CLASH OF THE 'IDOLS'
REVIEWED BY CHUCK ARNOLD
R&B
While the sixth season of American Idol is about to kick off Jan. 16, the show's alumni—from champs to also-rans—have been busy doing battle in the CD racks. In the last few months, Clay Aiken, Ruben Studdard, Kellie Pickler and Chris Daughtry have all released new discs. Now going head-to-head are third-season winner Fantasia Barrino and season-five victor Taylor Hicks with albums that take different approaches to soul music, with varying levels of success.
Fantasia, the follow-up to Barrino's platinum 2004 debut Free Yourself, finds the raspy-voiced belter striking a nice balance between classic and contemporary sounds. The disc's first single, the ghetto anthem "Hood Boy," takes a great sample of the Supremes' "The Happening," a guest rap by OutKast's Big Boi and an Aretha-esque vocal by Fantasia and turns it into a hip-hop version of Motown. Elsewhere, she enlists Missy Elliott to produce the sassy slow jam "Two Weeks Notice," while sampling Al Green on the booty-shaking "Baby Makin' Hips."
Hicks throws no such curves on his self-titled debut, going the more traditional R&B route, but he's more Michael Bolton than Otis Redding. Although it may work for him to sing a song like Marvin Gaye's "Wherever I Lay My Hat" on Idol, here it just makes you want to dig out the original. And you can't help but wonder how much better "The Right Place" would have sounded sung by the man who was originally supposed to record it before his death: Ray Charles.
Fantasia:
Taylor Hicks:
DOWNLOAD THIS: Fantasia: "Hood Boy"; Hicks: "The Right Place"
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Ghostface Killah, More Fish
While not as meaty as its predecessor, 2006's excellent Fishscale, this quick sequel finds the former Wu-Tang Clan rapper serving up more than just leftovers, with plenty of soulful hip-hop on the menu.
Willie Nelson, Songbird
Tough old bird Nelson shows his tender side on this collection of remakes (plus two new songs) produced by new-school outlaw Ryan Adams, who brings along his band the Cardinals.
The Beatles, Love
Beatles producer George Martin and son Giles Martin create a magical collage with everything from "I Want to Hold Your Hand" to "All You Need Is Love" for a Cirque du Soleil production saluting the Fab Four.
Drake Bell, It's Only Time
The star of Nickelodeon's Drake & Josh shows that he's not quite ready to play with the big boys in pop, giving one new respect for Jesse McCartney.
LOOKS BACK
Blige, 35, is riding high with eight nominations for the Grammys on Feb. 11 and a new greatest-hits disc, Reflections: A Retrospective. Here, the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul reflects on some of her best-loved songs.
"REAL LOVE" (1992) I was singing "I'm searching for a real love" because I was searching for real people. I wasn't necessarily looking for a man. I was looking for people to be real and honest with me.
"BE HAPPY" (1994) When I perform it, everybody always sings it. When I wrote those lyrics, I was going through so much. I really wanted to be happy. What I found is that I have to love myself in order to be happy.
"MY LIFE" (1994) I was at the lowest point of my life. I was doing drugs on a regular basis. I was drinking on a regular basis. I was being abused in a terrible relationship. I hated what I saw when I looked in the mirror. If anyone were to look at my life, they would have said, "Oh my God, she's gonna die in a year."
"NO MORE DRAMA" (2001) I began to say, "You know what, Mary? You are your worst enemy and you have to do something about it." That's when I began to wake up.
"BE WITHOUT YOU" (2005) It meant so much for my fans to hear me in a place like that: "Yeah, life might get rough, but as long as you're not beating me or disrespecting me, I'd rather not be without you." Relationships that last the longest, you're gonna have to fight the hardest for.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
