2000 Rewind: Remembering Carl Thomas’ Emotional

Y’all ready to relive Y2K? All year long the Rewind column will revisit the year 2000, celebrating great releases that will mark 25 years in 2025. I’ll be joined by a host of old friends as we look back at a new millennium of music.

The year 2000 BLESSED us with some outstanding R&B, including the celebrated debut of Carl Thomas. Carl didn’t reign on top for long, but he left us with some heat. Our girl Kaara Bee is back to help break down the debut album from the saddest man in 2000 R&B.

Let’s get going! Share your memories of when you first heart this album.

Kaara: Satisfaction. By the time I’d bought the album, Mr. Carl Thomas had passed my picky “3-singles” test for buying CDs back then: I had to like at least 2-3 songs on the album before I purchased it (because a girl had to be selective with her allowance money). After the first listen of “Emotional,” I had to run it back! It’s so satisfying when you listen to an album and know the singles aren’t an aberration, they’re just a preview of an even better, well-crafted album. It just felt like a complete, soulful project. I loved this album then, and I still do. It became a staple in my rotation and helped fuel many a writing session when I was working on college applications my senior year of high school. 

Edd: This album taught me a lot.

First, it taught me to look beyond the single and into the artist. I was a big Bad Boy stan throughout the 90s, and for good reason, their albums almost always hit. So while I was excited for new artist Carl Thomas’ project (I liked him on the “Been Around the World” remix), I wasn’t moved by his big hit “I Wish.” I don’t know, it was just too pitiful sounding I guess. (Somehow, I had totally missed the previous single, “Summer Rain,” which didn’t get as much airplay in my area). I ignored the project for most of the year, until I got my second lesson…

Songwriting is important. My college professor (who was a pretty awesome singer himself) often complained about R&B in that era but raved about Carl Thomas’ songwriting. Knowing that I was an R&B fan, urged me to check out his new album. I wasn’t moved – until he started to break down the writing techniques Carl used throughout the project. It opened my mind, and ear, to the different aspects of songwriting that were slowly becoming a lost art in 2000. With my professor’s urging, I copped Emotional and LOVED IT.

I could have easily slept on this project because I didn’t love “I Wish” or dismissed my professor’s songwriting critiques as “oLd HeAd TaLk.” But instead of hatin, I experienced this project for myself and embraced every note.

Blame my current crotchety stances on modern R&B from the lessons I learned from this album.

What’s your pick for best song?

Kaara: “Giving You All My Love”

It’s my favorite and I play it at least 2-3 times anytime I listen to the album. It’s hard to describe but the melody, the writing, the vocals (Kelly Price with the assist on background)…they paint the scene so well. It’s like the aural equivalent of a cozy weekend afternoon, at home with a loved one while you listen to the rain fall outside.

Edd: “Lady Lay Your Body”

Picking a definitive No. 1 from my top three was TOUGH. The title track has that perfect midtempo energy and “Come to Me” has been a personal favorite ever since I pressed play on my portable discman. But I’m going to give “Lady Lay Your Body” its due to its romantic (yet kinda stalker-ish) writing. “Last night I think I fell in love with you/It was from a window watching you around my way….” Carl delivers those lines with such a rich sincerity that they immediately pull you into his lovelorn world. Yeahhhh, my guy kinda sounds like a thirsty creeper staring at women from his window, but when a brother sounds THIS good you want him to make that love connection.

Which video was best?

Kaara: “I Wish”

Sooo, the pickings were slim for this album. Not just in quantity, but in terms of variety. Great songs, boring videos. My pick is “I Wish.” It’s cute and employs some of the 90s R&B video tropes–the club dance scene; my guy singing in all black in the rain; love scenes and heartbreak (his face when he drives by and sees his girl with her family? Classic).  The scenery is nice and there’s a semblance of a plot. You almost forget he’s whining about being in love with some other man’s wife. Honorable mention to “Summer Rain” because of the lush, island vibes. 

Edd: “I Wish”

Pretty easy pick. “Summer Rain” is scenic but not very memorable. “Emotional” looks like Carl is trapped inside an ad for cologne. Neither beat “I Wish” in terms of storytelling. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the song, as I said earlier, but the visuals complement the writing.

Emotional showcased some beautiful production. What stood out the most to you?

Kaara: “Hey Now”

My pick is “Hey Now.” (I’m gonna switch it up because, honestly, “Giving You My Love” would be my answer for most of these.) Yes, it’s one verse and the chorus looping, but it just hits. It takes you on a dreamy and soulful trip for 5 minutes. You know those interludes you want to be a whole song? “Hey Now” strikes me as an example of when the wish becomes a fulfilling reality.

Edd: “Come to Me”

Lots of great candidates come to mind – “Summer Rain,” the title track, and “Woke Up in the Morning” all deserve recognition. But “Come to Me” takes this. That thumping Roberta Flack sample nails it. It’s another example of production matching the groove of the songwriting. And speaking of songwriting…

The songwriting on this project … man. Exquisite. What song featured the best?

Kaara: “My Valentine”

Hard one because, as Edd knows well, this album has many strong contenders. My pick is “My Valentine.” The storytelling, highlighted by the yearning and frustration in his voice, is solid. I’m a word nerd, so his rhyming “reverie,” “melody” and “melancholy” cinched it for me from the start. And the second verse? 

“I know obsession is a sin
But I feel you underneath my skin
Are you the prize that I’ll never win?
Because you haunt me like a thousand violins”

Fire. 

Edd: “Emotional”

I know most will go with “I Wish,” which was a refreshingly honest take on being on the other side of infidelity, but “Emotional” is the more heartwrenching story. In the hands of a less skilled songwriter, this would be four minutes of Carl cussing out his woman like an amateur podcaster. Instead, we get layers – he’s mad, he confused, he wants to hold on but he knows that’s pointless. REAL emotion. My professor knew what he was talking about, the pens were on fire for this album.

Which song should have been a single?

Kaara: “Lady Lay Your Body”

Seems like it’d be a good Quiet Storm entry.

Edd: “Woke Up in the Morning”

Emotional has a great selection of singles but the one thing missing was the usual hip-hop tinged track that was synonymous with the Bad Boy sound. The best candidate for that urban radio heat would be “Woke Up in the Morning,” thanks to its sample of Biggie’s “My Downfall.” I know they added BIG’s lyrics to this years after the fact on Puff’s remix album but they could have added a guest rapper to complement its sound in real time.

The most underrated song is…

Kaara: “Special Lady”

It might get overlooked because it closes the album, but the way he renders the lyrics makes it feel like more than just platitudes. 

Edd: “Come to Me”

My easy answer is “everything that’s not a single.” But “Come to Me” just hits different. It’s sooooooo groovy. And I’m pissed because I can never find it on IG so I can’t add the song to my little notes section.  My followers need to know how NICE Carl was on that record!

Though it was a Bad Boy project, were you surprised that we didn’t get the usual rap features?

Kaara: Now that I think about it, you’re right! I didn’t even trip on that at the time, probably because none of the singles featured that rap-R&B combo. In retrospect, I’m glad they didn’t try to shoehorn that formula onto this project. It would’ve ruined the flow of the album. It truly let Carl’s voice and the lyrics shine. And I think the reason this album holds up 25 years later is because there aren’t any outdated (or disgraced) rapper cameos, just skillful sampling and blending of hip hop and R&B.

Edd: Not really. I know Puff had the reputation of “dancin’ all in the videos” and being intrusive on his artists’ projects but that wasn’t always the case. For instance, many of y’all didn’t even know that he was heavily involved in almost all of Janelle Monae’s albums, yet he nor any of his minions make appearances. Puff typically knew not to interrupt an album’s sound.

None of Carl’s later albums reached the heights of this one. Why not?

Kaara: Good question. I think it might’ve been a lack of momentum from the first project. I remember wondering when he’d release his sophomore album. I was ready! It didn’t come out until 2004, and while I was happy he was back, the sound/vibe didn’t seem to fit the moment. It’s not to say he couldn’t have excelled. I recently listened to his sophomore album in full and it was good (we even get the hip-hop features!), but maybe too much time had passed. I missed the voice though. In fact, I didn’t like John Legend when he first came out because he sounded too similar to Carl Thomas and I wanted more Carl, not the new guy, lol.

Edd: Well, let’s keep it a buck – Bad Boy lost a LOT of its mojo after 2001, so Emotional is one of the label’s last great releases. Carl’s long awaited follow up Let’s Talk About It didn’t drop until 2004, and it was OK, but its promotion was canceled after the tragic murder of Carl’s brother. By the time his third release, So Much Better, arrived in 2007, fans had moved on – which is a shame because that album is quite underrated. Carl never lacked in talent, it just seemed like outside circumstances always hurt his momentum.

Where would you rank Emotional among the best R&B albums of the 2000s?

Kaara: That’s a hard one because I’m not well-versed with the R&B landscape after about the mid-00s. In my very biased estimation, however, it’s definitely in the Top 10. At that time, because it was a great bridge between the best of 90s R&B and what was to come. And now because, between the production and songwriting, it’s still a pretty timeless vibe.

Edd: Pretty high. The 90s gets endless props for being a R&B renaissance, but 2000 gave us plenty of heavy hitters too, especially that first half of the decade. In terms of production, writing and sequencing, Emotional is easily one of the standouts. It just lacks the legacy of some of the bigger releases from Usher, Alicia Keys, D’Angelo, Mariah and others. It’s a top 20 release for that decade, and while that might seem low, that’s actually a testament to its quality when you realize how competitive the field of releases can be. He’ll forever be the king of Turtleneck R&B.

Who do you agree with, Kaara or Edd? Get Emotional with us and share your memories below.