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Suga Mama

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This article is about the Beyoncé song. For her backing band, see Suga Mama (tour band).
"Suga Mama"
Song

"Suga Mama" is an R&B/soul/funk song written by Beyoncé Knowles, Rich Harrison, and Makeba, and produced by Knowles and Harrison for Knowles' second solo album, B'Day (2006). It features a sample of Jake Wade and the Soul Searchers' song "Searching for Soul",[1] which was written by Chuck Middleton. The music video for the song was released on television in the United Kingdom in April 2007.

Recording and theme

Knowles enlisted Harrison as one of the five co-producers of B'Day, and she arranged for him, Sean Garrett and Rodney Jerkins to be given individual rooms at Sony Music Studios in New York City. Knowles said she fostered "healthy competition" between the producers by going into each of their rooms and commenting on the "great beats" the others were creating.[2] She and Harrison had previously collaborated on her 2003 single "Crazy in Love", which utilises a prominent soul music sample in a similar manner to "Suga Mama".[1] FOX News said that "Suga Mama" and "Freakum Dress", Harrison's other contribution to B'Day, "fall short of originality but mimic the Chi Lites [sic] percussion section [of "Crazy in Love"] yet again. Harrison is like the Indiana Jones of soul, constantly pulling out forgotten gems of the past for sampling [...] You can't help but think: Thank God someone wrote music in the past that can be repurposed now."[1]

According to MTV News and PopMatters magazine, "Suga Mama" was influenced by 1970s funk and contains limited elements of 1980s go-go;[3][4] it also features sound more closely resembling live music than Knowles's previous recordings.[5] It involves a feminist theme:[6] its female narrator is satisfied by her lover and is willing to pay large sums of money to keep him content. She tells him, "It's so good to the point that I'll do anything just to keep you home".[3] Rolling Stone wrote, "Over a blues-guitar sample [...] Beyonce offers both herself and her checkbook".[7] The woman sees the man as a sex object, asking him to sit on her lap and "take it off while I watch you perform".[8][9] USA Today contrasted the song with the 1999 song "Bills, Bills, Bills" by Destiny's Child (of which Knowles was a member); it wrote "From needing somebody to pay her automo-bills, [Knowles is] now doling out the cash as a satisfaction-seeking 'Suga Mama'."[10]

Knowles said of "Suga Mama", "I love this song so much, it's funky and sexy and [has] the role reversal, I was able to show a harder side, a cool, tougher side".[11]

Music and structure

"Suga Mama" is a moderate R&B song pacing in common time—set in 4/4 count.[12]

Critical reception

The Chicago Sun-Times wrote that "Suga Mama" was the "best moment" on B'Day, which it reviewed negatively, and that it "owes much of its charm to lifts from Jake Wade and the Soul Searchers".[13] According to a review of B'Day in Entertainment Weekly, "A piddly home hi-fi can hardly capture the thunderous grandeur of "Get Me Bodied" ... or "Suga Mama", a funky update of gutbucket '60s soul. Those songs showcase Beyonce's virtuosity, her mix of brute power and slick syncopation."[14] The Washington Post said Rich Harrison "delivers again with 'Suga Mama', twisting a vintage Soul Searchers sample into a gritty, loping groove. Beyonce sounds right at home on this one ... And while it doesn't quite eclipse 'Crazy in Love', it's still B'Day's finest moment."[15]

The Sydney Morning Herald in Australia cited the song as an example of one of the "good moments" on B'Day being "followed by a dud ... the slinky funk of 'Suga Mama' is trodden on by the mechanical 'Upgrade U' and then trampled by the posturing and eventually annoying 'Ring the Alarm'."[16] IGN Music criticised Knowles's vocals in the song, writing that she "comes in over the low-end track with too much earnestness, drowning out the funky grooves with her piercing dramatic mezzo-soprano. If she were a throaty alto, she'd fit the beats that have been served up to her much more appropriately."[17]

Music video and other promotion

File:Beyoncé Suga Mama music video.PNG
Knowles riding a mechanical bull in the music video.

The "Suga Mama" music video was released to UK music channels in April 2007.[18] It is black-and-white and was co-directed by Melina and Knowles for the B'Day Anthology Video Album, which was released the same month;[11] it was one of eight videos shot in two weeks for the album.[19] It begins with Knowles sitting in a chair, wearing men's clothing and smoking a cigar. She gets up and begins to pole dance. The remainder of the video presents Knowles dancing on top of a sugar cube, dancing with backing dancers whose faces are partially concealed, lying in a circle of light and riding a mechanical bull. Knowles said she is meant to "slowly become a woman" during the video, adding "Well, a sexier woman — I'm always a woman."[11]

Knowles rehearsed the pole dancing using two ballet bars, which was when it was decided to add a pole above her head to form an arc. Though Knowles is from Texas, she had never previously been on mechanical bull. There were no problems during warm-ups, but the man operating the bull during the video shoot programmed it to go faster, causing Knowles to fall off when she tried to perform tricks such as lifting up her foot, leaning back and turning around. To minimise the time Knowles spent on the bull, the director shot the sequence at twelve frames per second (see frame rate) and Knowles sang twice as quickly, but it wasn't until 4:00 a.m. that they completed work.[11]

"Suga Mama" was included on the set list of Knowles's 2007 tour, The Beyoncé Experience, and The Tennessean wrote that the song "was even sexier and more gutbucket than on record".[20] A remix of the song features rapper Consequence.[21]

References

  1. ^ a b c Friedman, Roger. "First Look: Beyonce's New Album 'B'Day'". FOX News. August 17 2006.
  2. ^ "It's A Celebration". Billboard. September 4 2006.
  3. ^ a b Reid, Shaheem and Calloway, Sway. "Beyonce Album Preview: Harder Sound, Aggressive Songs Among B'Day's Gifts". MTV News. August 30 2006.
  4. ^ Joseph, Ike. "Beyoncé - B-Day". PopMatters. September 11 2006.
  5. ^ Mayers, Norman. "Review - Beyonce - B Day". prefixmag. September 18 2006.
  6. ^ Davis, Carolyn E. "B-Day". Us Magazine.
  7. ^ Hiatt, Brian. "Beyonce - B'day". Rolling Stone. September 20 2006.
  8. ^ Garrett, Daniel. "Images of Women: Beyonce's B'Day". The Compulsive Reader.
  9. ^ Springer, Sarah. "Beyonce's Back with her Second Solo Album". Black Voices. October 6 2006.
  10. ^ Barnes, Ken. "Beyonce sets a torrid pace on new CD". USA Today. September 4 2006.
  11. ^ a b c d Vineyard, Jennifer. "Beyoncé: Behind The B'Day Videos". MTV News. April 2 2007.
  12. ^ "Beyoncé Digital Sheet Music: Suga Mama". Musicnotes. Hal Leonard Corporation. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
  13. ^ DeRogatis, Jim. "Spins - Beyonce, "B'day" (Sony)". Chicago Sun-Times. September 3 2006.
  14. ^ Rosen, Jody. "Music Review - B'Day (2006) - Beyonce Knowles". Entertainment Weekly. September 1 2006.
  15. ^ Richards, Chris. "Beyonce's 'B'Day' Is Nothing to Celebrate". The Washington Post. September 6 2006, pg. C01.
  16. ^ Zuel, Bernard. "B'Day". The Sydney Morning Herald. September 8 2006.
  17. ^ D., Spence. "Beyonce - B'Day". IGN Music. September 5 2006.
  18. ^ "Beyonce - Suga Mama". RCA Label Group (UK). April 24 2007.
  19. ^ "Beyonce releases 'B'Day' video album". Associated Press via USA Today. April 5 2007.
  20. ^ Friskics-Warren, Bill. "Review: Beyoncé and her all-female band inspire, uplift". The Tennessean. July 19 2007.
  21. ^ Concepcion, Mariel. "Consequence Snags DMC For Video, Preps New CD". Billboard. July 16 2007.
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