ALBUM REVIEW: KERI HILSON – NO BOYS ALLOWED


♫ Keri Hilson – Pretty Girl Rock

Keri Hilson is ready to take off with her second studio album, No Boys Allowed, IN STORES NOW.

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Keri released her debut album, In A Perfect World… just last year. The album spawned many singles, a couple Grammy nominations and solidified Keri with a successful transition from behind the scenes to the forefront.

With the sophomore effort No Boys Allowed, Keri again shows why she was one of the top writers in the game. The album title alone describes the fact that Keri’s dealt with her share of boys, but at this point and time in her life, she’s not even looking for or considering anything except a man. The album opens with the J. Cole-assisted, “Buyou,” and then explores female empowerment (see, “Pretty Girl Rock”), sexuality and, of course, the high and low points of a relationship.

What’s most interesting about No Boys Allowed is the fact that Keri chose to use a series of interludes as a means of creating a seamless flow to the album. The songs all make sense together with the melodic interludes that Hilson created for transition. She fuses soul elements, pop sounds, ’80′s synths and even touches on some reggae all through the album, with great cohesion. This isn’t much of a surprise, considering Keri’s musical versatility and background.

No Boys Allowed shines best on songs like “Toy Soldier” (written by Ester Dean, produced by Danja) and the Timbaland-produced, “Beautiful Mistake.” There’s a great mixture here, which is the best for listening. There’s a mood and sound for everything, with still staying consistent to the concept of the album.

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ALBUM REVIEW: DIRTY MONEY – LAST TRAIN TO PARIS


♫ Dirty Money feat. Chris Brown – Yesterday

After much talk and several delays, Dirty Money delivers the futuristic love story on their much anticipated album, Last Train To Paris, which is in stores now.

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Last Train To Paris is probably rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs’ first foray into the world of conceptual albums. With it being three years in the making, Combs describes the album as a vivid love story, following his character on a journey from London to Paris. Along with former Danity Kane star, Dawn Richard and singer/songwriter, Kalenna Harper (who’s characters are named Neon and Flux), Diddy finds the woman of his dreams, loses her, finds her again, only to lose her once more, and then reunite with her a final time. Some may have argued that such a task may have been a little ambitious for Combs, but Last Train To Paris flows almost seamlessly to tell the story.

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CL ALBUM REVIEW: R. KELLY’S LOVE LETTER


♫ R. Kelly – Number One Hit

As the year 2010 comes to a close, R&B crooner R. Kelly is officially making his return to the music scene with his 10th studio album, Love Letter. Following his refreshing performance on the Soul Train Awards last month, the music veteran has made it clear that his forthcoming album will be nothing like your typical, modern-day “R&B” album, filled with heavily synthesized pop and hip-hop sound influences. As a matter of fact, this album slightly shows influence from either music genre.

Before hitting play, one can’t help but be curious about what the album has in store. The cover alone foreshadows some kind of old-school project, as Kelly from the times of singer Ray Charles. Nonetheless, the album kicks off with a very candid, yet soothing prelude to his single “Love Letter”, as he briefly addresses and dedicates his album to his devoted supporters as well as his nay-saying haters.

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ALBUM REVIEW: CIARA – BASIC INSTINCT


♫ Ciara – Basic Instinct (U Got Me)

Ciara finally offers up a follow-up to last year’s Fantasy Ride with her fourth studio album, Basic Instinct, which hits shelves and online Tuesday, December 14th.

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After Ciara’s disappointment with Fantasy Ride, which consisted of a bunch of singles that wouldn’t stick, as well as a series of pushbacks, it seemed as though Ciara was in hot water with no boat. Consumers (and some fans) began to wonder whether Ciara had what it takes to stay relevant. It seemed as though she was more concerned with her celebrity, rather than her career as a singer and performer. She moved out to Los Angeles and started hanging out with the Kardashians — and although it made for a lot of photo ops, people were wondering when they would hear any new material.

Basic Instinct is supposed to find Ciara returning back to her roots. She announced that she was tapping the team at RedZone, consisting of the dynamic duo of The Dream and Tricky Stewart, to produce and co-write the bulk of the album, as they have done in the past with Mariah Carey and Electrik Red. Fans seemed pleased when Ciara offered up the first single, “Ride,” and the visual provided by Diane Martel of Ciara returning to what people arguably love most about her: dancing. However, with a lack of chart performance and promotion, people were wondering if Basic Instinct would see the same fate as the underperformed Fantasy Ride.

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