This time around for the Isley Brothers, “that lady” is Jill Scott. The R&B queen has just completed her vocal contributions to “Said Enough,” a last-minute addition to Eternal, the soul men’s fortieth anniversary album, which is due July 24th on DreamWorks.
Also joining Ronald and Ernie Isley are R. Kelly, Lucy Pearl’s Rafael Saadiq, Jimmy Jam and Avant. Kelly produced the gangsta-minded track “Contagious,” on which Ron Isley reprises his role of notorious thug Mr. Biggs, the alter ego he debuted in Kelly’s “Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)” video.
Eternal also features a collaboration with the late Curtis Mayfield called “Think.” Mayfield wrote the music, and the Isleys wrote the lyrics. “We finally wrote them and he loved what we did,” says Ernie Isley. “This is a real soul song.” The Isley Brothers sizable collection of hits during their forty year run includes 1966’s “This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You),” 1969’s “It’s Your Thing,” 1973’s “That Lady (Part 1),” and 1975’s “Fight the Power Part 1,” and their work has been sampled by the likes of Public Enemy, the Notorious B.I.G., Aaliyah and Da Brat.