Anthony Hamilton intended to stock his first self-released album with material in support of the fight for racial equality and in honor of Black lives taken by racist actions. As he was writing and recording, he opted to ease up somewhat to cover a broader range of emotions. Love Is the New Black is not without songs that convey a message. Mercy is a sorrowful but tough ballad in which Hamilton, seemingly consumed with grief, sings with his chest like never before. In the following low-slung Safe, his voice switches from dispirited to determined, from Its gettin gutter round here/I lost my brother round here to Justice, we gon get it back/Our families, we gon get em back. Those two songs lead the way to the finale, where Hamilton assures his mother like a visiting absent son taking a short break from hustling for survival. The Trouble Man theme seeps into some of the preceding love songs, such as the shaming Threw It All Away, a weary if elegant ballad that integrates a sample from Tom Brocks Barry White-produced I Love You More and More. Elsewhere, the sweeter Coming Home could pass for a cover of a mid-70s Isley Brothers classic, all the way down to the fiery guitar solo, and I Thought We Were in Love, another powerful pleader, got its sway from Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes I Miss You. Speaking of soul classics, Hamilton and Jennifer Hudson pair up for a reading of Superstar modeled after -- and distinct from -- the Luther Vandross version. Hamilton also delivers one of the hottest-blooded slow jams with White Hennessy, and dips back into hip-hop soul with the testimonial Real Love -- an original, not a Mary J. Blige cover -- produced to neck-swinging effect by 9th Wonder. The contributions of Rick Ross and Lil Jon are unnecessary, but the same most definitely cannot be said about Jermaine Dupri, a factor as co-songwriter and co-producer on most of the highlights. Dupri hadnt worked on a Hamilton album since the breakthrough So So Def recording Comin from Where Im From. So, in a way, Love Is the New Black is both a full-circle moment and a fresh start for the newly independent singer. ~ Andy Kellman

Rovi