Akon - Trouble

Release Date: June 29th, 2004

I'm still trying to figure out what formula A&R's and labels use to decide which artist they are going to get behind and allow their moment on the big stage (well not really, I think I've already figured that out). I know at least part of it is having an interesting "story" that they believe they can market, although that "story" is often literally just that. As a Senegalese African who moved to the United States when he was seven, Akon has given his handlers a head start. In fact as simple as the album cover is, something about it told me that Akon was not born in the U.S. even before I knew his story. Unfortunately, the album cover is about the most interesting thing about the album. Akon has a different vocal sound and style that probably resembles what Wyclef would sound like if he was really a singer, but despite allegedly knowing how to play several different percussion instruments, it is Akon's embrace of rap music that seems to be his biggest influence. According to the Akon's website, when he first "heard hip-hop I thought it was rubbish because I didn't understand the concept of people talking over music, ...But as I started growing up, living a little and listening to the lyrics, I realized that I was going through a lot of stuff these rappers were talking about and I could relate." Indeed, Akon has learned the lessons on growing up black in America all too well especially from a musical standpoint. But if anything, in today's music market such a "badge of honor" is more of a vice than anything else. This affinity for rap music also adds another dimension to the fact that he teamed up with Styles P of the LOX, (whose parents are also directly from the "motherland") for "Locked Up", which has already begun receiving radio airplay. On songs like "Gangsta", "Show Out", and "When the Time is Right" we find Akon embodying most of the things I currently despise the most in R&B, that is - thugged-out, club-hopping, and iced-up R&B singers. There a couple of solid cuts that show what this album could have been, such as "Ghetto", "Journey", and "Pot of Gold" that reminds me of a mix of Bob Marley and Phil Collins - if such a thing is even possible. As an artist Akon is a little different, if for nothing other than his background, and maybe in a different day and age, with a different set of influences this album could have been something special, but as it stands different is not necessarily synonymous with original and in this case it's not even synonymous with good.

Ok.  For starters, this review is maaaaad LATE.  But it’s not my fault.  Generally, the only brandy you’ll find in my apartment is in my liquor cabinet.  So that being said, let me get back to Afrodisiac, Brandy’s latest offering on Atlantic Records.  I’ve got to admit, Brandy’s never really done it for me as far as artists go.  I remember the cute little girl that seemed to be the next big deal, but it seems like she has hit a bit of turbulence in her career.  Is it any coincidence that this sensed turbulence comes at a critical “growing up” stage in her career?  I can’t say for sure, but when I listen to Brandy’s music, I get the sense of a childhood sweetheart kind of artist who is having difficulty finding her adult voice.  That isn’t to say that she may not be trying, but I just get the feeling that she is trying to crank out hits like she did when she was sixteen, instead of focusing on producing solid, respectable material that she can feel good about.  But then again, I suppose that sort of thing is quite epidemic in the industry, so I should get back to this collection in particular.  The disc starts out pretty decently, the opening track, "Who I Am", setting the tone with a nice, mellow smooth tempo.  Not exactly a ballad, it does well to set things off, setting the stage for the title track, "Afrodisiac", which is up tempo and very danceable.  "Who Is She To You" is a bit generic in the beat, but it does a decent job of maintaining the energy set by "Afrodisiac" before giving way to the lead single, "Talk About Our Love", which features the current hot commodity rapper, Kanye West (just like Converse, he’s everywhere). From there, the disc delves into some level of mediocrity for three straight tunes, before turning things back around with the eighth cut, entitled "Sadiddy", yet another piece supplied by Timbaland (where’s he been anyway?).  The trouble that I have with this collection is that I seem to have difficulty finishing it (hence the lateness of this review, my bad Charlie).  At some point during the listening, I’m just not very interested anymore; it just becomes background music, it’s on, but it’s not commanding my attention.  I suppose that therein lies the rub.  At this point in here career, Brandy needs to demand to be heard, and as it stands, I can do without her music.  I don’t hate her music, but she has yet to make anything that I can love, and I think that every recording artist wants that.  I listen to Afrodisiac and I just get the sensation that Brandy, the sixteen year old girl phenom, has yet to become the adult vocalist that she needs to become to avoid fading into the middle of the pack.  Some of the better tracks include the aforementioned "Who I Am", "Afrodisiac", "Talk About Our Love", "Sadiddy" and "Come As You Are".

Release Date: November15th, 2004

When the member's of Destiny's Child, Beyonce Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams, parted ways after the smash success of 2001's Survivor LP to pursue individual projects there was no guarantee they would ever release another full length album as a group. Most of this uncertainly could probably be attributed to Beyoncé's mushrooming to a pop, megastar. Roughly 3 years after their "split" the Houston-based trio of has reunited with another album full of up-tempo dance grooves and tales of women done wrong, and for this LP it appears that three is more company than a crowd. In fact Michelle Williams, the most low-key and seemingly replaceable member of the group, manages to step out as a lead vocalist on a number of tracks, and really try to make her presence felt. Unquestionably Destiny Fulfilled picks up where Survivor left off with another collection of "girl-power" anthems mixed with some decent ballads, but it's hard not to detect some small differences in the sound of the trio. Maybe it's a little maturity, maybe it's that these twenty-something ladies are all involved in serious romantic relationships, maybe it's both, but whatever it is allows the group to mature their sound some without venturing too far from their previously mentioned strengths. The Rodney Jerkins-produced lead single "Lose My Breath", backed by a kinetic marching band sample, was a predictable lead single but definitely is not the best song on the album and the song "Soldier" (featuring T.I. and Lil' Wayne) probably should have been maimed in a war zone somewhere instead of being put on the LP, but overall the pluses outweigh the minuses. Though it threatens to set the Women's Rights movement back 30 years "Cater 2 U" is a solid cut, as is "T-Shirt" despite the fact that the latter probably tries to hard too be "sexy". The biggest gems of the album are the cuts "Is She the Reason" which glides along on a Melba Moore sample, "If", and the gospel themed "Through With It" which subtlety encourages getting unconditional love from a divine power instead of looking for it in failed relationships. On Destiny Fulfilled, Destiny's Child doesn't give off the ages old wisdom of a parent, and rightfully so, but the LP is evidence that they are growing up before their fans eyes to some degree as these girls are no longer children (which may leave some of their teenage fans less than fulfilled). Throughout it all, the harmonies sound good, and the trio smartly doesn't stray too far from the type of subject matter and sound that has made them famous, but they still manage to produce an LP that doesn't completely give you the feeling of "been there done that".

Overall: B :Review by Eyecalone

Ok. The ensuing music review comes with a taught disclaimer: Gumby does not believe in, cotton to, nor endorse television created “Idols” or other such manufactured “Stars”. Now, with that being said, let’s get into this review of the debut release from American Idol’s (which will herein be referred to as AI due to the intense adverse reaction my fingers get to typing those two words together) reigning Champion, Fantasia Barrino, entitled Free Yourself. I don’t watch AI much past the auditions as they provide some of the purest comedic moments on television (tho I’m absolutely positive that some of those people that audition are plants), but I do catch an episode here and there. Even still, you can’t walk ten feet without hearing someone talking about an episode. So I say all this to preface that I am not totally ambivalent when it come to AI’s manufacturings, such as Ms. Barrino. But I do like Fantasia. I think she has a pretty potent set of lungs on her and as evidenced, this youngster can belt out a tune, even with a busted pump shoe. Am I blown away by the material on this disc? No, but that’s not to say that Ms. Barrino doesn’t have her moments. The material is fairly decent and the production is actually very even. Fantasia’s voice blends well with the accompanying music track after track, and she does well to control her urges to blast her vocals over the top of the music. I haven’t heard a whole CD from any of AI’s previous winners, including Ruben “The Big Hoagie” Studdard, but I am willing to go out on a limb and say that Fantasia’s CD is probably the best of the lot to date. I think she can have a nice, healthy career as a vocalist and she can only grow from this effort. I think I’m impressed, "Baby Mamas Anthem" notwithstanding. Standout tracks include "Ain’t Gon’ Beg You", "Truth Is", "Selfish (I Want U 2 Myself)" and "Got Me Waiting". Throw in a couple of nice covers of Willie Nelson’s "You Were Always On My Mind" and George Gershwin’s "Summertime", and Fantasia’s done pretty well for herself this first time out.

Few album titles could be more appropriate than Houston's debut It's Already Written. True to the title, it seems the material written for this LP was already written, and all Capitol Records was looking for was a "pretty face" to deliver it to the female public. As an artist the Belize-born Houston, like so many of today's crop of young R&B crooners, seemingly came from nowhere, the apparent product of some A&R's very safe and predictable selection criteria, but even if you don't know who Houston is you've probably heard at least the beat to his single "I Like That", which McDonald's has been using for an urban ad campaign. As an artist there isn't much that's unique or special about Houston, and the same can be said for his debut. It's Already Written contains today's predictable mix of interludes, club tracks, and traveled slow jams, but to Houston's credit he delivers his mundane material more skillfully and less obscenely than many of his contemporaries. He stumbles into that all too familiar trap of sounding like a stunt-dummy, R-Kelly on "Ain't Nothing Wrong", "Keep It On The Low", and "Allright", but he does a solid and signature job of tackling Ready For the World's classic "Let Me Love You Down". Meanwhile "Twizala" despite it's silly-sounding title is a solid up-tempo cut, and "My Promise" and "She Is" do a good job of supporting an album that could have truly gone either way on the question of whether it was even worth checking out.

Fresh off the TittyGate scandal of Super Bowl XXXVII, Janet has gone about repairing her reputation and also retreated into the Black community after Justin retreated into the white one and left her in the lurch. Damita Jo drops with a decided dose of what Janet does best, giving you a peek into her mind, especially the sexy part, which is where she likes to show off JUST enough. This collection is a step UP from The Velvet Rope. There are some smooth and mellow songs on this disc and nothing really bangs you over the head with loudness and shrill overkill in the track. The production is generally clean and stripped to accommodate Janet's easy vocal delivery. Damita Jo reminds me a lot of 1993's Janet. Which is basically to say, with Janet Jackson you know what you're going to get. The thing is, Janet makes you love it. She is the only woman in the world who can continuously coo and purr and sometimes moan her way to multi-platinum status. She knows what men like to hear, and what most women are afraid to say themselves and she has no problem saying it. And it works on me just about every time. As an example of Janet's fearlessness, (especially after TittyGate), I give U track No. fifteen, entitled "Warmth". It ain't about a space heater, trust me. After the flogging she took post Super Bowl, most female artists would have dropped a track about performing oral sex on a guy from their set. Not Damita Jo. And Lemme tell ya it works pretty well. Another pretty racy but tight track is No. thirteen, where Janet instructs her man to, "make love to me Like You Don't Love Me" Granted many of the songs are not of the variety that U will hear in 20 years and be like, yeah, that was a great song. Be that as it may, this is Janet doing Janet and she does her own thing well. In an era where young upstarts are trying everything in the book to one up the ol' girl, Janet never deviates from her model. This CD is not loaded with track after track from hot new producers of the moment, allowing Janet to maintain her musical identity. Oddly, the lead single, "I Want You", is one of the weaker cuts on the disc. Aside from the aforementioned two, standout tracks include "Strawberry Bounce", "Spending Time With You", "Thinkin' Bout My Ex" and "R&B Junkie", which revives Evelyn Champagne King's "I'm In Love", and nods to Janet's love of the genre. All in all Damita Jo is a nice, fun and sexy groove to get into, great for a nice leisurely drive or just to bop to while you're cleaning about the house or whatever you feel like doing behind closed doors. This CD will fit REALLY nice if played right behind 1993's Janet, almost like a continuation of that disc.

Release Date: December 28th, 2004

John Legend "has something new for you" or so he says on "Get Lifted ". This statement is both true and false. As an artist Legend stands out from most of the crop of today's R&B crooners, and if it were not for his hip-hop influences and his affiliation with Kanye West he would probably find himself squarely categorized under the overused moniker "Neo-soul". However for his debut, in an apparent attempt to capture the feel or sound of yesteryear Legend finds himself borrowing a good amount of material from some of the greats, i.e. Curtis Mayfield, Bill Withers, etc. At the same time he manages to bring his own sound up to date and varies it with a splash of toned-down appearances by rappers such as Snoop Dogg and Kanye West, that somehow don't seem out of place. The borrowed or revisited material isn't a total jack or done tastelessly but at times it does seem he may be using it as a crutch when he probably didn't need to do so. As a result, for those over 40 the album may come off well, but a little familiar; for those under 30 but out of their teens, the album may go over really well, and for anyone younger then that, it won't completely go over their head. A former choir director, John Legend born John Stephens, had also released a handful of energetic live discs under his birth name, prior to this LP's release. But undoubtedly being linked the West will help sales and visibility in a highly sales-competitive music scene. Overall the album is very solid and there are numerous solid tracks, for instance the lead single "Used to Love U", as well as other strong cuts such as "Get Lifted", "She Don't Have to Know", "Ordinary People", and "Refuge". Get Lifted is a rare work in these times, one that makes listeners take notice as it successfully walks the tightrope between soul and hip-hop (but certainly leaning way more into the former as opposed to the latter), allowing him to appeal to those who are coming from either angle. 

Release Date: September 28th, 2004

This is a really nice, sultry, melodic and harmonic album. I had no idea that Queen Latifah had such a nice voice, but if you saw Latifah in the Broadway Play, Chicago, you got a glimpse of what she is cable of when it comes to singing. She's not a songstress or diva but this album is a really good venture into blues and jazz, and perfect for the Holiday time of year (It's best for November to January where all the family gathers).

After all the "cooning" in the movies, I forgot that Dana Owens and Queen Latifah are the same person. I forgot she was cable of this type of cultural impression. Ironically she is still, playing into a stereotype with this album but its a good stereotype, the one which says that "big girls can all sing". Don't get it twisted what makes the album is not Latifah's singing (thou her singing is good) but its the musicians that make this album a hit. The trumpet player, the trombone player all the instruments in the background come together to make a "royal" debut. We get soul, blues and pop songs from every decade between the 1920s and 1970s. From Dinah Washington to Al Green. Even on the albums cover you can see that a transformation has taken place and I am sure it was not easy. People should know that Latifah had to learn how to read music and approached this project with as much determination, if not more, than any of her other projects music or acting. I think that after completing a project as sophisticated as this Latifah will want to take on some bigger projects in her acting career also, because it is not easy to be able to do what she has done with this album and do it well. There are no tracks that you will want to skip through as I stated before and this album shows an incredible range of octave range and musical experiences. I am sure that Latifah could do gospel if she wanted to, and make it look easy too, but I hope others can respect what she has done and feel that they can follow in her footsteps.  - Nuff Said.

Release Date: May 11th, 2004

It's been ten long years since my girl dropped Passion Play on her own Sari Records, now Tina Marie aka "Lady T" is back with a fresh collection of songs; on Cash Money Classics no less. The CD, entitled La Dona is classic Tina Marie, with a dash of twenty first century flavor, but thankfully not too much. Tho there are a couple of gratuitous rap appearances, namely Brian "Baby/Birdman" Williams, Lady T has not confused staying current with cluttering her album with rapper collaborations. There is a brief, half-minute interlude that features Common and, a thoughtful collaboration with MC Lyte, and that is the extent of rap-related appearances. There is a nice duet with Gerald Levert and Rick James also shows up to bless Tina's CD with his presence, as is only right. I gotta say, this is a WHOLE collection. Of seventeen tracks there is the opening introduction piece and the poetic interlude featuring Common. The rest? SONGS. Not songs that barely stumble over the three minute mark either. Once U get past the corny Mafia Dona intro (I love ya to death T, but that intro…), and Tina comes through with that signature voice, on the lead single "I'm Still In Love", you just relax and know you're in for some good music. Now I'm a Tina fan from way back since her Behind The Groove days so there could be a smidgen of bias here, but I think I know good music when I hear it. Tina's got more to sing about than just love and it's always refreshing to see a vocalist with a little more on their menu than the usual sex /romance/love material. In fact, one of my favorite tracks on La Dona is number 10, "Recycle Hate To Love", a cut with a nice dancehall flavor complete with a lil assistance from Lady Levi. Overall La Dona is a complete CD, top, middle and bottom and It's good to have an artist the caliber of Tina Marie on the scene again. Standout tracks include, the aforementioned "Recycle Hate To Love", the sexy and smooth "Honey Call", the sultry and jazzy "Baby I'm Your Fiend", "My Body's Hungry", "A Rose By Any Other Name" (feat. G Levert), and the smooth and bouncy tributary, "Makavelli Never Lied", which contains verses dedicated to the lives of Tupac, Aaliyah, and Bob Marley. Classic Tina Marie indeed.

Maybe we should call P.Diddy, The Re-animator, because more than eight years have passed since New Edition's last album, 1996's Home Again. In today's music market 8 years is an eternity, as many pop acts have careers that don't last that long; lucky for New Edition they have a fan base that spans back almost twenty years. New Edition's signing with Bad Boy was probably more a business decision than anything else for all parties involved, and once again the group was reconstituted without the troublesome Bobby Brown, who always makes me think about a certain scene from the Five Heartbeats movie whenever I think about him in relation to New Edition. Smartly, the group relies on the vocals of Ralph Tresvant and Johnny Gill to anchor many of the songs. Unfortunately, One Love comes across somewhat as a business decision at times, as you get the feeling that the group is going through the motions for much of the album. Fortunately. New Edition, just going through the motions is better than a lot of today's R&B acts actually trying. In fact the biggest pitfalls on the album is when they try to appeal too much to today's younger audiences, as you can overhear one group member remark during the intro to "Been So Long", "I don't want to do no old stuff, I want to do new stuff" - the problem of course being, that most of the new stuff sucks. There isn't much on the album that is terrible, outside of "All On You" that stinks of pandering to the teenage crowd and bad rap lyrics, as we are forced to endure Ralph Tresvant who must be near 40-years old talk about partying by the pool with "Exstasy in the air". Overall the are several solid cuts on the album, namely "Been So Long", "Start Turnin' Me On", "That's Why I Lied", and "Rewrite the Memories" but many of them seem to suffer due to poor placement on the album, as arguably the best song on the album, "Hot2Nite" is the second song on the LP. At the end of the day One Love does enough to give a positive introduction to New Edition for younger fans and enough not to totally alienate those N.E. fans that to a degree may have grown up on the group. Hopefully, this time around there won't be another 8 years between album releases.

How do you review the work of a living legend? The hope and the goal I suppose, is that you would review it as you would any other artist. Perhaps you hold them to a higher standard, perhaps you let them live off of past glory. Many would argue that Prince for a number of years has been living off of past glory, citing his record sales which don't even remotely compare to his heyday, although it's not really realistic or maybe even healthy from an artistic standpoint, for icons such as Prince, Michael Jackson, Madonna, etc. to continue their mega star status at the same level indefinitely. The record industry's flavors of the moment, are often far from the definitions of good music and just because an artist's star is no longer as high commercially as it once was, one should not confuse that with a decline artistically. And make no mistake about it, Prince is the consummate artist. To be honest, personally I didn't really start feeling a decline until the release of Prince's The Rainbow Children in November 2001. Or maybe it wasn't even a decline, I just wasn't feeling the album and was having some trouble getting into the same space with him since I was beginning to feel his faith (Prince is allegedly a Jehova's Witness) was interfering with the music. But even after 2001 Prince remained busy recording and releasing albums, some of which were basically available only through his fan website, and confounding critics and fans alike such as the July 2003 progressive Jazz album he released titled News, which featured not a single word, and only four cuts--each named for a point on a compass. No stranger to disputes with record companies and indeed, much of the industry, Prince is back to recording under that name and dealing with some of those same companies, and as usual he is doing things his way which often drives record companies crazy, such as giving away "free" copies of his album at his concerts. But whether you are a long time fan or follower or someone who chose not to go along with the Purple one's every musical whim and "eccentrism", there is no denying that with Musicology Prince is back! And back the way I like him best, funky, accessible, and socially relevant. In a sense, as Prince remarks on the title track, he is bringing back the feeling that music gave you back in the day - particularly his music. Some may feel he is re-charting chartered territory for himself and that may be true, but few can "chart" on the same planet with this five-foot guy from Minneapolis. This is basically an album you can put on and leave the room, no need to rush back in to skip songs, but my personal favorites are "What Do You Want Me to Do?", "The Marrying Kind", "If Eye Was the Man in UR Life", "Illusions, Coma, Pimp, and Circumstance, and "Dear Mr. Man" which is apparently Prince's "dear john" letter to those who have been running the world for the past few centuries. 

It’s been about a minute since I’ve hit you all with the Gumby perspective on some beats, and I been owing Charlie on a handful of reviews, so lets get the ball rolling with this Raphael Saadiq jawn. Raphael Saadiq of Tony Toni Tone & Lucy Pearl fame (the former more so than the latter) is back with his follow-up solo effort on his own, Pookie records, entitled Raphael Saadiq as RAY RAY. The theme of the CD is 70’s "blaxploitation" and the groove throughout is very smooth and laid back, a space where Saadiq obviously feels very comfortable musically. The intro is a faux movie trailer that introduces the listener to the Ray Ray persona, followed by one of the best tracks on the disc, the "Ray Ray Theme" which receives some vocal assistance from Joi (who replaced Dawn Robinson in Lucy Pearl before the group completely dissolved). This CD as a collection lands somewhere in the middle of Saadiq’s two prior studio efforts. Not quite as strong as 2002’s largely under-rated Instant Vintage yet superior to the singular Lucy Pearl CD of 2000. There are some nice collaborations on this disc, mainly "Not A Game", which features Babyface and one of my favorites from the entire disc, "Rifle Love", which features Dwayne Wiggins (Saadiq’s brother from 3T fame) and Dawn Robinson formerly of En Vogue and Lucy Pearl. Probably the most refreshing collaborations are two duets featuring Teedra Moses, "Chic Like You" and "I Want You Back". I don’t know who she is, but she blends vocally with Saadiq very well. Raphael Saadiq as Ray Ray is a smooth and mostly even effort with no more than a throw-away track here and there. Standout tracks include the aforementioned "Ray Ray Theme", "I Want You Back", "Not A Game" and "Rifle Love" along with "Chic Like You", and "Grown Folks". 

In today's music environment of flash-in-the-pan success and quick turnaround, most artist could not take 4 years off without turning out an LP of new material, without running the risk of making themselves irrelevant. Jill Scott is NOT "most artist". Since her critically acclaimed debut "Who Is Jill Scott?" in 2000, many fans waited attentively and eagerly, for her next treatise. For her part Scott did release a live double album that featured a small amount of new material during her hiatus, but it's presumable that at least part of her long absence was due to her adjusting to and enjoying her new marital status (sorry gentlemen Jill is now married). But all this waiting builds high, and sometimes unattainable, expectations among fans. Though I enjoyed the LP from the start, in my initial listen to Beautifully Human I even found myself wondering whether I had fallen victim to setting the bar of expectations to an impossible height; well that and the fact that I attended a date on Jill Scott's recent tour, where she made the risky and bold move of performing mostly material off her new LP which wasn't even out yet at the time. Though there is something to be said for the potential power and energy of a live performance above and beyond listening to a CD recording, on subsequent trips through the album I realized that Scott's latest adventure is worth the wait. 

Appropriately titled, Beautifully Human, takes  the listener on a journey through Scott's emotions, relationships, and her life. On "I'm Not Afraid" Scott makes her "declaration of wifedom" showing that matrimony can still be kinky; on "Sprint Summer Feeling" Scott rejects the worship of the material declaring it takes more than the material to woo her; on "Bedda at Home" admits that while she still looks, she no longer touches, because she has something better at home; and on "My Petition" she softly (maybe too softly) decries the lies of politicians in high places. While many a less talented female vocalist has taken the scorned ex-lover, man decrying approach to dealing with the perceived shortcomings and failures of men (particularly black and brown men) with regard to their families, Scott delivers an impassioned, uplifting, and sincere plea for 'brothers' to do right by their families in "The Fact Is (I Need You)". She delivers a new 2004 anthem to women's, and indeed every person's empowerment, in "Golden", while conceptually at least, "Whatever", seems to be an updated version of the cut "Is It The Way" from her 2000 debut. "Talk To Me" is another strong groove though, it takes a downturn in my opinion, when the groove switches to big-band jazz, and "Family Reunion" is a little stronger on concept than execution. But overall the missteps are small, few, and also Beautifully Human, as they are drowned out by the power and emotion of tracks like "Rasool" and "Not like Crazy". When Jill Scott arrived on the music scene with her 2000 debut, it asked the question "Who Is Jill Scott?"; well 4 years have passed since then and it's obviously she knows even if some of us are just finding out. If nothing else, Scott is the kind of artist many of us have been waiting for and that the music industry sorely needs, and Yes, she's definitely been worth the wait. 

Angie Stone, too put in succinctly, is a modern day veteran of soul music. Even before she was recording her own albums she was fronting the smooth-jazz group Vertical Hold, and working the background on the soul music scene. Back after an approximately 2 year break since her last LP, Mahogany Soul, Stone is up for her third solo album serving. Stone Love pretty much picks up where her last album left off musically but while her previous effort had several songs that reached out and grabbed the listener, Stone Love seems to be miss the mark in that department. Many of the songs are solid but not many are outstanding or it maybe I just don't feel they sound as good as her previous LP. That may seem like an unfair comparison, but it's almost impossible not to compare an artist with multiple albums, current work, to their previous efforts. "My Man" and "That Kind of Love" featuring Betty Wright seem far too similar to the song "Brother", from her previous album, to like them nearly as much. The cut "Stay For A While" doesn't satisfy at the level that I would expect from a duet with Angie Stone and Anthony Hamilton and there are a number of unnecessary interludes on the album, as well as one unnecessary Snoop Dog appearance on the lead single, "I Wanna Thank Ya". Those are some of the disappointing, or a least not fully satisfying points of the album, but there are also some stellar moments, like the knockout sample of Dynasty's "Adventures in the Land of Music" used in "Lovers' Ghetto", "Cinderella Ballin'", and "U-Haul". If I didn't have any other Angie Stone work to compare this album too I might be more high on Stone Love, but as it stands it's just a solid album in my book, not much more, not much less.   

Well boys and girls, it’s been somewhere in the neighborhood of four and a half years since Carl Thomas’ debut CD, Emotional. Which means it’s been just as long since we’ve been graced us with something OTHER than what we usually get from Bad Boy records in the name of R&B/Soul. Without mincing words and wasting time, Carl Thomas has at the very least come forth with a disc of equal caliber to his debut. He has, in my perception, proudly stepped into the spot that Joe decided to forsake in search of R&B Thug’s paradise. With his sophomore release, Let’s Talk About It, Carl Thomas seems to be comfortable and in his groove. No, the lead single is not the wonder that 1999’s "I Wish" was, even with the vocal augmentation of LL Cool J and the running start of Surface’s 1986 classic Happy (cheating!). However, the upside is that the song isn’t the very first thing that you hear when you pop in the disc. The good news is that Carl Thomas hasn’t been twiddling his thumbs for the past five years, returning as the crooner’s crooner, maintaining his vocal identity and resisting the temptations of hanging out on Bad Boy Records (no, Da Band is not present on this disc). Now if we could just get Sean Combs to stop yapping over Carl’s tracks. I mean, do I really wanna hear, “Bad Boy baby, Carl Thomas…” when I’m getting all sexy with my honey? Thomas also maintains his hometown connection, sharing an album interlude with spoken word artist Malik Yusef, a Chicagoan who also appeared on Emotional, and stamps his personal touch on this collection. Thomas proves himself as a capable vocalist in the tradition of the smooth crooners of years gone by, letting his voice do the work, and not polluting tracks with riff after useless riff, trying to be a ghetto Luther Vandross. The songs are decently written, well produced and Tomas sings them well, generally separating himself from his counterparts who seek a rapper’s identity. Let’s Talk About It is even, and mellow with just enough bounce to let listeners know that Carl also knows how to work outside of the balladeer’s tempo as evidenced by the tracks Anything and My First Love. The standout tracks on this album include, the torchy Rebound, the smooth and reflective Make it Alright (although it sounds very R.Kellyish), and the mellow, seductive and aptly titled, The Babymaker. Nearly five years is a long time to wait for a follow-up album to a debut that won audiences over (Mos Def, anyone?). Let’s Talk About It is a strong follow to an equally strong debut.

The word on the street is that “celebrities” love to tell on themselves. With that in mind it’s no wonder that Usher offers us Confessions, his fourth release from Arista records.  After a brief intro, which seems to be standard for many artists these days, the disc jumps right into the middle of a jam with the loud and energetic party track, Yeah!  Of course no party thumper is complete without the hip-hop presence that R&B borrows much of its’ new found bluster and bravado from, and Yeah! is no exception, with Lil Jon & Ludacris along for the ride.  I’m always wary of an album which puts its lead single as the very first song (intros notwithstanding of course) on the collection, for obvious reasons.  Confessions is a fairly even keeled disc, as Usher can never resist the urge to get up and dance, but he’s also shown an ability to deliver his own style of ballad that works very well for him.  The music slows down to a slow groove for three consecutive songs with the middle tempo bounce of Throwback (thank whatever God you may pray to that this song is NOT about an old school athletic garment).  Then there’s the title track Confessions, and the anthem-like Burn, before returning to the dance floor with Caught Up, which for some reason recalls the Jackson Five’s Can You Feel It? in my mind.  Although anyone who’s paid any attention to his career knows that Usher likes the dance grooves, I get a distinct feeling with this CD that he’s becoming a little more fond of the slow jams, as they outnumber the up-tempo tracks 7 to 5.  That’s not counting the middle tempo tunes Throwback and Truth Hurts.  Another track, Do It To Me, borrows a heavy Prince influence to make its’ point, lifting elements from When 2 R In Love and/or The Beautiful Ones.  Of course the real (or not so real) confession on the disc is about Usher’s issues of fidelity which reportedly caused the collapse of his romance with TLC member Chili; but the title song throws in a pregnant ex-girlfriend just for good measure.  Of course with all the bad boys running around on the rap scene and with the advent of the R&B thug, it’s never good to look squeaky clean.  Usher cleverly skirts the R&B thug persona by playing up youthful male fallibility, making his penis the bad boy, while he apologizes innocently for the rest of himself (Kobe Bryant certainly never thought of that one).  Vocally Usher does what he does best on this album, never overpowering tracks with his voice, but never completely getting lost in them either.  He’s the perfect middle man, not exactly Johnny Gill, but not exactly Al B. Sure. There are a number of decent songs on this disc, the best being Yeah!, Caught Up, Simple Things and Superstar II.  For all of you Usher fans there’s good news; with Confessions, Usher remains the Usher you all know and love and he even seems like a real adult at times. 

OK. So hot on the heels of Carl Thomas’ sophomore release, Sean Combs’ Bad Boy outfit gives us Mario Winans, the R&B compliment to Carl Thomas’ more pure soul sound. I really didn’t know much about Mario Winans. In fact, when I heard the name, I automatically thought about the legendary gospel family of yore. Though Mario has got a fairly decent voice, he doesn’t exhibit the vocal power that his siblings are known for. That being said, let’s get on with the show. Hurt No More seems to be an apt title for this collection because it seems like Mario’s got quite a bit to get off his chest and girlfriends of years past beware… He’s probably talking about you. Mind you, it’s not a lot of angry, Eamon type material but the sense that this guy’s been up and down the block with females and it just permeates this CD. Granted most artists generally deal with material that speaks to relationships and male/female interactions, but this disc seems to focus on the pain of when things go awry. And it stays in that neighborhood. I mean, the first three tracks are generally three sides of the same coin, so if you don’t want to share in a guy’s relationship catharsis for fifty nine minutes and forty three seconds, then this is not the CD for you. There are the obligatory Bad Boy artist collaborations, past and present, with Slim from 112 showing up to lend his shaky, whiny vocals to track number four, entitled, You Knew. Loon makes an appearance with his standard rap, Black Rob appears later in the album and Foxy Brown finds her way back onto the music scene radar with a guest appearance on track number 12, Pretty Girl Bullshit. There are some pretty decent tracks on this album, but some of them are just marred by what I can only guess is an insistence on having a “street edge”, hence the use of the N word. I can’t tell you how greatly annoyed I get when I hear a singer try to croon the word “nigga/er” and make it sound all smooth and sexy. That madness is worse than when rappers use it. I don’t know what the world is coming to, but that practice in particular needs to stop. Of the seventeen cuts on this collection, 3 Days Ago, Disbelief and even though I can’t feel Foxy Brown at all, I dig the sentiment behind Pretty Girl Bullshit. For the most part however, the songs just don’t do anything for me. This is pretty much a weak effort from Mario Winans, bringing the word generic to mind. I haven’t heard any of his previous material, so I’m curious, is it just him or is it the Bad Boy influence? He’ll have one more chance to prove his point.

Overall: D+ :Review by Gumby Dammitt

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