R&B Supreme Goddess Faith Evans Had Thee Soul Train Stage in Her Hands
Today’s Flashback Friday stars the R&B/Hip-hop supreme goddess, Faith Evans, performing her signature slow-burner “I Love You” live from thee 2002 Soul Train Music Awards.
And Faith was doing double duty that night. She also co-hosted the 16th annual ceremony alongside Arsenio Hall, Yolanda Adams and Shemar Moore at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena on March 30, 2002.
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Faithfully, Live From Soul Train
Faith Evans was co-hosting the 2002 Soul Train Music Awards and still stepped out to deliver one of the defining ballads from her Faithfully era.
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“I Love You” Was Hitting Right Then, Too
This was not some random catalog pull. “I Love You” came from Evans’ third studio album, Faithfully, and had been released as the album’s second single in February 2002 — just weeks before this Soul Train performance.
The record went on to peak at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 2 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, making it one of the biggest solo singles of her career and one of those Faith vocals that needs no overworking. She opens her mouth, that tone arrives, case closed.
Produced by Buckwild, Mario Winans and Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, the ballad also carries a sample of Isaac Hayes’ “Make a Little Love to Me.” But once Faith gets hold of it, the production becomes scenery for that unmistakable voice — warm, bruised, controlled and then suddenly soaring when she decides it is time.
Co-Host, Performer, Vocalist — Faith Was Working That Night
The 2002 show had plenty going on, but Faith moving from hosting duties into a live performance of one of her biggest records captures exactly why these old Soul Train clips still hit. There was no need for twenty cameras flying around or a social-media moment engineered before the first note. Put a vocalist on a stage and let her sing.
More than two decades later, “I Love You” still sounds exactly like the kind of record that deserves a proper stage, a proper singer and a little room to breathe. Faith had all three.
Watch Faith Evans Perform “I Love You” at the 2002 Soul Train Music Awards
Faith Evans performs “I Love You” during the 16th Annual Soul Train Music Awards in Los Angeles, where she also served as one of the night’s four co-hosts.
Source: Soul Train Music Awards; Billboard chart history; Faithfully album credits. Images and video: Soul Train Music Awards footage / YouTube.
