'Ghetto Love' lacks originality,
pleases listeners
 By
Anna Herkamp
Staff Writer
If you dig rap and R&B, the album "Ghetto Love"
by new artist Jaheim could be the album you'll listen to as you cruise
around your home town this summer.
Like too many R&B albums, "Ghetto Love" sounds
decent for the first half. After that, however, every song is a cookie-cutter
version of every slow rap song you've ever heard.
The third track, "Looking for Love," has easy melodies
and lyrics that seem to roll out of the music. The background sound
is similar to other R&B songs with synthesized music and boxed drumbeats.
The refrain and backup singing is catchy. Lyrics
such as "Looking for love in all the wrong places/been around seen a
lot of pretty faces/but I know I'm the one for you …. " lack originality,
but the easy-going soul makes this song a good one for kicking back.
The next song, "Could it be" is good, but only
because it sounds like an imitation of the classic funk sound Lenny
Kravitz coined in his album "5." The vocal and musical combination on
this track are like the '70s soul disco era that has become increasingly
popular with artists such as Destiny's Child and Madonna. "Could it
be" and the songs that follow are good retro tunes perfect for parties.
The album's title track, "Ghetto Love," is a classic
R&B love song. You'll like it right away because the sexually-charged
lyrics and sound are familiar.
One of the more irritating aspects of "Ghetto Love,"
the album, is the talking between tracks throughout the CD. For about
22 to 60 seconds, you're forced to listen to Ebonics and slang possibly
accompanying cussing.
A press release from Warner Brother Records calls
the album "…. the life of a naïve boy who is slowly transformed
into a focused and tenacious man." I don't know whether to be sympathetic
or skeptical. There is not really anything in the words and phrases
of "Ghetto Love" that I would call innocent.
One song in particular tackles tough issues dealing
with adult situations. The song is about how the singer denies that
the child born to his girlfriend is his. The child, according to the
interlude titled "Jah's seed" looks "yellow" and the song basically
goes on to say that he is not the white father.
Though the lyrics are off-color, soon the beat
will likely be bumpin' the bass systems of R&B fans' everywhere.
The beginning of "Just in case" sounds a little
like LL Cool J's "Phenomenon" with the drums. However, the song is a
much lighter dance tune. It is one of the sweeter ballads of the album,
and the style is reminiscent of Tyrese and Brian McKnight.
For the rest of the album, there are few gems,
but then again, it has 21 tracks. Maybe he should've spent less time
chatting between songs and more time editing his play list.
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