In my line of work, I’ve been fortunate to meet so many amazing people … some famous, others infamous, and then there are those who I consider to be the true stars because of their pure hearts and beautiful spirits. But no matter the type of person, I’m always fascinated when I meet women who seemingly have it together, but for one reason or another just can’t figure it out when it comes to matters of the heart.

There are certain aspects of today’s hip-hop and R&B songs that I absolutely detest. Primarily, it’s the part that encourages men to refrain from engaging in acts of chivalry. Instead of opening a door, we’d much rather shut the club down. Or instead of looking our woman in the eyes and saying “you’re beautiful,” we’d rather look at her backside and say “damn shawty that ass is fat.”

I can’t get enough of old school love songs from the 90’s—well, old school for me that is. I’m sure there’s some of you that claim the Temptations as your old school, while others may consider B2K as throwback. No matter your preference, this new fly feature will pit two songs against each other in a weekly showdown. First up: SWV faces off against The Deele.

Sometimes it gets hard … no scratch that, sometimes it becomes downright impossible to remember all that’s great about love. Whether that’s due to a personal situation that you’re dealing with, or the stress from other areas in your life, love can often become a frustrating exercise that you’d rather do without.

By now, you’ve either seen or heard about the 52nd edition of the Grammy Awards. Don’t worry though, this piece isn’t designed to relive any of those moments as I’m sure you’ve had your fill. Instead, I wanted to focus on the song that won the award for “Best Female Pop Vocal.” The song was Beyonce’s “Halo,” and I have to admit that I’ve gained a newfound appreciation for it.

Ok, let me lay out the scenario for you. The love of your life has just been presented the career opportunity of a lifetime. The only problem is that it’s in another city … on the other side of the globe. Now ordinarily, you’d support their dreams and ambitions, but this is a tough pill to swallow.

Never let life consume you to the point where you fail to seize any and every opportunity to express thankfulness and appreciation for the special people in your life. So in honor of the Thanksgiving holiday that just passed, I thought I’d pull out some of the songs currently on my playlist that accurately say “thank you and I love you.”

I love you … but of course, you already know this. What you might not know is that I often struggle to discover new ways to express how much I care. I’d normally just buy you something, but that feels too superficial and predictable for the moment.

If time possesses the ability to heal all wounds, then it should also be capable of giving me the perspective I need to move on in the aftermath of you and I. There’s so many ways that I could mentally spin what happened between us just so I can sleep at night … but I won’t.

I’m bruised. I’m bloodied. I’m battered. And I know that our outcome appears bleak, but I’m far from deterred. I still love you … that’s just a reality that we both have to accept. So if my words and actions no longer elicit any type of positive response from you, then maybe this song can.