Musiq Souldchild?

The Spin: Musiq Soulchild – OnMyRadio
Released December 9, 2008
2008 Atlantic Recording Corporation for the United States and WEA International

Musiq Soulchild sings bass. Musiq Soulchild sings Soprano. He does all the singing better than any of us can and that’s impressive. However, Musiq Soulchild’s On My Radio is the worst album I’ve had the privelege of reviewing so far this year. Don’t become jaded like me. Just trust that this album will leave you disappointed. You might check out a track or two. In fact! I do recommend checking out the second track on the album, “until”. Anything else on the album will leave you a saturated, bewildered fool whom just wasted approximately four minutes of his/her life, assuming you only listened to one rather disastrous excuse for music.

Photo Compliments of www.myspace.com/musiqsoulchild

It’s interesting that someone, in trying to help market the album, I suppose, thought to include a DVD of a rather long, rather dull interview with Musiq Soulchild in the jewelcase. What I took from the interview was that Musiq Soulchild had decided to abandon his audience a little and take some risks, perhaps even to experiment. With his caliber of vocals, especially given the void of impressive male singers of late, I was excited at the opportunity to hear something cutting edge, exciting, much more interesting than anything I’ve had exposure to of late, at least. Instead, I got this; a mishmash collaboration of cliches and trends that really only serves as a reminder of all those things we’ve heard over the past several years that we’d be content to get past, only it’s not executed as well as all those whom he’s copied.

Okay, I sound a little bitter and I am. Don’t get me wrong; there are a few tracks here that I like. There’s still his voice. Well… kinda. There are a few points where the lush harmonies that made you forget the lack of lyricism of most R&B artists (and he certainly follows along there) are sorely missed.

It pains me to do this, but we’ll go step-by-step through the tears and frustration that this album illicits. “BackAgain” is an all-too-obvious declaration that Musiq is at it again. In fact, he borrows from none other than Murder Ma$e, post-puffy jacket in Puffy video avoiding Puffy coast-centric drama-age, who, of course, sampled John Sebastian’s theme for “Welcome Back Kotter”. The backing track reminds of the days of New Jack Swing until the bridge brings the type of low-bit synth that has so inundated today’s popular urban music.

Photo Compliments of www.myspace.com/musiqsoulchild

“Until” is surely the best track of the album. It begins with crafty use of sped up vocals from The Gap Band’s “You Can Count On Me” lain over a well-produced drum track and some vintage keyboard sounds. Otherwise, Musiq is surprisingly witty here, but it’s really all about his beautiful vocals. Amazingly, it seems like Musiq’s vocals during the hook cover about 17 octaves. No, really, he has a huge range. The bridge from the hook to the verses includes vocal stabs from Marvin Gaye’s obscure track, “A Funky Space Reincarnation”. It’s effective.

I have to admit that I’ve never felt like Mary J. Blige has been terribly musical, nor have I ever thought that her lyrics were terribly impressive. There are certain tracks of hers and that feature her that I do like, and I can certainly understand how certain people going through certain trials could latch onto certain themes she’s addressed, I just think that other people have done a better job at it than her (although I have to admit that her lyrics here are much more impressive than Musiq’s). That out of the way, she doesn’t help “IfULeave”. Even with her assist, the track’s still pretty awful. Piano, minimalistic drums, strings, repetetive lyrics, monosyllabic rhymes on Musiq’s behalf, and an uncatchy melody… I don’t have anything nice left to say about this song. Let’s proceed, eh?

“DeserveUMore” is a somewhat over-produced track that starts out performing much better than it ends. The snare in the hook seems like it’s half reverb, at least. There are too many parts with too many effects doing too many things on this track. It sounds like it wants to be a 50’s or 60’s doo-wop song updated, but it just sounds like caca. Content-wise, it, like most of the tracks on the album plays it safe, revolving around immature, unfocused ideas of romance.

Photo Compliments of www.myspace.com/musiqsoulchild

The most underperforming track on the album is “Special”. It’s frustrating how unoriginal this track is. The ethnic sounding drums and synths scream Neptunes’ influence. At the same time, those same sounds beg Musiq to mature a little and write sexual lyrics, even if he goes the safe route and does it through innuendo, metaphor, etc. To that point, he asks whether he’s being offensive in the hook. By contrast, John Legend would’ve captivated us all on this track and been a little more seductive, albeit perhaps comically at times. This is a major failing on Musiq’s behalf. Furthermore, he borrows too much from “Weekend” by Blackeyed Peas and Pharrell-style vocals a la “Take it Off (Dim the Lights)” to not insult the audience’s intelligence.

“Dear John” uses the contrived, silly technology-driven concept of a Surprise! Dear John letter through a text message. The track uses 808 kicks and snaps with piano to lay the foundation for uninspired, rather cheesy-sounding vocals. Are we supposed to believe that 31-year old Musiq Soulchild lacks the testicular heft to break up with a girlfriend in person?

“LoveOfMyLife” is a decent track. If you can manage to sit through this album this long, hopefully you’re not so frustrated that you look over this one. It’s not bad. It’s not good. It’s a cliche song about the value of love. *yawn* Nonetheless, the vocals are as good as ever and the backing parts go back to his strength that seems to lie in vintage, soulful tracks. Consider checking this one out, although you’ll probably forget it in the morning.

I never would’ve thought that Musiq Soulchild would become a baller rapper, but somehow, in “MoneyRight”, he seems to monosyllabically devalue women on the whole, in the same vein as T.I.’s mysoginystic smash hit, “Whatever You Like”. Don’t believe me? “Soon as I get my money right, I’m gonna take good care of you just like I’m supposed to.” Again, it alludes to a too-safe brand of too-appropriate, unoriginal, antiquated, unfocused, immature content. The backing track is poppy, bouncy drums, piano, and cheesy synths.

Photo Compliments of www.myspace.com/musiqsoulchild

Andre Three Stacks has told us all about what kind of woman it is he’s looking for, thanks to his very introspective half of “Speakerboxx/The Love Below”. Musiq’s “Someone” attempts to do the same thing. If you don’t listen to the predictable, immature lyrics, the track has a quality that’s sweet and invokes apple cider and fried marshmallow emotions on the inside of the heart area, or whatnot. Sorry. I’m getting jaded on this album. The backing track doesn’t provide anything new, but it does a pretty decent job of invoking what Musiq’s lyrics can’t.

Who doesn’t love Damian Marley? Okay, he’s a little bigoted in his views of homosexuality, which seems ironic, given his lineage, but he is a rapper and he is Jamaican. *shrug* I can’t help it. “IWannaBe” is a fun track and the lyrics during the chorus aren’t nearly as predictable as the rest of the album’s, so there’s that. Really, this is a good track. Damian and Musiq both do a good job, vocally and lyrically, and the exotic-sounding, rhythmic backing track is pretty good. I caught myself bobbing my head to this. This makes three good tracks, so far, right? It’s too bad that those three tracks don’t really belong among the same collection of songs.

Musiq informs us on the DVD that “SoBeautiful” is his favorite track. So I got optimistic. But then, all I heard was Musiq singing the newest The Dream track, seemingly. Musiq’s falsetto is good. So is his bass. I’m not interested in hearing wack lyrics by anyone over a relatively uncreative arrangement of 808s and synths. But that’s just me. I mean, I understand he moved to Atlanta, but does his album absolutely have to keep half its goods in Philly and half in “the A”? Three-fourths through the track, a guitar comes in and almost makes the track interesting. Almost.

If I’ve been angering you throughout my assessment and you think this album is Musiq at his best, and that it’s a great album, then you’ll L<3VE his last track, “Radio”. It’s for the radio! This is snap music with a guy not named Usher singing. Again, Atlanta is full of uninhibited, well… everything, right? He gets back to baller status, but again, he’s playing safe. He might as well grime it up, but he doesn’t. There’s no reason for Musiq Soulchild to vocalize on a song like this unless he’s decided to wear an advisory on his album cover. He doesn’t come close. Therefore, this is really just dumb. I almost said “silly”, but let’s be real. It’s dumb.

Musiq didn’t commit. He could’ve commited to experimenting. He could’ve commited to making really catchy, fun pop music. He could’ve commited to an emotion, a story, a sound, anything to make us feel something. And here we are, having waited on Musiq’s breakout as an intelligent, mature, seasoned veteran having a moment of revelation, a moment where he goes from talented singer to artist, a creative force that isn’t only admired by high school girls whose parents listened to R&B artists of Christmases past, but by those who appreciate wit, creativity, gutsiness, and dedication to a project that expands our perceptions, somehow or another. Musiq Soulchild, unfortunately, is not that type of artist. I give this album a very generous two and a half stars as I shake my head in gross disappointment.

Tje Austin – Love Me Knots

The Spin: Tje Austin – Love Me Knots
Released: June 24, 2008
2008 between the line

The first time I heard Tje Austin (pronounced “tye”) was on a brisk walk from the Elephant Room to Sixth Street, downtown Austin, Texas.  By chance I was walking by a crowd of spectators in front of the Frost Tower, when an unexpected soulful note belted out across Congress Ave.  I pretty much stopped dead in my tracks.

Austin, Texas is known for it’s solid blues, country, and rock scene.  Although live music in Austin is always a rich experience, it’s not everyday that you will hear a R&B/soul act that genuinely floors you.  I was fortunate enough to listen to the last 15 minutes of Tje Austin’s street set.  Armed with only a guitar and a small PA setup, Tje Austin quickly sold out the busy nook underneath the Frost Tower street corner.

Love me Knots is Tje Austin’s debut album, introducing the young and talented artist to the American R&B/Soul scene.  The album led by top selling single “Away from You,” is a mostly acoustic record, focused around Tje Austin’s vocals and lyric content.

“Away from you,” featuring guitarist David Scher on the acoustic, is a soulful pouring of a young man’s mixed emotions of being lost in love.  The stirring single showcases both Tje’s smooth vocals and the range and depth of his lyrical content.  Listeners who have experienced the heartache of a rocky relationship beware, this single may awaken bittersweet memories.

Although most of the album does a good job portraying the essence of Tje Austin’s acoustic sound, at times, songs such as “How Long,” “Emotions,” “The Attention of Love,” and “Today and Tomorrow” leave the listener wanting a bit more track production.  I can almost hear the missing instrumentation that should be filling in the empty space to support the foundation of what otherwise are solidly written songs.

“In Every Woman” is a soft heart-tugger backed by a simple finger-picked guitar.  It never fails to amaze me how easy it is to relate to Tje Austin’s lyrics and “In Every Woman” is no exception.  I remember this is one of the songs that particularly caught my attention while listening to Tje play live because all the ladies in the audience seemed to know every word by heart.

If you haven’t had a chance to check out Love Me Knots, this is definitely a great album to have in your iTunes rotation.  Check out Tje Austin’s Love Me Knots available for sale in High Definition on iTunes Plus.