Lady Levi - 'Not This Generation' (1991)

We've had a Queen, a Goddess and now it's time for a Lady! Nairobi Williams was signed to Jazzie B of Soul II Soul's Funki Dreds imprint on Motown Records, under the alias of Lady Levi. Primarily a dancehall and ragga performer, her only album, 1991's 'The Legend Of Lady Levi', was mostly produced by Jazzie B and Steely & Clevie. However, it's the few tracks produced by Jeffrey Valantine, and the pairing of Terry Morris and Tony Dallas, which introduce a more upbeat, pop-friendly flavour to proceedings. 'Not This Generation' is one such track, one of two produced by Jeffery Valantine, and is my personal favourite. It’s quite hypnotic and mellow, but perhaps they should’ve called it ‘Smiling Faces’? It features additional vocals by Darryl DeBarge - yes, one of the DeBage siblings. Sadly, it was not released as a single. Instead, the album was supported by the A-sides 'Rude Boys' and 'Looking For A Dope Beat' (the vinyl-only Richie Rich mixes of this are great BTW), neither of which registered on the singles chart. The album was a commercial failure, and Lady Levi spent the rest of the 1990s and beyond as a guest performer on releases by 2Pac, Dr. Dre, Warren G, Heavy D & The Boyz and Teena Marie.