Ruffin’s fifth solo album for Motown was produced by disco-don Van McCoy of The Hustle fame and Who I Am bears all McCoy’s production hallmarks: the syrupiest of string sweetening, complex arrangements and an upscale, sumptuous disco-soul production characterised by widescreen, soundtrack-esque instrumentation. It’s an aesthetic exemplified by Ruffin’s lustrous Walk Away From Love, the one hit from the album, a song that still stands out as particularly opulent in a period of black music where opulence was everywhere. Much has been made of the gradual decline of Ruffin’s famous part-gritty/part-soft voice but to my ears, he’s still in fine form across this album, able to testify or seduce with consummate ease.