Two years ago, the world was getting its first glance at R&B; singer Chris Brown. After almost 2 million records sold Chris Brown is now back to take the industry by storm on his sophomore album, Exclusive. A lot has changed in the past two years as on his debut there was not the incredible pressure on Chris to make a masterpiece. This time around, after various delays, the album is finally ready. Will Chris Brown still be the reigning prince of R&B; after his sophomore album?
The first single off of Exclusive is the song Wall To Wall. The track was written by Sean Garrett and produced by Swizz Beatz. The song features an up-tempo vibe about Chris’ attempting to choice with girl he wants since they are all over from wall to wall. The song had big potential to be a hit single but has been Chris Brown’s lowest charting performance to date peaking at number 79 on the Billboard Top 100 Chart. The video features a mix between the movie Blade and Michael Jackson’s classic Thriller.
The second single is Kiss, Kiss featuring T-Pain. The song was produced by T-Pain and written by Chris Brown and T-Pain. The song is the basic T-Pain Autotune heavy song. The beat is simplistic and just is not very memorable.
With You produced by StarGate is one of the better tracks on the album. The song is very reminiscent of Beyonce’s Irreplaceable and other StarGate produced tracks. The song however is a very strong R&B; track even though Chris’ vocals are not the strongest on the song.
On Throwed Chris is joined by hit-maker Bryan Michael Cox. The song is highly influenced by Washington D.C. based musical Go-Go style. The song is catchy and could help to usher in the Go-Go style getting a greater acceptance in the rest of the country.
I’ll Call You features Chris singing over a Swizz Beatz produced track. The song is a very strong track. The song is very dance friendly considering it is a mid-tempo track.
The track You finds Chris singing over a mid-tempo track. The song is fairly catchy but is not one of the strongest tracks on the album.
Picture Perfect features production and a cameo from super producer Will.I.Am. The song is very different than the other material on the album. The song features a nice jazz inspired break but the rest of the song falls flat.
Hold Up featuring Big Boi from Outkast is one of the weaker tracks on the album. The song just lacks something.
Bryan Michael Cox produced a solid mid-tempo track on I Wanna Be. The song is one of the stronger tracks on the album and suits Chris perfectly.
Gimme What Ya Got is a solid mid-tempo track featuring Lil Wayne and produced by Jazze Pha. The track is a good track and could be a future single.
On Nice Chris is joined by rapper The Game and producer Scott Storch. The song just does not have the same magic as previous Storch and Brown collaborations. The song is pretty generic. The game adds a solid verse but that is about it.
On Down Chris is joined by rapper Kanye West. The song uses a loose vocal and melodic sample of the 4 Non Blondes hit single What’s Up? The song features Chris with tons of Autotune on his vocals and two verses from Kanye West. The song is alright but not as good as expected.
Exclusive is a mixed bag. The album features some very solid R&B; songs, while some just do not fit with the project. Overall, Exclusive gets 7.5 out of 10 stars. If you’re a fan of Chris Brown, make sure you purchase his album when it is in stores on Nov. 6.
