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Ne-Yo Year of the Gentleman July 25, 2008
Grammy-Award winner Ne-Yo, who has impressed audiences with his talents since his 2006 with his multi-platinum, chart topping debut, ‘In My Own Words’, is fed-up with the sloppiness of current R&B. With Ne-Yo’s third disc, ‘Year Of The Gentleman’, the Las Vegas native and premier songwriter has constructed a suite of songs that shows exactly what he means by class. Written over the course of travels through Europe last year and influenced by his own fascination with the Rat Pack, Ne-Yo explains, “For me, the sharpness of Sammy and Sinatra is the kind of style I strive for in clothes and music. Year of the Gentleman is named in honor of those guys.”
Ne-Yo proves on the first single ‘Closer’, it is possible to be classy and funky at the same time. Produced by Stargate, the track is an electro-excursion in the glam of Euro-disco.
Harking back to a late-sixties retro sound, the beautiful ‘So You Can Cry’ was one of the first songs Ne-Yo recorded for the project. Opening with an enchanting guitar resembling soft rain, ‘So You Can Cry’ is a heartbreaking tune about a friend mourning a break up. Embracing Lennon and McCartney with the same vigor as Marvin Gaye and Michael Jackson, the amazing ‘Stop This World’ should be hailed as one of the most beautiful love songs in years. When Ne-Yo swoons, “She’s got heaven in her eyes,” there is no denying his passion. Moving beyond the competition by just being himself, Ne-Yo’s ‘Year of the Gentleman’ is right on time to usher in a new era of “world music”.
G-Unit – T.O.S. (Terminate On Sight) July 1, 2008
Man, has there been a lot of trouble in G-Unit paradise lately or what? You have Young Buck’s emotional phone call with 50 Cent, which was exposed after he got the boot from the camp. You have The Game and Buck making proclamations that Lloyd Banks might not be as happy a camper as he lets on with 50 as his boss.
You have 50 losing some of his selling power with the release of Curtis and most of all you have G-Unit as a whole not carrying the weight they did just a few short years ago. I’ll say it straight out without mincing words that Terminate On Sight will not be the album to lift them up out of the doldrums.
“You So Tough” finds 50 Cent supposedly going at Southern superstar T.I. with lines like, “Nowaways, this rap shit ain’t adding up / How niggas get caught with 10 machine guns, only get 12 months”, “Got the best lawyers that money can buy / They say at best they woulda got me 10 or maybe nine.”, and “I said, ‘How do you explain how the homie breezed?’ They said, ‘You keep your mouth shut or you eat the cheese.” The lines are clever but the song is nothing special and I’m not sure why 50 would go at T.I. if he is. I’m sure we’ll all be treated to a l ong drawn out beef that will unfold in front of our very eyes.
“I Like The Way She Do It” is one of the hottest songs on the album and sets the theme for Banks and Buck delivering the tightest verses on the album. The beat is guaranteed to make this a hit single and while Banks and Buck steal the show Yayo and 50 do deliver some clever lines like these by 50 in the opening verse, “I’m stupid rich/Got retarded money/ I’m special ed/ I got special bread.”
“Money Make The World Go Round” was a good idea, it just wasn’t executed properly. The beat was almost there but was lacking something, it sounded amateurish and Yayo on the hook wasn’t a good look. Like I said, it could have been hot but fell just short. “Ready Or Not” suffers some of the same problems in the weak production. Banks does his thing on the verse but the hook is weak and it falls short.
“Piano Man” is a serious strike out and sounds like a beat The Neptunes scrapped in 2000. The hook is awful and the verses leave a lot to be desired. “Let It Go” featuring Mavado is another miss as the hook by Mavado is not good to say the least followed by subpar verses.
“Straight Outta Southside” is a bright spot on the album with a grimy beat and Banks delivering something fierce with lines like, “I’m a stormy night/ You just a rainbow”. “Rider Pt.2” delivers some of that old Beg For Mercy G-Unit we know and love as the boys rock over a bangin’ beat and deliver some serious verses. My only complaint is that on the hook even 50 Cent isn’t immune to taking a page out of T-Pain’s book but it’s not too bad.
“No Days Off” is definitely a hot track, grimy but not over the top and very well produced. Everybody delivers decent verses but Banks stands out with lines like, “These dudes been perpetrating so long/ They could make it rain/ I could make it storm.” “Casualties Of War” is a street banger and finds the trio at their grimiest. Bangin’ beat and once again Banks steals the show with lines like, “I drink like a uncle/ Smoke like a rasta/ Ball like a superstar/ Talk like a boxer.” “I Don’t Wanna Talk About It” is a solid track. The beat is simple but gets the job done as 50 remind us how much he doesn’t give a fuck with lines like, “I’m takin’ care of business/ God’s my only witness.” Songs like “Kitty Kat” and “Get Down” are barely worth mentioning.
Overall, I have to say that this album is a mediocre effort at best. The lack of Young Buck and the overuse of Tony Yayo also makes for a bad decision on 50 Cent’s part and a bad listen for the fan. “Beg For Mercy” was incredible and this is not a worth follow up.
At this point is just sounds like 50 wants to fulfill his contractual obligations and Banks sounds like he needs some space to spread his wings. That is one bright space. Banks sounds good and an album from him is something I’m not looking forward to. Terminate On Sight is going to be a decent listen if you’re a die hard G-Unit fan and if you’re not you can probably skip it.
Solange Knowles’ New Album is Bananas June 18, 2008
Okay, I’m not sure that I would want my newest album compared to fruit but I *think* it was a complement. In speaking of Solange Knowles upcoming EP, Geffen Records chairman, Ron Fair, said the following to Billboard.com:
“Her record is totally bananas. It’s not what people would expect from her. The music is more eclectic and international. She’s in her own lane.”
“It’s a touch of retro with beautiful R&B songs and influences of early Natalie Cole and Carole King, and she’s only 21,” he continues. “I’m crazy about the Pharrell Williams’ record that she recently finished, called ‘I Decided.’ We’re finishing the album now.”
mariah Carey E=MC2 June 18, 2008
Three years after ‘The Emancipation Of Mimi’, Mariah Carey returns with her 11th studio album; E=MC2.
The album begins with the smooth seductive ‘Migrate’ featuring T-Pain; Mariah muses about drinking pinot grigio with her girls. The vocoder trend continues. It’s about time Teddy Riley gets some royalty checks!
‘Touch My Body’ is first single off the album. Mariah is vocally strong and it’s no surprise it reached number 1 on the Billboard Charts.
The collaboration with Damian Marley on ‘Cruise Control’ is a lovely surprise. Jermaine Dupri does a fabulous job meshing reggae tones and R&B together. The only problem is Mariah’s Jamaican accent; it needs a lot of work!
‘That Chick’ is one of the best tracks on the album. It has a great vibe and wonderful potential to be the third single.
E=MC2 is romantic at its heart. On the track ‘Side Effects’ she talks about her ‘private hell’ marriage to Tommy Mottola. We are then treated to a series of love ballads (‘Love Story’ and ‘Ill Be Loving You)
‘Bye Bye’ is a dedicated to the singer’s father who died of cancer in 2002. This is the official second single. The track itself is well arranged and this is one of the few tracks where Mariah is at her best.
The album ends pleasantly with the gospel inspired ‘I Wish You Well’. It’s disappointing that this track is the only one where Mariah’s vocal range is in full flow.
E=MC2 is certainly a musically diverse album with the pop, gospel, reggae influence. With this album Mariah has proven her comeback wasnt a fluke.
Here I Stand Usher June 17, 2008
Like Barry White, Jodeci, and R. Kelly before him, R&B superstar Usher is the master of a very specific milieu: music for — and about — making babies. And it has certainly served him well. Since the now 29-year-old first emerged as a precocious, buttery-smooth lothario in the mid-’90s, he’s brought home five Grammys, racked up a dozen top 10 singles, and sold more than 25 million records. So what happens when one of the biggest sex symbols in the business, who last dominated the charts with 2004’s Confessions, actually settles down and makes his own? (A baby, that is.)
The newly married dad — son Usher Raymond V was born last November — is both different and entirely the same on his fifth album, Here I Stand. One moment, he’s celebrating fatherhood with ”Prayer for You” (”You carry my name/And I pray that you’re better than me”) as his little boy gurgles in the background, or he’s reciting earnest paeans to monogamy (”Before I Met You,” ”Something Special”). The next, Usher’s groin-thrusting his way through salacious bedroom grooves like ”Trading Places” and ”This Ain’t Sex.” Indeed, the already massive single ”Love in This Club” is about as libidinous as he’s ever been: ”Let’s both get undressed right here/Keep it up girl, I swear/I’ma give it to you nonstop/And I don’t care/Who’s watchin’,” he croons over producer Polow Da Don’s shuddering, sex-drenched synths. Well then, Mr. Naughty!
Amid all the back-and-forth, a certain well-known pair of newlyweds drop in — Beyoncé on the insidious, if oddly drowsy, half sequel, ”Love in This Club Part II,” and Jay-Z on the horn-laden second-chance anthem ”Best Thing” — as do Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy, and will.i.am. Ultimately, though, they’re just icing. Usher is still best when on his own, especially when he’s at his most raw. The gripping slow-burn ballad ”Moving Mountains” — in which he pleads, ”Just leave me” over and over to an emotionally remote lover — is an easy pick for a second single. And the equally helpless ”His Mistakes,” about a relationship haunted by the man who came before him, vibrates with genuine hurt and anger.
The album’s title track, a well-wrought Stevie Wonderesque throwback, doesn’t come till the end, and that’s a shame, because some listeners may already be flagging by then. At nearly 70 minutes, the disc could certainly have used a stronger editing hand, and even in his newly revelatory state, Usher remains more a smooth entertainer than an astute lyricist. Still, a good portion of Stand’s tunes deserve a place in the dance-floor pantheon — and, yes, in the bedroom, too. B+
