CD Review: Usher- Raymond Vs. Raymond

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Grade: B

Our understanding of R&B music is rudimentary at best. We know what it is and what it's supposed to sound like, but if you asked us to name a current R&B artist we would give you one name: Usher. Based on that anecdote, we can safely say the Usher is to R&B what Metallica is to heavy metal: an introduction.

You see, Metallica's self-titled Black Album (the one with "Enter Sandman" on it) opened up the genre to legions of new people. Metal is inaccessible, but the 4-minute songs Metallica put out on the album showed everybody what was going on. If they liked it, they could delve deeper. Usher's Raymond Vs. Raymond is like that. The album is filled with short R&B songs that address broad, well-understood subjects like love, loss, anger and infidelity in the wake of Usher's recent divorce. There's not a ton of substance to the music, but we're sure that's intended. It's not music that's supposed to be challenging. Like "Your mom" jokes, they're supposed to be easy.

If anything, Raymond Vs. Raymond only has one major fault: it's repetitive. Part of the ease of listening is that there's not much variety. Again, the listener has the same styles and themes drilled into their head, because hey, Usher has made a ton of money doing all of this before, and he's going to talk about what he wants to talk about so he can make another big pile of dough to jump around in. Even then, Usher doesn't address the topics with the hilarious frequency that R. Kelly does.

Listen, Usher's new album isn't going to change the face of R&B. It's not meant to. Instead, Usher pumps out some solid tracks that accomplish the two goals Usher wants to accomplish: Gain some fans and have some sex. Now get bonin'.

Sounds Like: A good time set to slow jams.

Download: "Papers,""Cutter Off," "Traffic"

Listen to it When: You're trying to move from the dancing part of the night to the sexy part of the night.

 

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