New Music: Raheem DeVaughn - Marvin Used to Say

Raheem DeVaughn is gearing up for his new album, What A Time To Be In Love, to release on October 9. In the meantime, the promotion for it is underway as he released his first single, "Marvin Used to Say."

"Marvin Used to Say" is in line with the cries for justice that we've seen from a number of artists over the last few months. Similar tracks in recent months like 112's For Us, BeBe Winans - Black Lives Matter, Trey Songz - How Many Times, and India Arie - Rollercoaster.

The song has a soulful feel to it, and is definitely in the spirit of its namesake, Marvin Gaye. Marvin Gaye's track "What's Going On" is an iconic track that commented on the social issues and struggles of the period. Raheem DeVaughn echoes that feeling, and throws nods to the Marvin Gaye track with its own repeated message of "What's Going On?" It also makes call outs to civil rights activists, like Tamika D. Mallory, Angela Rye and rapper Mysonne.

Describing today, Raheem DeVaughn said "We are addressing two pandemics: COVID-19 and systemic racism." He hopes that through his platform, he can help encourage and educate people of the world.

The new album is going to be released on SRG ILS label imprint. The album is entirely produced by The Colleagues.

Based on this first single, it seems that Raheem DeVaughn will continue his effort to push social change amidst his music. We've seen this a lot in his music, with albums such as The Love and War MasterPeace which DeVaughn described as his effort to describe where he was as a person and where we were as a society. Time will reveal what the rest of the album has in store for us.