eve/alicia keys - "gangsta lovin'"
eve knows how to open a song - the first thirty five seconds of "who's that girl" were dangerously giddy, almost too much fun to respond to on the dancefloor (unless you just shrieked and held your hands in the air); the first verse on "let me blow ya mind" was gold, same with "what ya want" from ryde or die vol 1 ("i'm ballin y'all, yes i be appallin y'all/boss type hold it down, wantin all of y'all/callin y'all never chasin me down/three weeks, heartbroken, yes you hatin me now"!).

"gangsta lovin" opens with this warm-glow "real"-r'n'b sound like the beat has been dusted off from a few years ago, before everyone started listening for the gaps. alicia is wailing, maybe to prove this is a duet instead of just a guest spot (evidence of eve/alicia power struggle: eve's verses are shorter than necessary, like she's dropping three guest spots on an alicia keys song!), and i'm expecting this to be a little pre-first-verse semi hook - but listening to the whole thing reveals that hey, this is the chorus! i don't mind that its weak though, because the sound is so pretty and expertly arranged, a deliberately synthetic warm bath which fits when eve's style is becoming even more laid-back. alicia comes with a good hook at the end too with that "it's that gangsta lovin/that's just got me buggin" part (maybe made more catchy by not using it for the first three minutes!); i know it's good now cuz i've been singing it all morning.