Bunny Sigler (shown here in a more polo-pimped out time), most old-school Philly soul heads will agree, is a bona fide legend. Born and raised in Philly, Sigler is a human bridge between both performer and songwriter (he’s done plenty of both) and the Cameo-Parkway early R&B era and the Gamble & Huff sound. (Also, not for nothing, look at these album covers.) And his career continues; just a few years back, he cut a track with The Roots and Peedi Peedi (and yep, Jay-Z sampled him on The Blueprint).

So a new Bunny album is news, and yesterday, From Bunny With Love was released. Most of it is what you’d think; soulful, maybe a little schmaltzy, but definitely befitting a cat of Bunny’s age and stature. But then you get to “You Never Know,” only to discover… BUNNY, IS THAT AUTOTUNE? No, surely, this cannot be; no, wait, it is. Oh, Bunny. But it does make wonder: What happens? How does a man go through 71 years on this blue earth with a voice that’s a natural-born panty-dropper, only to arrive at the studio to say, yes, engineer, make me sound like Akon. It really does make you think. On the other hand, chalk up another milestone for your hero and mine, Bunny Sigler: Oldest person ever to use autotune.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 18th, 2012 at 10:05 am.