Aja is the stronger vocalist between the two, so most of the songs are driven by her, but Fatin’s voice is distinct - a plaintive tenor that falls somewhere in between the styles of Montell Jordan and the aforementioned Nick Ashford.
Virtually all of the disc’s 15 tracks were co-written by the duo. The spirit is perhaps best captured by the lead single “Rhythm of Life” where the couple sings in the song’s chorus “Loving you is a dance / The rhythm of life / And if there’s a chance / I want you ’till I die”. Surrender to Love is a soundtrack to the everyday lives of everyday folk, who happen to have the gift of song and a willingness to share their love with the world. The recording’s emphasis on soul family values is re-inforced by some of the photographs contained inside the CD booklet where Aja is pictured waking their youngest child Aquil, the couple is seen folding laundry (the scene humorously described as “the date”) and Fatin washes dishes (“foreplay”). Kindred the Family Soul is yet another entity from the Philadelphia soul scene that has produced artists such Jill Scott, Bilal, Musiq, the Roots, the Jazzy Fatnastees, Viktir Duplaix, and producers Andre Harris, Vidal Davis, King Britt, James Poyser, who all have a hand in Surrender to Love’s production. Drawing on the legacy of Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson, Aja Graydon and Fatin Dantzler give the world a glimpse at their passions, pleasures, and predicaments. And it is just these everyday dramas - tiny pleasures really - that make Surrender to Love the debut release from the wife and husband team Kindred the Family Soul such a joy. Call these the simple dramas of everyday life - the one’s that get lived on the regular, but never seem to get represented in Viacom-land or plantation radio (shout out to the Family Stand). In a world where “keepin’ it real” too often meant striking hard-core poses of ghetto-authenticity, De La instead presented worldview where keepin’ it real was more about things like doing the laundry, paying the mortgage, and getting shorties to school on-time. With their 1996 release “Stakes Is High”, De La Soul provided a informative spin on “keepin’ it real”.
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