According to Triumphs & Tribulations VIII, I was jamming out to new Jill Scott music in my room during the Iraq deployment on this day back in 2007. The new music was from The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3. Though the entire album was smokin’, I’m very partial to a specific track. That brings me to this week’s moment in the Flashback Friday series: Jill Scott’s “Wanna Be Loved”.
How I first came across this moment? As I noted above, I was deployed to Iraq at the time. I had gone to the Base Exchange to get some cheese sticks from Pizza Hut and to get a haircut by my dude, Angelo. I stopped into the actual exchange store just to peek around and I saw all of the new music on display. Jill Scott’s album was one of them. I took a listen on those preview headphones they had and by the time I finished Track 5, I had satisfied my prerequisite for buying a music album: liking at least 3 tracks. I made the purchase, took it back to my dorm room, and popped it into my Sony Vaio and rocked out. I got to Track 14 and the beat lured me in before the lyrics made it the best track on the album.
What it meant to me then? At that particular point in time, coming off the tumultuous relationship with Chavon Ward and still being somewhat in my feelings about Valorie Drew, the track spoke to me. It really took off with me on the evening of September 12, 2008. That was the night I realized that I truly wanted to get married. SWV’s “Rain” will always steal the show for that night but “Wanna Be Loved” was one of the tracks playing that night as I rode the Ōme Special Rapid to Fussa.
What it means to me now? Today, the track is a mainstay in the Juan Thomas Presents…Get With Me playlist. It’s also on the Quiet Storm playlist. When I listen to it now, I think of that Lost Decade of Dating, where all I really wanted was to be loved.
