dimanche 12 Déc 2010, 0h59m

http://twitpic.com/3f5351
http://twitpic.com/show/thumb/3f5351.jpg

(Standing back)
Eric Benét
Michael Jackson
Roll Deep

(Top)
Jazmine Sullivan
Chrisette Michele
Sunshine Anderson

(Middle)
Curren$y
Kanye West
Charlie Wilson

(Bottom)
Black Eyed Peas
Nicki Minaj
Ke$ha

Jazmine Sullivan, who made her debut with the incredible masterpiece Fearless two years ago, is now back with her sophomore effort Love Me Back, and if you are a fan of the '90s R&B music, you must have already been crazy about its lead single, "Holding You Down (Goin' In Circles)," which was produced by none other than Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott and has a pure hip-hop soul vibe. Some may compain about the direction of the entire album because it's not really inclined to the hip-hop soul revival, but with the variety of songs from retro soul ballads like "10 Seconds" and "Excuse Me" to Prince-influenced-The-Dream-influenced "Don't Make Me Wait" and Ne-Yo-assisted "U Get On My Nerves," this album is well-balanced to bring out and make the most of Jazmine's excellent vocals and songwriting.

And if you are a fan of the '90s R&B music, you should also try The Sun Shines Again, the new album from singer Sunshine Anderson, who's best known for the hit "Heard It All Before" back in the year 2001. Sunshine departed from Papa Knowles' Music World Entertainment label, where she released her previous album in 2006, and has been signed to The Verve Forecast to release this new one, but you don't have to worry, she don't randomly try to do jazz here but again got huge contributions from veteran producer Mike City to deliver a strong, authentic modern soul classic.

And yet another one, Chrisette Michele's third effort Let Freedom Reign, makes me feel as if it were '90s again, but in a quite different way, because the whole of it was produced by only one producer, Ne-Yo's sidekick Chuck Harmony, without any exception or even co-producer at all. I don't know if he can be Babyface, DeVante Swing or Foster & McElroy of our time in the near future, but at least, his sounds on this CD are varied enough, like pop-R&B banger "I'm A Star," Eurodance-oriented "So Cool," funky R&B groove "I'm Your Life" and sad piano ballad "If Nobody Sang Along," to make a solid R&B album. You should judge by yourself if some of these new sounds fit well to Chrisette's soulful subtle vocals, though…

I've recently changed my mind on Black Eyed Peas' music. Yes, they have gone a long way of changing their style and some people must have missed their past styles on Bridging the Gap, Elephunk and/or Monkey Business, but with that being said, with The E.N.D and this latest offering The Beginning, they have obviously attempted to make out electro-pop dance music with a faint flavor of hip-hop and limited guest features, and the new style has been quite good and fitted well, I must admit. Also, I love how they, especially on several tracks off of this new album, consider their vocals and rapping as just a part of the sound productions, like some sort of techno/electronica music.