Teena Marie, Square Biz | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

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In the 83^rd edition of Throwback Vibez (2023), we recollect and reflect on “Square Biz” by the late, great R&B singer/songwriter, Teena Marie.

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez ! Throwback Vibez is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past. The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re ancient – no fossils ! All genres of music are welcome. In the 83^rd edition of Throwback Vibez (2023), we recollect and reflect on “Square Biz”, performed by the late, great R&B singer/songwriter, Teena Marie.

“I’m gonna hip you to the Tee / (The Tee?) The Tee / (What’s the Tee?) And you know that’s me!” Woo! That white girl can sang! Okay, okay… there are lots of white girls that can sang to be fair , but the late, great Teena Marie (Mary Brockert nicknamed Lady T) DID NOT SOUND WHITE! Marie possessed a robust, soulful voice often mistaken for a black female vocalist. Listen to her duet with her former boyfriend, Rick James on “Fire And Desire” and you’re like, DA-YUM, she can S-A-N-G! Marie is equally potent vocally on her solo work, including one of her most beloved songs, “Square Biz”. Chocked-full of personality, and running more than six minutes in duration, “Square Biz” is a surefire vibe. It deserved much better than its paltry no. 50 peak on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1981 .

“Flashback, who’s that dancing to the latest?

Suave de bone, the greatest, ooh, he sure is moving me

That’s what I said, though you didn’t know yet

All of it was kismet, soon to be made history.”

classic “Square Biz” appears as the fifth track off Marie’s 1981 LP, It Must Be Magic. Penned by Marie alongside Allen McGrier, the energy is lit from the get-go, as Lady T asserts, “Everybody get up!” WOO! Melodically, “Square Biz” is infectious and tuneful – the verses, pre-chorus, chorus – ALL OF IT. Furthermore, in addition to being tuneful, some of the melodies are rhythmic, specifically the pre-chorus (“So don’t you have no doubt, I’m gonna spell it out / I’ll hip you to the Tee that is”). Speaking of rhythm, what about Lady T’s rapping skills in the fourth verse? “I’m less than five-foot-one, a hundred pounds of fun / I like sophisticated funk / I live on Dom Perignon, caviar, and filet mignon.” Day-umm Lady T! Besides the high-flying rapped and sung vocals and the energetic, fun lyrics, the production is exceptional too, courtesy of – you guessed it – Teena Marie! Picturesque, the backdrop features standard rhythm section, as well as exuberant horns that up the ante. There is nothing the least bit square about the awesome Lady T or “Square Biz”!