I bought Chapter 4: Labor Pains (always been a Syleena Johnson fan) and Ms. Johnson delivered once again. It's just so nice to hear her voice again. She been getting some good reviews from EBONY magazine and has an interview on honeysoul.com. People are really giving her props for doing all this on her own label.

What I absolutely love is she remade Is It Because I'm Black by Syl Johnson (her father). You hear exactly where she gets her soul from. She also sampled on of his songs (I'm Talking About Freedom) for her song (Freedom). She sampled his vocals and all...like they were doing a duet at times. Nice album. Check the similarities.

Is It Because I'm Black (Syl Johnson)



Is It Because I'm Black (Syleena Johnson)
http://www.last.fm/music/...?autostart


I'm Talking About Freedom (Syl Johnson)



Freedom (Syleena Johnson)

[Edited 1/18/09 0:31am]
[Edited 1/18/09 0:33am]

very heartfelt, a return to form after the racy club anthems of the flesh (mind you that album was crazy for the bedroom), you won’t find too many artists that can go the independent route and produce an album back to back as strong and nuanced as this, even with the baggage and level of under-appreciation that this chick continues to endure. Why jive dumped her is beyond me? this is the same chick that sung on kanye’s all falls down, "hypnotic" got some buzz in my area for awhile. the middle half of the record is my favourite. personal tracks such as be me, you let me down, is it true, your love are all spoken truths.

Yes it is. U all should check this project out.

viciuzurban said:

My favorites are all over the album Where's the Love (she uses the auto-tune strategically), Be Me, Maury Povich (hilarious, yet still has a message if you listen to it), & Your Love (which is my absolute favorite).

I think her father may have recorded new vocals when she did Freedom...unless the sped up his vocals. It doesn't sound exactly like I'm Talking About Freedom.

I read a review in Hip Hop Weekly that gave this album 2 1/2 out of 3 stars and thanked Syleena Johnson for filling the "Lauryn Hill" void.

It looks like Be Me is an overall favorite of most people. It's one of her popular songs from the album on iTunes.

'so hard to stay true to me in a lying industry' - how can i teach my son to be a leader when im always following. i didnt pick up her using auto-tune, good looks on that one. yeah your love is one the records strongest cuts.
[Edited 1/19/09 16:36pm]

viciuzurban said:

Yeah you can tell Be Me is a very personal song. Your Love sounds like it could be a cross-over song. It's one of the most "unique" songs she has ever sang. Maybe more because of the production than anything else. Her voice is a little different as well...a bit lighter and not gritty.

blacmajic said:

yeah definitely has mainstream appeal, both r&b and adult contemporary. i wonder if b.cox produced this?

viciuzurban said:

Looking at the liner notes (I bought the CD too specifically for this)...says Be Me produced by Toxic and Donald Alford

blacmajic said:

apparently they did some stuff on the new keyshia album. "trust" with monica sounds very familiar.
[Edited 1/19/09 16:53pm]

I haven't heard Trust yet.

I'm not into Keisha like that. But this sounds nice. I see your point.

Hmm, this album has been getting all around good reviews. I'll have to check it out.

Cinnamon234 said:

This album is a must have really. And I admire Syleena Johnson for doing this on her own. It's a good product without a big label name (who never gave her the proper backing). This makes me want to support her even more. I hope to see her in a show sometime soon.

Syleena taped the Maury Povich show yesterday.
It will be telecast next Thursday.