Monica @ Club Nokia | 11.14.15
Written by: Malikka Michelle
It was a code red state of emergency and Monica made her way to Los Angeles, CA to rectify the situation. R&B has been a dying genre, but an artist like Monica showed audience goers just how she plans on saving it with the Code Red Experience.
I’ve been waiting to see this woman perform live for years now. Finding out she was heading out on a promotional tour for her upcoming studio album, Code Red, I jumped at that chance to score a ticket. I grabbed one of my best girlfriends and made our way to Club Nokia. It was the perfect venue for the songstress.
The night started off with Atlanta trio, XSO. The group initially took me as a cover group performing songs from Beyoncé, Aaliyah and popular hip-hop artist Future while adding their own spin. They helped get the crowd excited for tour mate, Rico Love. I’ve always been a fan of Rico Love. His production on some of my favorite songs by Usher, Beyoncé, and Kelly Rowland won me over, so I was pretty excited to see him appear from behind the scenes. He hyped the crowd with singles from his debut album, Turn The Lights On (TTLO), including my personal favorite, “Somebody Else.”
Before performing the second TTLO single, “Days Go By,” Rico spoke on how the song was in written about a past love that he tried to win over with material objects when all she wanted was his time. I grew curious as to who he was talking about knowing him and photographer-wife, Robyn are happily married and growing their family. I laughed as my friend flocked to Instagram pages to see if she could get an idea of who he was addressing. We quickly forgot about our investigation when we heard the beat to “They Don’t Know.” It happened to be “our” song. You know how girls are? Almost every song is “our” song.
The crowd settled a bit once Rico left the stage, but Monica’s DJ had no intentions on keeping people in their seats. He played tons of old-school West Coast hits from the late Tupac and Nate Dogg and crossed-over to today’s hottest acts, including Rich Homie Quan and Fetty Wap. I couldn’t help but find myself on snapchat recording everyone’s enjoyment to share with my fellow snappers. The night started off great and we knew it would only get better once the red-headed maven hit the stage.
The lights dimmed and music blasted as Monica was called to the stage. I remember turning to my friend and saying, “Girl, check her out! She looks great!” Monica greeted us all with a smile, lots of love and classic jam “Don’t Take It Personal.” She had returned home to the stage and we were all here to receive her with open arms.
Keeping up the moment she took us on a journey throughout her 20-year long career with hits from all of her albums. I literally jumped out of my seat when she performed a melody of songs from my favorite album, After the Storm. It took me back to grade school. My sister and I would listen to the album for hours and divvy up the verses in each song. “You get the first verse, I’ll get the second.” I’m sure many of you can relate.
Monica talked briefly on the upcoming album Code Red and how excited she was to share new music with her dedicated fans.
Closing out the show with lead single, “Just Right for Me” featuring Lil’Wayne, Monica left me anticipating the release of her new album. Code Red features production and features from Timbaland, Missy Elliott, Akon, and more.
I look forward to indulging in another well-crafted body of work from this musical powerhouse.
Code Red is set for release on December 18th. Be sure to grab a copy. I’ve already pre-ordered mine!
For more information on Monica:
Official Website
