Sensual, warm, and extremely neat, ‘Grown Folks Love’ is a piece of quintessential modern soul from one of Nashville’s rapidly rising stars, Kenny Sharp, whose “Brown Liquor Music” continues to brew, grow, and ripen into something quite outstanding.
Born in Montgomery, Alabama, Kenny Sharp is now based in the legendary Nashville, Tennessee, a city of endless cultural and musical heritage, and Kenny Sharp’s latest single ‘Grown Folks Love’ carries that flag effortlessly. Continuing down a road that was first made prominent by the lovely Marvin Gaye, Sharp’s brand of slick soul pop with a strong hint of hip hop, mature lyrics, and songwriting that features rich arranging and detailing, is one that’s relatively easy to dabble in, but excessively challenging to nail. Sharp’s latest single is a piece of music that totally nails that formula.
This short piece of music, clocking in at a little less than 3 minutes long, is simply lush and groovy. Every single instrumental line sounds fresh and sharp, courtesy of an amazing production job. The drums are boomy and the crashes that herald in the chorus sound sublime and fulfilling. The guitars, acoustics, and electrics are terrific. The strummed acoustic is ever present and warm in the background of the arrangement, and the ripping solo is lifting. Starting, the short solo sounds one hundred percent like a saxophone, making me wonder if there’s an actual overdub somewhere there. Kenny’s vocals are delightfully impassioned. Starting sleazy and laid back enough to support the quite-adult-themed lyrics, the performance quickly grows to something hearty and soulful, where Sharp is simply singing his heart out, belting out some nice, stirring highs. The backing vocals are very warm, and they manage to add a layer of depth to the touching solo with a vocalized counterpoint melody that’s fluttering and intelligently written. The chorus is genuinely one of the warmest and most embracing musical moments in recent memory.
‘Grown Folks Love’ is a dashing piece of grown folks’ music that features stunning performances and mature songwriting and production, for an end product that’s outstanding. Kenny Sharp already received a nod from Barack Obama back in late 2021 when he named “Witchoo” as one of his favorite songs of the year. He’s now receiving a nod from us as well, and we all know whose nod carries more value. Ours of course.