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Leavin' (Tony! Toni! Toné! song)

"Leavin'"
Tony Toni Tone - Leavin.jpg
Single by Tony! Toni! Toné!
from the album Sons of Soul
Released April 12, 1994 (1994-04-12)
Format CD single,cassette
Recorded 1993
Genre Soul,pop
Length 3:57 (radio edit)
5:57 (album version)
Label Wing, Mercury, Polygram
Songwriter(s) John Smith, Raphael Wiggins, Q-Tip (musician), Ali Shaheed Muhammad
Producer(s) Tony! Toni! Toné!
Tony! Toni! Toné! singles chronology
"(Lay Your Head on My) Pillow"
(1994)
"Leavin'"
(1994)
"Slow Wine"
(1994)
"(Lay Your Head on My) Pillow"
(1994)
"Leavin'"
(1994)
"Slow Wine"
(1994)

"Leavin'" is a song by American R&B group Tony! Toni! Toné! It was released on April 12, 1994, as the fourth single from their 1993 album Sons of Soul. The optimistic, upbeat song features turntable scratches and a sample of A Tribe Called Quest's 1990 song "If the Papes Come". Music critics found the song's style and group member Raphael Wiggins' singing reminiscent of Smokey Robinson.

"Leavin'" charted at number 82 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number 41 on the Hot R&B Singles. It attained its highest charting in New Zealand, where it peaked at number 30.

Tony! Toni! Toné! recorded the song for their third album Sons of Soul, which was recorded and released in 1993. The song was produced by the group and written by group member Raphael Wiggins and guitarist John "Jubu" Smith.

"Leavin'" has an upbeat mood, a light, affectionate tone, soulful vocals, and sweeping string arrangements. Musically, it exemplifies the group's incorporation of traditional soul styles on Sons of Soul. It also features snippets of turntable scratches. It contains a sample of "If the Papes Come" by A Tribe Called Quest.Billboard observes "an overall summery feel" on "Leavin'" and calls it "a smile-inducer for pop and urban outlets." Gil Griffin of The Washington Post writes that the "sensual" song "evokes Temptations-style optimism" and that its strings and blues guitar riffs recall Smokey Robinson's 1967 song "I Second That Emotion". Laura Zucker of The Sacramento Bee compares Saadiq's falsetto singing on "Leavin'" to that of Robinson.


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