Jacquees certainly has a beautiful voice. Even heavily Auto-Tuned, he compares favourably to most of his contemporaries. On 4275, his pristine vocals were set against edgy beats, which made for an interesting contrast. On his second official album, it's another story.
Listening to King of R&B, there is a sense that Jacquees tries hard to emulate his heroes, instead of letting himself be inspired by them. The album's production is synthetic to the point of being shallow, sending back to the pop R&B of previous decades. He falls short of channeling a veteran like Ginuwine, though, and more often evokes late-aughts crooners like T-Pain and Akon.
The album does contain a few good moments. For instance, "Verify" and "What They Gone Do Wit Me" — both relegated to the bonus tracks, inexplicably — are forward-thinking collaborations with great rappers. It doesn't change the fact that, with King of R&B, Jacquees has essentially put old wine in old bottles. He'll probably have another shot at the throne, but in the meantime, let's hope he finds his own voice.
(Cash Money)Listening to King of R&B, there is a sense that Jacquees tries hard to emulate his heroes, instead of letting himself be inspired by them. The album's production is synthetic to the point of being shallow, sending back to the pop R&B of previous decades. He falls short of channeling a veteran like Ginuwine, though, and more often evokes late-aughts crooners like T-Pain and Akon.
The album does contain a few good moments. For instance, "Verify" and "What They Gone Do Wit Me" — both relegated to the bonus tracks, inexplicably — are forward-thinking collaborations with great rappers. It doesn't change the fact that, with King of R&B, Jacquees has essentially put old wine in old bottles. He'll probably have another shot at the throne, but in the meantime, let's hope he finds his own voice.
