Hey SOTB Faithful, I hope you’re doing well and I hope your Valentine’s Day festivities went over well last week. A week later, love’s still in the air–even if you, like me, are a person who celebrates love every day of the year. After all, like dope music, I support love in all of its legal and consensual forms. Instead of pouring yourself into others right off the bat, I am a proponent of loving yourself first. If you love yourself the way you want and deserve, you’ll find things that much easier loving someone else.

That said, I jumped for joy when I heard the lyrics (and the guitar licks) on D. Green’s “Made for Loving.” The song takes a page out of 70s soul music in that it leans more into the bluesy side of R&B and soul music. Sonically, it also reminds me of Al Green’s “Love & Happiness,” especially with its slower tempo which makes you notice every line and absorb every word. Considering that “Love and Happiness” is one of my favorite (’70s R&B and Al Green) songs, that’s some pretty darn high praise from me. Lyrically, we get a song that features the younger (unrelated) Green speaking on loving oneself and being open to receiving love. If you take all this and place it together together, you’ve got a great song with some wise words. It’s one that’s, pun unintended, made for loving and made to help you remember to love yourself in order to love others.

If you’re intrigued by my brief analysis, I recommend checking D. Green (and “Made”) out. He’s soulful, his voice is crisp and his pen can captivate you more than your typical 2020s R&B song. Point blank, Green is a student of the game and a student of the greats. Listen to “Made for Loving” below and remember to support dope music in all its forms.