Keith Sweat, that is.

His mellow grooves just happened to come on the radio recently, as I was picking up my son from the movies. It was one of Keith’s slower numbers — so you have to turn the radio up and sing along, right?  My son hopped in the car and started to talk to me.  I pretended to listen at first.  But then I couldn’t hear Keith.

“Sorry, I can’t pay attention to what you are saying right now.  Wait until the slow jam is over”.

Reading the name on the radio display, my son said:  “Keith SWEAT? What kind of a name is that? That can’t be his real name.  And what’s a slow jam?”  [So yeah, try and explain a slow jam to your almost-13 year old:  “well, son… it’s music you would listen to if you were having someone over to…study”.].  I elected to interpret his question as theoretical, and did not respond.    

The next day, I’ll be darned if Keith Sweat didn’t come on the radio AGAIN.  (what is the universe trying to tell me?)  This time, my son’s friend was in the car.   My son joyfully pointed out the name scrolling across the radio – “hey, check it out.  Keith SWEAT.  My mom likes him”.  I started to explain that it’s not that I really like him, it’s that it makes me nostalgic…..but then I gave up.  The kids were mocking me by then, anyway.

If I had felt like being really mocked, I would have told them how I went and saw Keith Sweat in concert a few years ago, with a friend who I hadn’t known in my earlier hip-hop/R&B days. We met each other when our kids were in preschool, and somehow discovered that we shared an affinity for Keith Sweat back in the day. So when we learned that Keith was going to be in concert at the Emerald Queen Casino, it was an obvious choice for an adventure.

I think in some ways we both were not sure it would really happen, but we did it — we made it out of our houses on a rainy Friday night, which is a feat unto itself.  Not only that; we made it all the way to Tacoma!   We arrived at the casino/venue, ate a dinner of fried food and drank bad wine while we took in the scene.  The crowd was 90% ladies, which was not a surprise.  However, we also learned during the course of the evening, that, in addition to still being a master of the slow jam, Keith was also the purveyor of a book on relationships, and has a dating website.  And, if we had happened to momentarily forget about the book or website, fortunately there were several reminders throughout the show.  So that was a relief.

For the lucky ladies near the front of the venue, there were abundant opportunities to join Keith on stage for the purpose of serenading and/or public adoration.  One concertgoer seized her moment, grabbing the mic and letting us all know how she felt about Keith, yelling,  “I’LL SUCK YOUR BALLS OFF!!”   

Keith was not happy about this, instantly grabbing the mic from her.  In all fairness, however, he had advised us all earlier:  “If you want it, get up ON it”. So really, in her defense, she was just taking the initiative.  And for that, I applaud her.  

In the end, Keith must not have been too offended by the Pacific Northwest concert crowd.  My friend emailed me recently with news of another upcoming show at the casino:  “He’s baaaaaack……”