Teena Marie, Lovergirl

I truly cannot get enough of Teena Marie and the way she lets you know a song is going to be a total banger by starting it with a whoop. So many of her songs are such odd assemblages of hooks, strange vocalizations, and bridges that take you to unexpected places. Teena Marie was so proficient with pop’s idioms and conventions that the song she wrote sound utterly unbound by convention – as though she’s inventing pop with every note.