POP: WHITNEY HOUSTON Fine (3:34)
PRODUCERS: Raphael Saadiq, Q-Tip
WRITERS: R. Saadiq, K. Fareed
PUBLISHERS: Ugmoe/Zomba/U Betta Like My Muzik, ASCAP Arista 3845 (CD promo)

One of the new recordings from Ms. Houston's "Greatest Hits" collection is perhaps her most convincing crack at urbanized pop music to date. It doesn't hurt that she is backed by Lucy Pearl member Raphael Saadiq and hip-hop luminary Q-Tip. But it's more than the producers making this jam cook. Miss Thing herself seems to have eased into the chilled soul that propels a street-wise track. She wisely does not give into the temptation to belt and wail her way through the song (as she did on much of the R&B-intensive material on "My Love Is Your Love"). Instead, Houston works the more sultry lower register of her voice, saving the big, beautiful notes as a dramatic accent toward the end of the cut. Factor in the tune's sneaky hook (brought to vivid life with richly layered harmonies) and the arrangement's languid retro-funk guitars, and you have the makings of a refreshing li'l late-summer radio hit