The-Dream-Love King

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, but a tune-up is sometimes a good idea…

In R&B music, we have witnessed a period of prosperity for songwriters-turned-singers over the past decade. In this batch of artists who were formerly behind-the-scenes only are names like Ne-Yo, Ryan Leslie and Terius “The-Dream” Nash, all of whom have written and produced a slew of pop hits for other big names as well as having their own successful hits and albums. The-Dream, who has garnered a strong following of both female and male fans, seems to be the most efficient in this group, having managed to continue to write Grammy-winning songs for superstars such as Beyoncé and Rihanna while also releasing three of his own albums in less than three years. As a result, it is not hard to see (or hear in his music) that The-Dream is feeling himself quite a bit these days, but when it comes to his own releases, he is a man who is willing to concede his limitations and rely on his strengths rather than experimenting too much. Whether you like this or not is a matter of personal taste; it’s safe to say that if you already liked The-Dream’s music, chances are you will continue to do so with his new release, Love King.

Rather than name it Love King, The-Dream could’ve mixed together his last two album titles and just called this one Love – Money = Hate, because his subject matter has not changed or grown at all. He sings about his money and his ability to attract women because of it, along with his sex talents and his ability to keep women fien’in’ because of that. Oh yeah, and of course he sends shots to other dudes who claim to but ain’t really doing it like him. And his musical style hasn’t changed either – simple synth chord progressions and a catchy melody over 808s and snaps; nothing at all complicated or revolutionary. On the up-tempo track “Yamaha” we hear him continue to play with the metaphor of comparing fine women to fast vehicles. “February Love” is sonically reminiscent of “Fancy” from Love vs. Money to a fault, but the song is still infectious. In what I consider a highlight of the album, he tried to push his singing range on “Turnt Out” by singing most of the song in the falsetto register; this talent sounded a little better when he was just doing one falsetto run in the chorus on his single, "Falsetto," from his debut Love/Hate, but the song is still pretty tight.

I’m not necessarily criticizing The-Dream for what he’s doing; I like Love King for what it is – it’s more of the same, but it’s still bangin’ mood music. In fact, if ever there was an R&B male artist that men can consistently feel, it’s this guy (well, can’t forget about R. Kelly…) – in a way, his stuff is like R&B thug motivation (shout out to Jeezy…yeaaaaa). As a fan of R&B music and somebody who believes in The-Dream’s ability to craft a smooth groove, I have to admit I would like to see him stretch himself a little more and write about different aspects of love and life. I think he has a lot of room to grow both as a musician and a songwriter, but that is not to say that his current formula isn’t jamming, because it definitely is. Love King, just like Love/Hate and Love vs. Money, can be a complete banger when you’re in the mood, or a complete snooze when you’re not.

Eminem-Recovery

If you like rhyming at its finest, you will treasure this…

When I first heard about Eminem’s drug addiction, I thought to myself, “Oh, that explains it then.”  I chose to believe that the reason most of his work since The Eminem Show had been of average quality was due to the serious pill-popping problem he had.  However, when I heard him speak about his commitment to sobriety prior to the release of Relapse, I have to admit in the back of my mind I still felt skeptical.   I always worry when rappers want to reinvent themselves, because it seems hard to relive the hunger that is felt when you are on the come-up or in your prime. So when I first heard Relapse, I let out a small sigh of relief. Luckily for us, Em never planned to change his persona, he just kicked a bad habit.  He returned to the lyrical excellence that he is capable of, and that made me happy.  Not completely satisfied, but not disappointed either.

If Relapse was Eminem’s return to form, Recovery is his return to depth.  Em has been sober for over two years now, but he’s still the illest MC, and with Recovery he shows us that there may be no cure for that disease.  He actually sounds hungrier than he’s ever been – he goes in on pretty much every song.  What I respect most about this effort from Shady is that Lil’ Wayne is the ONLY featured rapper on the 17-track album.  I haven’t actually counted, but if you calculated a standard 16-bar verse for a 3-verse song, that’s at least 816 bars of mass destruction from Eminem on one CD.  And it’s all quality music, not some 27-track mixtape with 13 features and 12 interludes, an intro and an outro.  Yes, I’m hopping on my hip-hop purist soapbox, because this is how rap is supposed to be done.  Recovery is trademark Eminem – he showcases his ability to rhyme multiple syllables and deliver nasty punchlines better than anyone, he raps with a complete disregard for political correctness and is no respecter of persons (Michael J. Fox takes Christopher Reeves’ place as his new punching bag), and he speaks candidly and thoughtfully about his personal life and shortcomings.  “Talkin 2 Myself” featuring Kobe will be the track the media talks about, because he admits to thoughts of dissing Wayne and Kanye, openly stating that lashing out in beef when your career is going sour is a punk move (hint, hint, 50 Cent – listen to your boy).  Other personal cuts include a love-hate tribute to hip-hop called “25 to Life,” a dedication to Proof in “You’re Never Over,” another frustration song about an unsuccessful love life in “Love the Way You Lie” featuring Rihanna, and of course his ode to overcoming addiction and his naysayers in the first single, “Not Afraid.”

There is nothing bad that I want to say about this album.  Well…he sings a little too much for me – pretty much every chorus that doesn’t have a feature artist has Eminem singing it.  It’s also important to note that the production on the album went in a completely different direction than albums past.  Eminem has only one track from Dr. Dre and none of his own.  He uses Boi 1da (thank you, Drake, that’s what you wanted right? haha), DJ Khalil and Just Blaze for most of the album.  I’ll say that sometimes he seems to be trying to find his rhythm and footing with some of these tracks, but that could just be my ears because I am so used to hearing Eminem’s voice marching to the beat of Dre’s or his own drum only.  But I can honestly say I’m satisfied with Recovery; Eminem got clean and as a result gave hip-hop its fix.