Contemporary KY-R&B isn’t typically my cup of Chamomile. But last week, the Times had me on double Dream duty, penning a preview for his Kanye West-aided, Myspace-sponsored show, and writing a review of said show. Suffice to say, I find The-Dream somewhere between Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon,” and The Cranberries single, “Dreams.”
But in an R&B market starved for compelling voices (especially commercially bankable ones), Terius Nash is the best of the new jacks, blessed with a preternatural knack for melody and innate pop gifts. Love Vs. Money might be over-long and solipsistic, but in a singles-driven genre, “Rockin’ That Shit” and Kanye-collabo, “Walking On the Moon” are two of the most iTunes friendly things I’ve heard all year. My money’s on the latter to emerge as this year’s “American Boy.”
Yet there’s something disconcertingly faceless about The-Dream, with his discography finding him mostly vacillating between hero worship of Prince, R. Kelly, and Timbo. That said, the iconography is vivid and faithful. Truthfully, I tend to prefer the classic Stax/Motown model, (see last year’s Raphael Saadiq album, anything on Daptone or Now-Again), or singers struck with a streak of off-kilter gonzo humor like T. Pain and late-model R. Kelly.
Ultimately, compared to his competition–cornballers like Akon and J. Holiday–The-Dream seems like a revelation. Still, I’m just biding my time for the Jodeci comeback. More photos below the jump, courtesy of Myspace.
Download:
MP3: The-Dream ft. Fabolous, Ludacris, Juelz Santana & Rick Ross-”Rockin’ That Shit Remix”
MP3: The-Dream ft. Kanye West-”Walking On the Moon”
5 comments
Tauwan says:
March 16, 2009 at 1:35 pm (UTC -7)
The Dream/Kanye/F-A-B-O-L-O-U-S/Love vs. Money/Rockin That Shit/Walkin’ on the Moon – YES!
Area nightclub? – Ugh.
Tray says:
March 16, 2009 at 3:46 pm (UTC -7)
Well sure, he’s a lot better than Akon… but that’s about all I feel I can say for him.
Passion of the Weiss says:
March 16, 2009 at 3:46 pm (UTC -7)
I’m sure there are worse places to see a show than Area, but most of them are probably covered in flames.
Trey Stone says:
March 16, 2009 at 4:57 pm (UTC -7)
i liked Dream’s debut when i first heard it, but later i figured i hadn’t been listening close enough, cuz most songs don’t exactly have much replay value. you mentioned Timbaland and i feel like his producers use a streamlined, too-clean version of his late-period pop beats, getting rid of what makes ‘em interesting. he’s got a few good songs though.
don’t think he needs to do a collabo album with ‘Ye, although i’m pretty sure that’s one of those Wayne/T-Pain type things that’s never actually gonna happen
Passion of the Weiss says:
March 16, 2009 at 6:04 pm (UTC -7)
If it does see release, I’m sure it will quickly spiral into a “Best of Both Worlds” type debacle.
It’s a sad day when all it takes to considered the next best thing in R&B, is being better than Akon.