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UnChecked Vol. III: Best Male R&B Albums of 2009
Published by L. Michael Gipson on Monday, December 28, 2009 at 9:49 am.
Bringing Back Da Band
This year turned out to be a biggie for male singers and male-fronted bands. Some obvious choices didn’t make the final list below more because of the abundance of male talent that revealed itself in 2k9 than any real deficiencies with others’ projects. Notable artists and albums include: Joe (Signature), Ryan Leslie (Ryan Leslie), Tortured Soul (Did You Miss Me?), Calvin Richardson (The Facts of Life: The Soul of Bobby Womack), Russell Taylor (Confessional), Charlie Wilson (Uncle Charlie), Corneille (The Birth of Cornelius), and the inimitable Eric “Erro” Roberson (Music Fan First). This proved a major, often award-nominated year for the men of R&B and Soul.
French Soulman's English Singing Debut
Anthony Hamilton (The Point of It All) Things were looking a little peeked for Hamilton after the underwhelming Southern Comfort (though the Lewis Taylor cover of “BetterLove” was inspired), but this panoramic album of blues and contemporary soul returns Hamilton to the artistic heights of Ain’t Nobody Worrying and Comin’ From Where I’m From. Whether the leather jacket soul of “Soul’s On Fire” to the Donny Hathaway flavored “Hard To Breathe,” this is a shining example of exactly what grown man soul should be.
Marcell and The Truth (Symbols) Soul Patrol’s Bob Davis recently opined where was the political and socially conscious soul of this generation? The answer can partially be discovered from this Baltimore band’s sophomore project. Secular sermons can be found on such rhythmic grooves as “Seed Your Water,” the poetic parable of “Something In Between,” and the title track’s quiet rebuke against impoverished values. The Freddie Jackson meets Luther Vandross crooning of frontman Marcell Russell will make you get “Lost In The Moment” and “Whole Again” with just one spin.
Maxwell (BLACKsummers’Night) It wears better over time, Maxwell’s new gruffer tenor. Before getting settled into the less fragile tones of the once gossamer threads Maxwell’s falsetto weaved, the killer band on BLACKsummers’Night was this project’s selling point. Extended jam sessions galore, the kind missing from soul albums for more than 20 years, Maxwell graciously brought music back to soul and with “Bad Habits,” sophistication back to the music video form.
Baltimore's Steppin' Into Consciousness
Darien (If These Walls Could Talk) Whenever discussing this vibrant debut one cannot help but talk about how well his voice glides and soars over jazzy soul cuts like “Composure” or “All Kinds of Things.” Darien’s floating tenor along with some good ol’ old school lyrics helped Darien become one of the Best New Artist of the Year at the SoulTracks Reader’s Choice Awards.
Musiq Soulchild (OnMyRadio) Like Anthony Hamilton, Musiq was coming off one of his weaker offerings and an auto-tuned first single, “Radio,” didn’t inspire much confidence in this one. Then you heard the album. Glory! A return to swaying ballads meant for lovers only with “Someone” and “SoBeautiful,” and driving mid-and up-tempo jams like the Marvin Gaye sampled “Until,” “Moneytight” and “Loveofmylife” made this one of the Soulchild’s best gifts to fans since Juslisen.
The Revelations feat. Tre Williams (The Bleeding Edge) When the hookmen from Jay-Z and Nas’s respective labels step out front, they do so with a Pretty Boy Floyd wallop. Delivering an astonishingly strong, full-length retro-soul project following their Deep Soul EP, songs like “Heavy Metal Blues,” “Stay Free” and “He’s A Hustler” brought gut bucket, foot-stomping blues back to soul. With such a pitch-perfect collection, swaggering belters Rell and Tre Williams prove their the new Southern soul men for the 2kteens generation.
Double-Platinum Soul...Overseas That Is
Alain Clark (Live It Out) Obama wasn’t the only bi-racial brother to make a lot of noise in 2k9. The Black Brit by way of the Netherlands had a double-platinum year with this re-pressed album, only he’s was overseas. Boasting three Top Ten hits, Clark’s squeaky clean brand of classic soul pop is easily one of the most infectious albums of the year. “She’s The One,” “Blow Me Away,” “TheMind of A Woman” (the latter is only found on the original UK release) and “Father and Friend,” the moving duet between Clark and his pops is the real heart of “Live It Out.”
Jamie Foxx (Intuition) He found his voice. Not an imitation or mimcry of someone else’s voice. And guess what? It’s a pretty good voice. As troubling as “Blame It On The A-A-A-Alcohol” may be as a potential date rape song, it was undeniably one of the top five club bangers of ‘09. The videos for “Just Like Me (feat T.I.)” and the remix for “She Got Her Own (feat. Ne-Yo and Fabolous)” also proved that R&B still had a sense of humor to accompany all it’s stylin’ and profilin’.
Your World Is Empty Without This Album
Lee Fields and The Expressions (My World) When this throwback funk brother from the ’70s shouts “Money Is King” or ominously croons The Supremes’ “My World Is Empty Without You,” you know he means every word of it. While this Jr. James Brown never quite got the kudos he deserved when he first appeared on the scene some 30 odd years ago, his hard-soled rhythm section and rhapsodic productions should make Lee Fields and his band The Expressions the stars they’ve been in France for years. Thanks to Truth and Soul Records for bringing the soul back home.
Jesse Boykins III (The Beauty Created) Silk scarves tied to bedposts. Candle wax bubbling down on wood ledges. Midnight sounds of passion. Boykins debut inspires many images of love, lust and seduction with all the confidence of a vet. A soothing voice laden across eclectic electro-soul sounds, on his first full-length album the boy wonder proves more than just a New York hipsters’ fave, Boykins proves he can be a bonafide star.
