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.