Jaheim's first mistake: naming his album Ghetto Classics. The cocky title sets the bar pretty high to begin with, and the album only kept me fooled for one song. Enjoyable, maybe, but you promised me a classic, Mr. Jaheim.
This is Jaheim's third solo album, ending the four-year gap since 2002's Still Ghetto. He's passed the time by milking that album for singles through 2004, and guesting on other songs, most notably singing circles around Nelly on 2004's "My Place."
But the album title, along with a few guest rappers on his own singles, indicates Jaheim is trying to stake out and make a bigger name for himself. His albums have done well, and he's had a few top 40 hits, but no smashes. Now is a good time for him to make the drive to become a big star.
And how does it fare? As mentioned before, the opening cut "The Chosen One" sets standards a bit too high. The song has an excellent horn and vocal sample (taken from the soundtrack to a '70s blaxploitation film The Mack,) and shows off Jaheim's gorgeous voice.
Lead single "Everytime I Think About Her" features Jadakiss rapping the verses in a bid for crossover appeal. Unfortunately, the clumsy raps come in awkwardly, interrupting the slow string sample. It sounds like the record execs went "Whoa, we need a single!" and surgically attached the rhymes with staples at the last second.
Another highlight, "Fiend," is in a similar style and given a similar treatment, but the match is more organic. You get the impression Styles P, the artist featured on this single, might have even heard the song before writing his verses.
Aside from these songs, the problem isn't so much weak tracks as it is the constant level of "just okay". On one hand, Jaheim is too good a singer, and the beats and samples are too strong, for any songs to truly fall flat.
Aside from a few gems, the album all blurs together. Most songs go by at the same tempo, and the ones that deviate are close enough to the baseline to almost go unnoticed. "Like A DJ" seems like it might speed the album up, but it quickly slides back into the same slow groove. The album only runs for 43 minutes, but seems to a go a lot longer.
Additionally, Jaheim shines with his vocals but flags in the area of personality. The lyrics are standard R&B fair, talking about how much he loves women or his family. They're sometimes a bit silly, though, like when Jaheim goes on about all the presents he's going to buy his kid in "Daddy Thing."
Maybe he was just trying to use concrete details to add realism by mentioning the Xbox by name, but it just made me snicker and think of product placement.
For the most part, though, I didn't hear any qualities that would make me say "Oh, this is a Jaheim track." I start noting every time a song had a cool string part, but stopped when I realized I'd have to talk about four songs in a row.
I really felt conflicted trying to grade this album. Jaheim is a very gifted singer, and songs like "The Chosen One" and "Fiend" find melodies strong enough to hold up against him. But too often it feels like a great singer stuck with just good music.
I like Jaheim more than most his contemporaries. I enjoyed the album, and I would be happy to turn on MTV and see one of his singles tearing up the charts. But I also feel like he is capable of quite a deal more, and I'm more interested to hear what he comes up with next. Grade: C+
