Anthony Hamilton Previews New Album With Heartbroken Ballad ‘You Made a Fool of Me’

Anthony Hamilton finds out he was being two-timed in “You Made a Fool of Me,” a pour-salt-in-the-wound ballad he released on Friday. 

“You Made a Fool of Me” is set in 6/8 time — a tempo that, for R&B singers, tends to be the setting for ecstasy (try Otis Redding’s “Cigarettes and Coffee” or the O’Jays’ “Let Me Make Love to You”) or utter despair (revisit Al Green’s “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart” or Etta James’ “I’d Rather Go Blind”). 

“You Made a Fool of Me,” unsurprisingly, falls into the latter category. Hamilton, still reeling from the discovery of his partner’s infidelity, fires off a series of accusations — “You know I adored you, but you chose to break my heart;” “You were sleeping with another man, and you had him all around our friends” — and guilt-trips: “I would never do you like that.” In the first verse, the singer’s voice hiccups with emotion in a way that evokes Peabo Bryson’s “Feel the Fire,” which happens to be another mammoth R&B ballad set in 6/8 time.

Hamilton’s latest single came together with help from Jermaine Dupri — who signed the singer to So So Def before the release of his great breakout album, Comin’ From Where I’m From — and Dupri’s longtime collaborator Manuel Seal. Dupri and Seal also co-produced the track, adding extra serration to the guitar and lots of splat in the drums.

“You Made a Fool of Me” serves as the lead single from Hamilton’s next album, set for release in August. His last full-length, What I’m Feelin’, came out in 2016.