By now established as a major and talented force in the mainstream music world, Alicia Keys has perhaps earned the right to explore a little, to venture into new genres while still keeping a foot firmly planted in the R&B/neo-soul she grew out of. On her third full-length, As I Am, Keys takes a step closer toward the soul revival popularized by ...
Maxwell is a gifted record-maker, which isn't necessarily the same thing as a gifted songwriter. He has a nice, sweet voice, a healthy love for classic soul from Marvin to Prince, an appealing arty streak largely missing from contemporary R&B, and he can arrange his self-recorded productions quite alluringly, balancing the guitars, synths, drum ...
Alicia Keys' debut album, Songs in A Minor, made a significant impact upon its release in the summer of 2001, catapulting the young singer/songwriter to the front of the neo-soul pack. Critics and audiences were captivated by a 19-year-old singer whose taste and influences ran back further than her years, encompassing everything from Prince to ...
Beyoncé Knowles was always presented as the star of Destiny's Child -- which probably shouldn't be a big surprise since her father managed the group. So it was a natural step for her to step into the diva spotlight with a solo album in 2003, particularly since it followed on the heels of her co-starring role in Mike Myers' 2002 comedy hit, Austin ...
Maxwell's debut offers up a sophisticated and stylized take on late-'60s and early-'70 soul. Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, and the like are subtly referenced over the course of these 11 tracks of wide-screen soul. Mixing sensual funk with ballad sincerity, Maxwell coolly sings through highlights like "Welcome," "...Til the Cops Come Knockin'," ...
The story of Back to Black is one in which celebrity and the potential of commercial success threaten to ruin Amy Winehouse, since the same insouciance and playfulness that made her sound so special when she debuted could easily have been whitewashed right out of existence for this breakout record. (That fact may help to explain why fans were so ...
Two years after D'Angelo brought the organic sound and emotional passion of R&B to the hip-hop world with 1995's Brown Sugar, Erykah Badu's debut performed a similar feat. While D'Angelo looked back to the peak of smooth '70s soul, though, Badu sang with a grit and bluesiness reminiscent of her heroes, Nina Simone and Billie Holiday. "On & On" and ...
Eight albums into her career and comfortably settled into married life -- and, for the most part, herself -- Mary J. Blige continues to prove her versatility and strength, building off 2005's The Breakthrough, but not copying from it. Her increased self-confidence, some of which comes from confessing her all-too-human flaws, makes Growing Pains a ...
The hooks on the rap records indicated it could be possible, the roles in Living Out Loud and Chicago made it possible -- the first record in which Dana Owens, better known as Queen Latifah, does nothing but sing. On The Dana Owens Album, she takes on vocal standards and an unlikely array of blues, pop, and soul classics that were adaptable to ...
As one of the most promising neo-soul artists yet to emerge in the past few years, India.Arie casts her lot with the best artists of her label's storied history, playing deeply introspective songs laced with glistening acoustic guitar, churchy organ, and smooth, supple beats. When she name-checks those artists no longer with us that she claims as ...
Toni Braxton is both an elegant and earthy songstress, nicely balancing those seemingly divergent sentiments on her self-titled debut disc. Braxton's husky, enticing voice sounds hypnotic on "Breathe Again," dismayed on "Another Sad Love Song," and disillusioned on "Love Shoulda Brought You Home." But she's never out of control, indignant, or so ...
When Jamie Foxx released his first album in 1994, he was a star on In Living Color with a decent-sized following who declared, "No, really, he can sing -- he's alright!" A decade later, Foxx was a major movie star who had impressed Clive Davis enough to be offered a new recording deal. Though he didn't release any albums during the intervening ...
Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent d'Arby is a strong debut by this young singer, who wrote virtually every note, played a multitude of instruments, and claimed that this was the most important album since the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper. Hits included "If You Let Me Stay," "Dance Little Sister," "Sign Your Name," and the number one ...
At the end of 2005, Mary J. Blige's career was supposed to be anthologized. The singer had her way, however, and one of her best studio albums came out instead. In retrospect, her previous album, 2003's Love & Life, was awkward; the P. Diddy collaborations, likely intended to recapture the magic the duo put together on What's the 411? and My Life, ...
Released a decade into Boyz II Men's enormously successful career and a year after another best-of collection, Ballad Collection, Legacy: The Greatest Hits Collection puts all the quartet's hits on one disc. Songs like "Motownphilly" and "End of the Road" were phenomenons during their reign atop the Billboard charts, and many of the other songs ...
Though start-up label Hidden Beach and its manufacturer/distributor Sony may have been hoping for another Lauryn Hill in this eloquent young African-American from a Middle Atlantic state, Jill Scott turns out to be something of a hip-hop Patti Smith, a street poet who, on her first album, hasn't quite made the transition from spoken word ...
To call OutKast's follow-up to their 2000 masterpiece Stankonia the most eagerly awaited hip-hop album of the new millennium may be hyperbole, but not by much. In its kaleidoscopic, deep-fried amalgam of Dirty South, dirty funk, techno, and psychedelia, Stankonia was fearlessly exploratory and giddy with possibilities. It was hard to imagine where ...
The week "Run It!" was released, it went straight to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and became the first single from a male artist to debut at that spot. That's no slight feat, especially for a reheated version of Usher's "Yeah!" made by a fresh-faced teenager who reps a little town in Virginia that rhymes with "grab a hammock." On "Run It!," ...
Get Lifted netted John Legend a major hit ("Ordinary People") that will be heard on adult contemporary stations and throwback-oriented programs as long as they exist, platinum status, and three Grammy titles -- including the potential kiss of death that is Best New Artist. If Legend hadn't linked up with Kanye West or any other connected industry ...
Don't Be Cruel was to Bobby Brown what Control was to Janet Jackson -- a tougher, more aggressive project that shed his "bubblegum" image altogether and brought him to a new artistic and commercial plateau. With "My Prerogative" and the title song, Brown became a leader of new jack swing -- a forceful, high-tech blend of traditional soul singing ...
An honest title for this disc would be Several #1's, a Bunch of Top Tens, and a Couple New Songs , but #1's obviously has a greater -- if false -- ring to it. #1's isn't formatted any differently than scores of other anthologies packaged in time for the holiday shopping season, but it's also timely in that it comes after four Destiny's Child ...
On his second album, Juslisen, Musiq -- who dropped the "(Soulchild)" surname -- delivers on the promise of his debut, turning in a slyly assured, smoothly sexy collection of neo-soul. One of the most appealing things about Musiq is that he never oversells his songs, never indulges in hyperbolic screams or exaggerated grunts and moans. He lays ...
Since the arrival of Erykah Badu onto the neo-soul scene back in 1997 with Baduizm, commercial music stood up and took notice with an onslaught of similar artists reaching comparable peaks of mainstream success. After taking some time off for introspection and to raise her son, Badu returned with Mama's Gun, which is a turning point for her in ...
In his 2000 debut album, Craig David merges smooth-soul crooning with a cascade of glistening keyboards, circling guitars, and sophisticated rhythms. Displaying a healthy marriage of current R&B vocal stylings and U.K. club/dance fused beats, David's music skillfully evades feeling robotic and cold, while still sounding pristine and immaculate. As ...
"Locked Up"'s success provided Akon with instant heavyweight clout. Upgraded from writing songs and doing the occasional hook for B-, C-, and D-level artists, he tallied a multi-platinum album, was granted his own boutique label (which was used to spawn T-Pain), and became in-demand as an A-list collaborator -- he worked with Young Jeezy, R. Kelly ...
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