Features : “Everything Is Smooth on Mine” brings R&B- funk-rock attitude to Rabia’s attitude of peace

In a hand-clapping fusion of R&B, funk, soul, rock and R&B with a gospel feel, actor and playwright turned singer/songwriter Rabia Louis Haynes makes an in-your-face statement of positive vibes in his newest track, “Everything Is Smooth on Mine.”

“The song is about a lot of different themes that relate to everything being smooth on mine, like, I don’t let nothing bother me. What’s the problem? What’s the issue? Everything’s smooth on mine.”

He begins with the chorus:

One of those days, one situation
Dealing with my struggles no hesitation
I’m ready for life, one of a kind
And every damn thang is smooth on mine

It is an attitude of in a song that has an attitude, but without hostility, anger, violence or obscenity.

The title is from a phrase Rabia has been using since the ’70s, when he was a young Black man in Chicago in a time when America was still not all that friendly to Black men, young or old.

Everybody knew him as Cool Bob because, “People used to say, ‘Hey, Bob, what’s happening?’ and I’d say every day, ‘Every thang is smooth on mine.’”

Being black can’t stop me nothing can
Hold me back
Winner not a gambler as a matter of fact

It is a statement song, no doubt, both in its music and in its statement of relentless positivity in the face of difficulty and hardship.

As a matter of fact, Rabia’s entry into a music career came about because of a sudden, unexpected difficulty. He was touring the country with the one-man play he wrote, If Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Were Alive Today.

In the spring of 2020, he was in Memphis, Tennessee, where Dr. King was assassinated, for performances on and around the anniversary of his death.

“They shut the play down because of the pandemic. Then I was stuck with an expensive apartment where I was going to be living while I was doing the play there. So, I decided to make it a studio and do some music.”

Can’t sell me limitations it’s a bold face lie ’cause
Mama said there be days like this
Prepared me for this future sealed in a kiss

The lyrics run fast, delivered in a strong voice, the beat carried by rhythmic claps. No self-pity or excuses here.

Even during a pandemic, music can be streamed, and the music of “Everything Is Smooth on Mine” comes from then and now.

“It’s kind of funk and rock because I want to cross genres, but I don’t want people to take any of my entertainment and be mistaking it for urban, totally urban, but I wanted to cross over. I want it to have flavors in there that catch other ears and other genres.”

With his music and his company, Love Truth and Reality Entertainment Group, his aim is to inspire and encourage without being preachy or didactic. His message is put into fine, pulse-moving music.

Those same qualities are present in all the dozen or so songs he has released so far.

“Everything Is Smooth” deals with a variety of life situations and struggles — needing help; needing somebody; wanting to go back in time; facing challenges that come up when your batteries are low; doing what’s right even when it’s not practical; and more.

Not afraid of no tomorrows not running from today
Not too proud to beg or ashamed to pray

He is working on creating soundtracks for a couple of his scripts and another single, called “What’s Gangsta?”

“I’m still working on it,” he said. “I’m just not happy with it yet.”

That one is a response to the violence he sees in his hometown, Chicago, and other places around the country, the culture he calls “urban.”

“They doing all this violence and they think that’s gangsta. That ain’t gangsta. What’s gangsta is taking care of your kids and your grandkids, and your mother and your nieces, your daughters and your sisters. That’s what’s gangsta.”

He mainly lives in Los Angeles but is working in Texas while visiting a son.

If called upon to name his musical inspirations, he said, “I would say, mostly, Stevie Wonder, and then a lot of the old R&B stuff, like The Temptations, and then the funk and the rock type stuff, like Stevie Nicks and those kinds of people.”

That, he said, is probably showing his age, but “You’re never too old for music.”

Or, to quote his own song:

Everything must change just a matter of time
That’s why I say
Everything is smooth on mine

Connect to Rabia Louis Haynes on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.

“Everything Is Smooth On Mine”
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