Album title: The King & I
Artist: Faith Evans and The Notorious B.I.G
Genre: R&B/Hip-hop
Nationality: American
Release date: May 19
Position in Discography: n/a
Estimated Rating:
Have I heard of this artist? B.I.G, yes, Evans, no
Have I heard anything by this artist? No to both
Average RYM Score: 1.74
This is one long album: twenty-five tracks, and even if a few of them are interludes of less than a minute, that's still a lot of music. I don't know either artist, and don't have any particular interest in getting to know their music, so to ask me to sit through that many tracks might be a bridge too far, but we'll see. The interest factor would, I guess, be in the fact that Evans is the widow of the late Notorious B.I.G, and I can only assume this is material recorded by them when they were together, or at least prior to his murder. Well, that notwithstanding, totally bored and unimpressed till the fifth track, “Don't Test Me”, when they both seem to wake up and turn off the autopilot and actually do something. I'm halfway through now and I'm finding it harder and harder to care, especially about Evans' soppy stories about her (their?) son getting married.
“Fool For You” pokes its head in, a good bluesy swaying number which makes me glad (a little) that I waited, but nothing really after that. “Somebody Knows” has an opening very similar to Madonna's “Borderline”, not a bad song. Yes, it's a touching tribute and I'm sure some kind of closure for Faith Evans, and I can see the historical significance of this album, and the personal side too, but it doesn't mean a lot to me and I just didn't get a whole lot out of this. Those who are more connected with the story, and fans of B.I.G will probably understand it a whole lot better, but I'm on the outside looking in and from where I'm standing, there ain't a whole lot to see.
Check out more from this artist? No to both
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes to both
Actual Rating:
