Foreplayed by the R&B Talkdown

Let's workshop this satirical and incisive critique of the R&B monologue genre, exposing the superficiality and emptiness often masked by its smooth-talking repetitive cadence.

Foreplayed by the R&B Talk Down
                          For my dad 

Look here, baby gurl—fine thang.
I saw ya the other day and—
ya know, baby. It’s just that,
when tomorrow comes—
and best believe it’s gonna come—
these feelin’s are real: genu-wine.
Now what I’m trying to say is—
this feeling I feel. Uh. Yeah. 
Help me show ya the way.
Darlin’, I need ya to know that—
it’s been so so long, ya know?
And please believe me when I say.

You’re everythang, everythang I do.
See, promises—they come and go.
And gurl, trust me when I say.
I know ya feel it gurl. Yeah.
Right there, right there in those eyes.
We’ve come so so far and—think.
Think back wit’ me baby, you’ll see.
Things, things happen sometimes
but—I’ve been waitin’ oh so long.
Just one thought, one’s all it takes.
I know ya hear me gurl. Yeah.
I know ya understand. 

*This poem originally appeared in Cholla Needles (2021)

Photo: Shai (of course)