When fans of The Wire last saw Duquan “Dukie” Weems, his prospects were not looking sexy—certainly nothing to sing an R&B slow jam about. But for all its gritty realism, The Wire was a (mostly) fictional show, and Dukie was just a character played by Jermaine Crawford, an actor who’s since branched out into singing the sort of songs best heard by candlelight that you hopefully won’t then use to cook up any heroin.
Last year, Crawford released “Janet,” an ode to both a girl he’d left behind (For heroin? Probably not) and Janet Jackson. And that song just got a video full of quiet storm sounds and silk bedsheets proving that, these days, Dukie’s only addiction is to saxophone. (And clichés.)
The now-21-year-old Crawford—who was only 13 when he started The Wire—appears to be concentrating entirely on his music career now, and Entertainment Weekly has debuted his new two-track single, One Night Only. Like “Janet,” the two songs therein, “LA” and “Forget You,” are sexed-up ballads that would slot nicely alongside Maxwell and D’Angelo Not-Barksdale in your “Getting It On” playlist, with Crawford making all sorts of promises to love you right. But of course, that’s the same kind of line Dukie laid on Mr. Prezbo, and look how that turned out. Be careful, girl.