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Album Reviews
Papa Reu Review
Papa Reu’s fourth full-length set, Life & Music,
is his first to be released as
part of a joint venture with Sanctuary Urban Records
Group. The Trinidadian-born Houston-based artist's claim
to fame is the concocting of a different type of flavor
called "thug hall" - a unique mix of rap and dancehall.
“The difference with me is I rap, I
sing and you can hear the island influence in my voice.
The key to my music is that I want people to understand
at least 98% of what I say. I want people to be able to
go to the club and say my s*&t word for word, even
though I’m an island boy.”
[read full review]
As hip-hop explodes around the globe
its only natural that some of the larger metropolises
start producing an abundance of talented artists. Take
Detroit, which is proving to be far more than just the
Slim or the Slum. Enter Waajeed and Saadiq, the Platinum
Pied Pipers. Both accomplished musicians, Waajeed
garners the most attention as his resume includes being
a founding member of Slum Village and frequent Dilla
collaborator.
As is the case oft times these days,
this album is not straight forward hip-hop by any means.
In fact, it is pretty much tried and true soul music
that features a few emcees (Jay Dee, MC Invincible,
Ta’Raach). But the basslines and drum kicks that propel
this album should make any hip-hop worth their spit
drool all over their pulsating woofers. “Your Day Is
Done” is a scorcher carried by songstress Georgia, but
“Deep Inside” turns that into a 4 alarm blaze fueled by
dirty, stinky funk. With the help of PPP’s rich thumps,
Tiombe Lockhart croons out a better a better R&B song
than I’ve heard in years on any commercial outlet with
“Stay With Me”. That goes double – better yet, triple –
for Rogiers incredible “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover” or
Zeno’s “Fever” for that matter.
[read full review]
Trey Songz
gotta make it...will he make it? In my opinion,
definitely! I Gotta Make It, the debut release
showcasing VA songbird Trey is the true
definition of R&B. Every song featured on the album is
sung with heart felt passion that he conveys exquisitely
to the listener.
The thoughts and ideas expressed
within the album are not those of your typical 20 year
old; yet Trey had a hand in writing every song on the
album. The lyrical ability displayed within the album
denotes a sign of a man well beyond his years, mentally
and emotionally.
[read full review]
After taking over as President of
Virgin Records Urban Jermaine Dupri was just waiting
to show what he had in his bag of tricks for the label.
He’s produced for just about errybody who is anybody in
the biz and has been responsible for makin a few
somebodies...though to fall off later.
This CD is definitely a venue for JD
to get "hisself" out there with the radio blasted cut "Gotta
Getcha", which has been getting much play on the
airwaves and Janet blessed video...other than that the
CD fall s kinda short to feature so many different MCs
and styles.
[read full review]
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