I kind of felt like Ray was trying to meld Lionel's "rapping" style of singing with some Rick James-esque sleaze... some songs I think he was going for that "punk funk" or rather, "fearless stud" sort of thing ala Rick, others I felt he was really channelling Lionel's pulpit soul ("Let Me Go" is the closest thing to Lionel Richie I've heard from another artist).

>Ray parker Jr use to say he was in awe of what Rick James was
>able to do and get away with, matter of fact Marvin gaye said
>the same exact thing about Rick James.

because some of the joints on that first album?
shit, Ray took it further than Rick did, without cursing. (He never did on his records, to his credit... he was very old school Detroit about that)

The original video for "The Other Woman" (I've mentioned in another thread, my newfound appreciation for that song) was as bold as it gets... and then if you think about Prince, the one that got "approved" had Apollonia in it, back when she was still Patty! LOL.