Warm | 3 to 5 BOPS

Warm: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 72 (2023), features musical BOPS courtesy of Grace Jones, Hozier, Jamie Foxx, Janet Jackson, and Rick Ross. 

Ah, you know what time it is! It’s 3 to 5 BOPS time – WOO! On 3 to 5 BOPS, it’s all about brevity and sweetness… for the most part! There’s a theme/topic, 3, 4, or 5 songs, and a blurb – two paragraphs or less.  3 to 5 BOPS, hence, is a mini playlist that shouldn’t take much time to consume.  In the 72^nd edition of 3 to 5 BOPS (2023), we select songs that are associated with WARM or WARMTH in some form or fashion. The BOPS arrive courtesy of 🎙 Grace Jones, 🎙 Hozier, 🎙 Jamie Foxx, 🎙 Janet Jackson, and 🎙 Rick Ross. Okay, let’s get into it!

1. Hozier, “To Someone From A Warm Climate (Uiscefhuaraithe)”

💿 Unreal Unearth • 🏷 Columbia • 📅 2023

“A joy, hard learned in winter was the warming of the bed / You’d shake for minutes there and move your legs…”🏆 Grammy-nominated, Irish singer/songwriter 🎙 Hozier asserts 🎵 “To Someone From A Warm Climate (Uiscefhuaraithe)” (💿 Unreal Unearth, 2023) is a song that, is about “the significance of something so mundane but so remarkable – to experience a bed that has been warmed by somebody else in a space that you now share now with somebody new…” On this love song, his tone is stellar, as is the piano and upright bass.  Soon enough, those magical strings creep in, adding to the drama and the emotion. “To Someone From A Warm Climate (Uiscefhuaraithe)” has free flowing melodic lines, which are bit more unpredictable. All told, it’s beautiful, with the post-chorus is the section to beat (“But it happened easy, darlin’ / As natural as another leg around you in the bed”).

2. Janet Jackson, “Warmth” 

💿 Damita Jo • 🏷 Black Doll Inc / Virgin • 🗓 2004 

“There’s no place warmer than my mouth” Timing was not 🎙 Janet Jackson’s friend in 2004. The Superbowl nipple incident essentially stalled the R&B star’s career. Sure, Jackson would still have success, but not to the same degree as in the past.  💿 Damita Jo, a risqué, highly sexual album, suffered in sales relative to her previous album (💿 All For You, 2001), though managed to secure platinum certification.  That said, the sexual imagery of Damita Jo did Jackson no favors. To speak to how explicit the album was, two songs, 🎵 “Warmth” and 🎵 “Moist” were excluded from the amended version.  Now, approaching 20 years later, we revisit that warmth.   

So, how do you sum up “Warmth” respectably? It’s a lush R&B ballad about… fellatio… oral sex… It is clearly NSFW.  The risqué nature occurs long before Jackson utters the statement about the warmth of her mouth 😏. “My hands wrapped around / Strokin’, up and down / (Is this all for me?) / But nothing can compare to the warmth of my mouth.” Holy shee-it, Janet! So, Basically, it begins with stimulation via the hands.  The size satisfies Jackson (she goes on to say, “it’s so big”), but she moves on from the touch to… well… sucking. The chorus is not the only hotness on “Warmth.” In the verse, Janet wastes no time arousing him: “Kissin’ on your neck, rubbin’ on your leg / Slide a little further up, I feel you get erect…” Gah-day-um, girl! “Breathin’ on your chest, so anxious to touch it / Ooh, my mouth is getting wet.” More could be said, but honestly, Jackson reveals her cards early on.  The good news is, well, 🎵 “Warmth” in this context is, um, fun… satisfying… a means of passionate release… We’ll leave it there. 

Appears in 🔻:  

• Janet Jackson, Warmth: Midnight Heat 🕛 🔥 18 (2023)
• 13 More Songs That Exhibit That Midnight Heat 🔥 (2023)

3. Rick Ross, “Warm Words in a Cold World”

💿 Richer Than I Ever Been • 🏷 Epic • 📅 2021

“Drop a hook on these niggas like I was Magic / Doctor J, but I’m blowing hay with the Mavericks.” 🎵 “Warm Words in a Cold World” marks a stand-out from 💿 Richer Than I Ever Been, the 2021 studio album by rapper, 🎙 Rick Ross. “Warm Words in a Cold World” blends confident, fiery rhymes by Ross and the production (🎛 Bink!).  

“A bad bitch, I’m busting all on your lashes

Fairy tale, this nigga living so lavish

LOL, these bitches bend over backwards

I fared her well, no tripping, go ‘head and ask her.” 

“Huh!” The Bawse gets a lift from some friends over the soulful, rhythmic soundscape: 🎙 Wale in the second verse (“Blog era supervillain, I been hard to kill / Cannot be stopped ’til I turn this block into atom-ville”), and 🎙 Future in the third (“King Pluto, think I’m illuminati, Birkin boo / I just upgraded another one, the diamonds blue”).  Both rappers bring the heat. “Warm Words in a Cold World” also brings  a hook to the table as well.  It’s simple mind you, but you won’t be able to resist those “Warms words in a cold world / Iced out shorty and the homegirl!”

4. Jamie Foxx, “Warm Bed”

💿 Unpredictable • 🏷 J / Sony BMG Music Entertainment • 🗓 2005

“Baby if we leave the club / Won’t be nothing but good lovin’ / Cause I got a warm bed / I got a warm bed.” Damn, that’s enticing 🎙 Jamie Foxx! At the tail end of 2005 well into 2006, Foxx had a big year with his second studio album (and breakout), 💿 Unpredictable. Among many terrific moments from the LP is the sensual second track, 🎵 “Warm Bed”.  Here, Mr. Foxx sings incredibly smooth, delivering a pitch that no woman can refuse, right? It sure seems that way! A prime example of the heat Jamie produces: “Kiss you right below your navel then rub you with oil / Bite on your ear.” The verses are no slouch either on this slick 🎛 The Practice Team / Sean Garrett / Mr. Collipark. “You must not understand why they call me Foxx,” Jamie asserts in the first verse, adding, “For how long I can stay in the box / I already know how I plan to possess you.” That plan seems to involve, um, genitals.  Also, there’s a killer line in the second verse: “She wants to see if the Oscar was the fluke or is the nigga really proper.” Woo! Clearly, Foxx proves he’s a freak on 🎵 “Warm Bed” and we wouldn’t have it any other way. FTW!  

Appears in 🔻:

• Jamie Foxx, Warm Bed: Midnight Heat 🕛 🔥 42 (2023)

5. Grace Jones, “Warm Leatherette”   

💿 Warm Leatherette • 🏷 Island • 📅 1980    

“A tear of petrol / Is in your eye / The hand brake / Penetrates your thigh.” Woo! In case you weren’t aware, 🎙 Grace Jones is a total bad ass.  Now that that’s been established, her 1980 album, 💿 Warm Leatherette is must-hear listening, period.  It commences with a cover you’d swear was her own: 🎵 “Warm Leatherette” courtesy of 🎙 The Normal.  “Warm Leatherette” was written by 🎼✍ Daniel Miller (aka The Normal). 🎛 Chris Blackwell and Alex Sadkin produce this funky gem.  Oh, and in case you’re unfamiliar with the terminology, leatherette, per Soho Concept, is a synthetic material designed to mimic leather. “Warm Leatherette” is a vibe.  There’s a hypnotic quality that sucks you right in from the jump.  Lyrically, there’s ample repetition, yet the lyrics are also abstract and descriptive.  A prime example:   

“Warm Leatherette melts  

On your burning flesh  

You can see your reflection  

On the luminescent dash.”   

Grace Jones kills it with her mix of singing and ‘talking’ the lyrics.  Did I mention that fact that Jones, well, she’s a bad a$$?   

Appears in 🔻:  

• Leather: 5ive Songs No. 56 (2021)
• 15 More Soul Oldies That Tickle My Fancy (Vol. 2) (2021) 
• Incredible Songs: 1980s, Vol. 3 (2023)

Warm: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 72 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Black Doll Inc, Columbia, Epic, Island, Virgin; Александар Цветановић from Pexels]