Words by Brittany Burton
Last week, R&B’s latest golden child, Giveon, blessed the general public with a new offering in the form of his When It’s All Said and Done…Take Time album. The project was a fusion between his debut When It’s All Said & Done and Take Time EPs, the latter of which earned the singer a nomination for Best R&B Album at the 2021 Grammy Awards.
Giveon first rose to prominent status after being featured on Drake’s 2020 “Chicago Freestyle” track. The cut eventually peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Since then, Giveon has been on an unwavering ascent and with the arrival of his newest album, he paid homage to the journey thus far by revisitng the past.
What makes this release extra special is the fact that it comes, by no coincidence, a year after Giveon’s Take Time first arrived. As entertainers work very hard, it is a well-deserved gift to self for such a fruitful year. Within 13 tracks, Giveon takes us right down the path that has brought him to this point, refreshing our familiarity with an already classic repertoire.
It’s not a foreign concept. Similarly, Lucky Daye accomplished the same feat by dividng his debut album into three parts, gifiting fans with smaller EPs before fusing them for the larger body of work. It’s been an effetive strategy for Giveon as listeners got acquainted with him through the pandemic, consuming his catalog in palatable pieces, leaving room for us to get to know the Long Beach native through his tales of heartache, offering growth with each new cut.
You’ll find the greatest difference between Giveon’s Take Time and When It’s All Said and Done, respectively, is evidence of a matured sound. While his unmistakably rich baritone remains the constant attraction, his storytelling truly comes to life on the later project. By bridging the two projects, he takes a leap into piecing together that growth before culminating his efforts with a new track via “All To Me.”
Giveon is yet another voice who offers R&B enthusiasts more reason to enjoy the direction that the genre has taken as of late, serenading us with all too relatable tracks that boast immense replay value. Simply put, it’s the kind of music that your children will likely have to hear as they clean the house on a Saturday morning.
Already cemented in longevity, Giveon still has a way to go and we’re better for it.
