The-Dream, Kelly Clarkson, Kinky, Keri Hilson and DOOM

the music press

mon 3/30/2009

A collage of The-Dream, Kelly Clarkson, Kinky, Keri Hilson and Doom.

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Love vs. Money, the new album by R&B singer, songwriter and producer The-Dream, is "genuinely odd," according to Rolling Stone, which describes it as "avant-garde dance music and radio-friendly pop." Vibe thinks the man behind "Umbrella" and "Single Ladies" is "not doing anything new, per se—he’s just sampled the best parts of the old." The Boston Globe can't stop raving about it: "Unlike his spotty debut, this is a seamless, brilliantly produced affair featuring his unmatched contemporary pop technique and songwriting craftsmanship."
American Idol alum Kelly Clarkson "makes nice with the pop machine and takes back the mall while keeping her integrity" on her fourth album, All I Ever Wanted, according to Blender magazine. The follow-up to Clarkson's disappointing My December gets a "B+" from Entertainment Weekly: "Does ['My Life Would Suck Without You'] mean our queen is back? In a word, yes." The Los Angeles Times agrees, calling the album a "generous helping of the Kelly so many love – yes, Photoshopped and slicked up, but with her big, brilliantly accessible heart and voice intact."
Mexican dancer rockers Kinky flirt with pop on their sixth release, Barracuda. "This is the sweatiest, most accessible record that the band has yet released, which makes its middle third all the more disappointing given the great songs that surround it," laments Popmatters. "How you feel about Kinky’s fourth effort will likely be determined by how you view their overall progression toward more gloss, increased pop, bigger beats and added sonic trendiness (hey, ‘80s British New Wave!)," writes Metromix.
R&B singer-producer and Timbaland protégé Keri Hilson releases her debut album, In A Perfect World. Slant magazine slams it, calling it "merely passable," before adding: "Hilson needs to do much more than pick fights with Beyoncé to justify her transition from hook girl to solo star." Allmusic echoes the opinion: "If [Hilson] didn't… fill the songs with her beaming personality and casually fluid voice, and didn't have top-level producers providing mostly excellent beats, it would be a mess."
Masked underground rapper Daniel Dumile (MF DOOM, Madvillain) returns as DOOM with his latest, Born Like This. "After a period of workaholism that threatened overkill, followed by a period of hibernation, Born Like This finds DOOM back to his scalpel-tongued, scatter-mouthed best," observes The Guardian. "While he hasn’t had the breakthrough success many of his contemporaries have had, he is still one of the best around," proclaims Clashmusic.

also tagged kinky, kelly clarkson, the dream, keri hilson, doom, mf doom

best video moment: The-Dream ft. Mariah Carey "My Love"

+ 8 more see all

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25 responses to “the music press: The-Dream, Kelly Clarkson, Kinky, Keri Hilson and DOOM”

I kNOW this IS ouT oF tOpiC bt VoTe 4 bad YAReL, peEPS,
SHe's HiLARiOus !

->MANNY<-

mon 3/30 2:25am

i like keri hilsons song " Turn Me on" and Kelly Clarkson'[s " we belong together" and i saw the making of the dream's new video it is awesome !!!

She is and i did

lol my friend's lil bro likes that DOOM guy among other rappers who seem kinda geeky .pero im more interested in Eminems new album, along w/ Dr. Dre's final album as well