Many American Idol singers who fail to take the coveted crown of America's biggest talent search often record one album and disappear without trace. I actually watched that very season when Jennifer Hudson was kicked off half way through the live heats and there was a huge outcry. Folks were crying foul and declaring that the show was rigged as well as it being based more on popularity than actual talent. Whilst Jen had similar vocal chops to a younger and more poised Whitney Houston, her persona wasn't conveyed enough or she didn't allow it to come out in her performances which is probably what got her prematurely kicked off (she secured herself a seventh-place finish on the third season of American Idol in 2004). However, getting kicked off and not winning obviously worked in her favour. Had she won, she'd have been stuck in a shitty ass American Idol contract, would not have been cast for Dreamgirls and won that Oscar. As a result of that Oscar win, she would not have been in popular demand for a slew of high profile other movie roles (Secret Life of Bees, Sex In The City, Winged Creatures, etc). After her musical career took a backseat to her acting, the 27-year-old is finally releasing her self-titled debut album next week via J Records.....The Ne-yo written single 'Spotlight' starts off the album on an extremely high note and is one of the album's main highlights. The song is mad catchy with an ear-engaging piano melody and straddles with the concept of no longer wanting to be overshadowed by someone else. At first, I thought the song was kind of safe. I always assumed Clive Davis would try and mould Jen into having a similar sound indicative of his protege Whitney Houston during her heyday. That was pretty much accomplished with the song and the throwback feel that it has. I really wasn't expecting this album to impress me in any way because the songs that ended up leaking prior to the album's release date are songs I've ended up despising except for the heartfelt Robin Thicke-written 'Giving Myself'. This particular track impressed me and finds Jen singing her heart out and pouring all her soul into the powerballad, like a woman truly touched by love. Matter of fact, it's pretty compelling. Songs like this are cool provided that they're restricted to one or two. Any more after that is tailing the line, at least for me. A ballad-heavy album full of love slush doesn't really sit well with me and all in all would have been waaaay too predictable. But she does switches up, thankfully.
'Pocketbook' is definetely indicative of change and variation. The song is co-produced by Timbaland and Jim Beanz and features rapper Ludacris. That's kind of funny and contradictory considering that Jen said she wouldn't work with rappers on this album. I guess she had to succumb to what would give the album more commercial appeal sadly. But on the beatboxing production, Jen incorporates humour into the lyrics when she warns: 'Don't make me hit you wit my pocketbook'. The song is one of the weaker offerings on the album despite its wit and humour. As much as I tried to get into the song, it just didn't capture me. And the Tim-contribution was one of those I was excited about the most. The Polow-Da Don-assisted 'My Heart' is also a cool midtempo but nothing overwhelming. 'We Gon' Fight' sounds like a big R. Kelly/Syleena Johnson gospel-edged production. It's a cool track but overall, I was feeling the lyrics most of all: "Like gangsters we gon' strap up for this war". Not what you'd really expect from Jen or on a song like this for that matter.
I totally love 'Invisible' though. It's starts off with a nice piano-build up and then opens up into this huge bassy midtempo cut. Very Mary J Blige-esque that has that cross-over appeal about it as well. Another song that captured me was 'Can't Stop The Rain' with it's acoustic jangly guitars. All I know about it is that it's Ne-yo's second written contribution to the album. I'm not sure who produced it but it definetely sounds like your typical overly-recycled Stargate production with the acoustic instrumentation and sparse handclaps. I could definetely over look that since it's a nice song. But I was quite baffled at the T-Pain duet which lies in the album's catastrophe, appropriately titled 'What's Wrong'. Ironically, collaborating on a ballad with T-Pain's vocoded vocals was always going to be a recipe for disaster. I always thought Jen was better than this and didn't think she'd be suckered in by T-Pain's popularity to even have him on her album, never mind an actual album track.
Another song that I couldn't really listen to for long was Jen and American Idol champ Fantasia screaming over their duet on 'I'm His Only Woman'. The bluesy oldskool track is very reminiscent to Shirley Brown's 'Woman to Woman' but to me, there were just too much overly vocal saturation. However, she did come through for the R&B classic powerballad 'You Pulled Me Through' which she vocally nails. 'If This Is Love' is sounding like a more polished version of Keri Hilson's 'Energy' or the type of song that Energy should have been with its sparse piano riffs and nice melodies. Overall, it's a gorgeous song. I wasn't particularly understanding why 'And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going' was featured as a main album cut. It should have been a bonus track since it's the song that was the huge momentum in the movie Dreamgirls two years ago as well as it being on the soundtrack. After all, the song is played out as hell and it's not like we don't know Jen can belt the hell out of a song. There are songs on the album that already display that. 'Jesus Promised Me A Home' pretty much emphasises what Jen is all about and the gospel uprisings was what has remained with Jen from day one. Overall, an inspirational yet powerful way to close off the album.
This album certainly shocked me because I was ready to trash it. There were SOME stunners and few lack luster tracks but the tracks that overwhelmed me outweighed those that were considered weak. Jen proved that she's a true powerhouse and can take on a range of different musical directions. I was certainly expecting the album to be one dimensional. Having said that, this is a pretty strong and enjoyable debut from the American Idol alum and Oscar winner that Simon Cowell was once so quick to critisise.
Rating: 3.8/5
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