new sounds : "graffiti" by chris brown

[**note: the last week of classes was a little rough on a sista, so pardon my lateness on this post.]

this has been a highly anticipated album since the whole chrihanna incident, and i must say that chris does not disappoint. his sound is much more mature, and while there are so tracks on the album that seem to explicitly describe his recent heartbreak, he does a wonderful job of staying true himself and showing that he is in the process of healing. vocally, chris has impressively improved, and the content of his songs are exactly what i would expect to hear from a 20-something transitioning from being boyhood to manhood. i haven't been able to take this album off shuffle since downloading it last week (yup, somewhat exclusive - ha)

favorite cuts:

"crawl" - this is the second single off of the album that he's already put the video out featuring R&B chick cassie. clearly, this is about his recent highly publicized break-up, but the way that the song is written, it conveys the message of hope and no matter how many times we fall, we can always dust ourselves of & start over.

line for line --"if we crawl, till we can walk again; then we'll run until we're strong enough to jump--then we'll fly until there is no end, so lets crawl, back to love."

"famous girl" - an upbeat joint, brown describes this "famous girl" by using different song titles from artists like beyonce, keyshia cole, drake and even his old flame rihanna. while he points our her flaws about being famous, he also points out the fact that being famous doesn't guard him from being a heart breaker too. chris even takes shots at the bloggers in this joint, already anticipating that they're gonna dissect word for word of the song. i've heard a lot of people humming this joint across campus in the past few days, and i must say it is a very cute song that is radio-worthy.

line for line -- "keri would’ve said my love knocks her down, keyshia would’ve told me I was sent from heaven; sorry bey I don’t wear no halo--you were first to play the game though; sorry I bust the windows of your car..."

"take my time feat. tank" --true to heart R&B slow jam that features an R&B hottie that we haven't heard from in a minute. i was sooo surprised to hear tank's voice on this track, but at the same time very impressed because their voices fit perfectly. producers 'tha business' did the darn thing on this song *fans self*. in this track, an all-grown-up chris talks about being able to please his girl in the bedroom [which could make any girl go crazy]. i would say this is "take you down" turned up about six notches and i'm sure when he performs this in concert, the girls will go just as crazy as they did with that joint. muy caliente chico ;-)

line for line--"i got your back up against the wall, i've got strength won't let you fall --when i make you bloom like a flower babe..."

overall, i would rate this album a solid 4.3 out of 5 stars. chris does some experimentation on some tracks with techno-like sounds, but nevertheless it's still the same sound that we've experienced on his previous albums. after all that he's been through this year, i must say that he's shown a lot of maturity and his music is more than enough proof for that.

-*csc.