For those of us old enough to live through it with our memories intact. It’s hard to believe 1996 was 30 years ago. Not to sound so cliche as to say, “it seems like only yesterday,” but some of those memories feel very fresh. Music is one of those things that can immediately throw you back to another place in time. It has the power to bring back memories in a very vivid way. Other times it’s just a reminder of an absolute jam. One of those bangers is the Mark Morrison classic, “Return of the Mack.”
“Return of the Mack” – New Jack Swing’s Swan Song
The New Jack Swing sound was kind of on its way out as the mid-90s were going on. “Return of the Mack” was one last hurrah for the musical subgenre. That clean and polished production meshed perfectly with Morrison’s soulful vocals. Behind it all was a beat sampled from the Tom Tom Club song, “Genius of Love.” You’d be forgiven if you didn’t recognize it, though, because the feel of the song is so vastly different.
Morrison croons about how he was down and out, but he’s coming back. It’s a redemption arc. A woman put him down, but he’s not taking it lying down anymore. “You lied to me.” He sings repeatedly in the pre-chorus. Then he launches into that huge hook and belts out, “Return of the mack!” Repeatedly, with exclamations, “You know that I’ll be back.” It’s empowering. His journey and the way he sings it make it instantly relatable to anybody who wants to walk into some place and make their presence known.
Mark Morrison Couldn’t Repeat That Success
Here in the States, it was Morrison’s only hit song. It was a monster though, going all the way to number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. In his native UK, he was more successful. Still, frequent legal run-ins and record label changes stalled his career. His follow-up album didn’t happen until 2006. By that point in time, any momentum from “Return of the Mack” was long dead.
None of that stops “Return of the Mack” from being one monster of a bop, though. It is one of the catchiest songs of all time and easily one of the best R&B singles of the ’90s. Credit where credit is due, that Tom Tom Club sample does help, but Mark’s swagger does most of the heavy lifting. It’s the kind of song that even people who aren’t fans of the genre can latch onto. It may have been 30 years since he came back, but “Return of the Mack” still sounds like a fresh comeback every single time.
