listen to F.P.J. singing "Whatcha Know" on YouTube.

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...6. "Blues Paradise"-----F.P.J.

A fine reworking of Johnnie Taylor's "Soul Heaven" by a young singer who dreams the dream of singing his "Po' Me Up Some Mo'" surrounded by his idols, "with us all onstage, standing hand in hand, with nobody trying to hate, nobody trying to 'be a man'".

Listen to F.P.J. singing "Blues Paradise" on YouTube.

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I was slow to come around to FPJ. Not slow compared with other critics or writers, who thrive on years of "distance" before they make any proclamations, but slow compared to the fans who like the blues are always "alright". I didn't realize how impactful "Still With Her" and "Po Me Up Some Mo" would become, and I wasn't impressed by a couple of other early FPJ songs. "Auntie, " for instance, didn't excite me as much as the simultaneously released Mike Clark Jr. tune "Auntie Outside Tonight".

What I've come to realize, however, is that F.P.J. has something that veteran artists tend to lose over time. Immediacy. Impact. The belief by the fans that the song's message is coming directly from real life: unfiltered, uncensored, unafraid.
In other words, the joy is so palpable it's infectious. Or, conversely, if its a sad song or an angry song, that the sadness or anger is as immediate as an overheated skillet burning your grasping hand. Not just another song but a slice-of-life experience, steeped in emotion, with its technique (if there is technique) buried and invisible in the bowels of its message. This is what has propelled FPJ to swift prominence. Fans recognize a new FPJ song isn't just another half-hearted swing at a follow-up record. It's coming from the heart, the guts, the hormones.

--Daddy B. Nice

About F.P.J. Enters The Top 100 New Generation at #34!

F.P.J. is the performance name of Fred Palmer, Jr.

Tidbits

July 20, 2024:

1. F.P.J. on YouTube:

Honorary "B" Side

"Po Me Up Some Mo"