March 25th, 2009
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| Release Date: March 24th, 2009 |
| Genre(s): R&B, Hip-Hop, Pop |
| Runtime: 60 minutes |
| Record Label: Zone 4, Mosley Music Group, Interscope |
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Myspace Page: Click Here
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 She's here.
"Ms. Keri, baby," she seductively sings in her single "Turnin' Me On" alongside Billboard chart standby Lil' Wayne. Keri Hilson's arrival to the main stage is finally upon us, but chances are you've already heard or seen her way before now, as the Atlanta native has been very prolific in the hip-hop/pop/R&B scene for a hot minute.
Since 2001, Hilson's fingerprints have been on material for artists like Britney Spears, Xzibit, Lloyd Banks, Ciara, Rich Boy, Usher, Ludacris and many more.
However, in the last two to three years, she has found success appearing on very big singles, mostly from Timbaland's "middle finger to genre placement" album "Shock Value" in the spring and summer months of 2007. A steady buzz was building online, as all urban blog sites (including right here on PL) had already co-signed her as the next big thing to happen.
Sadly for Keri, my enthusiasm would wane due to the amount of delays her debut, "In a Perfect World," would receive. Getting bumped from 2007 to 2009 is a horrible setback. Were the bumps in the road her fault? No, the blame is more on budget cuts at her record label, Interscope (how about y'all fire Soulja Boy instead of messing with potentially good albums like Keri's? Nobody wants to listen to me, though.. I'm just a nigga with a website lol).
The momentum was certainly lost, as evident by how her first two singles ("Energy" in Spring of 2008 and "Return the Favor" following in the Fall) failed to perform on the charts.
So is all hope lost for the budding 26-year-old artist? Maybe not entirely, but she's about a day late and a cupcake short with "In a Perfect World".
There are so many things that are frustrating with Hilson's freshman project, it's hard to pick where to even begin. I'm a fan of her work, at least I think I am, so I'm going to attack what I don't like a little bit harder than the casual listener. Kind of like how I graded Linkin Park's "Minutes to Midnight". Was it a good album? Yes. Was it up to their usual quality? Hell to-the no. With all things considered, I'm going to have to go off on a rant on the production first.
Keri is signed to Timbaland's label, Mosley Music Group, so one would expect her to go the logical route and get all Timbaland beats, right? I mean, after all, his skills behind the boards helped save Nelly Furtado's floundering career and propelled Justin Timberlake into the stratosphere of chart supremacy (during his solo tenure). Nobody would have accused her of doing anything wrong if she chose to exclusively work with Timb like those two did. For some reason though, it's not a Timbo-fest on "In a Perfect World". I'm sorry, but Polow da Don isn't that great. I personally think he's overrated. Talented guy, yes, but c'mon guys.
"Turnin' Me On" is good the first couple of listens, but it quickly loses it's luster -- and the only reason it's getting play is due to Lil' Wayne (don't get me started on this guy). It's doing good numbers for her, but it won't be a monster single like "Promiscuous" or "My Love". Sad, but true *Metallica riff*.
The beats Timbaland did lend to the album aren't even his best! Even his butt-buddy Danja (who produces a lot of Britney Spears' new material) didn't even come with the fire. This is just inexcusable to me; they are my favorite producers. Why the hell in a 14 track album do I only get blown away by less than half of the beats? I thought Keri was one of Timbaland's pet projects? Why feed her the left overs? Now, do his worst beats still sound good? Of course, but the few tracks she was on with "Shock Value" greatly surpass everything else on this CD. When I heard "The Way I Are" I was completely in awe.
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