Album fails to provide listeners with good music

By Alicia Swan
Staff Writer

"You are about to witness a dynasty like no other," brags the booklet inside Memphis Bleek's new album, "The Understanding."

Hopefully not.

Memphis Bleek's sophomore effort is little more than an excuse to insult veteran R&B listeners and use excessive obscenities.

With the aid of rapper Jay-Z and his record label Rock-A-Fella, Memphis Bleek releases an album only mentionable because of Jay-Z's collaboration on a hefty number of tracks.

Although "Do my … (featuring Jay-Z)" is sure to be a club hit, "My Mind Right (remix) (featuring Jay-Z, H. Money Bags, and Beanie Sigel)", and "Is That Your Chick (The Lost Verses)(featuring Jay-Z, Twista, and Missy Elliot)" are sure-fire radio hits, there are 11 tracks remaining on the compact disc that are overplayed even before they are heard.

The album covers ground viewed and reviewed by R&B artists since the time of the rap duo Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff, and that same ground was over-run by the time Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog commercialized it with "Gin and Juice".

Unlike other recently released albums in the same genre, "The Understanding" hardly understands. The album has neither the techno beats or the ingeniously clever lyrics of Outkast's "Stankonia," nor the catchy rhythm or hard-hitting lyrics of Jay-Z's "Dynasty-Roc La Familia 2000."

The album is like an uneventful, mindless stroll down memory lane. Radio played music like this before, about five years ago when it was popular. Music listeners have since moved on.

Overall, "The Understanding" is an insult to the average R&B listener. The audience is getting tired of hearing what you did last night with whom and what your drug intake might have been.

Unless Memphis Bleek realizes that insulting and grotesque music with indecipherable lyrics is swiftly becoming a thing of the past, then that same combination which made the genre notorious will also be its demise.

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