SweetSexySavage＜限定盤＞

Kehlanis You Should Be Here struck some surprise blows. Their second self-issued mixtape went Top Five R&B/hip-hop, cracked the Top 40, and was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Urban Contemporary Album. Their proper full-length debut, SweetSexySavage, followed its release by almost two years. While it was in the works, anticipation was built with a clutch of tracks, including a streak of three that charted. The appealingly scruffy and scrappy CRZY, recorded with up-and-coming duo Denisia Andrews and Brittany Coney, became Kehlanis first commercial hit back in July 2016. Shortly thereafter, the Pop & Oak collaboration Distraction, a sweet midtempo number regarding a no-strings fling, evoked prime Missy Elliott and Timbaland -- and faintly echoed forebears Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis -- with harmonies that hit as hard as its booming bass. Biggest of all was the Suicide Squad soundtracks Gangsta -- a melodramatic trap-pop ballad that, like many a Skylar Grey co-composition, went down a storm at teen-oriented mall outlets offering counterculture apparel. That song ends this albums deluxe edition. The two preceding singles are on the standard version and more accurately forecast the albums lustrous pop-R&B framing of Kehlanis I contain multitudes character. The lows and highs, grief and pleasure, and insecurity and pride are all put on vivid display, and Kehlani pours themself into all of it without overselling a thought. What they and some of their collaborators put forth most strikingly is an aptitude for evoking 1994-1998 contemporary R&B -- not just TLC, whose second album also inspired the albums title, but Brandy and Aaliyah as well -- without sounding like a nostalgia act. Highlights like Undercover, Personal, and the More Than a Woman-interpolating Too Much build on their inspirations with as much style, substance, and singularity as the debuts of Erykah Badu and Maxwell. All the cuts with the revamped 90s touches -- the twitchy drums and fully energized hooks that recall a time when R&B and pop were just about synonymous -- come out sounding fresher than the ones that utilize the trap tricks. The hour-long album is a bit excessive with some nondescript or merely passable second-half pop ballads, but it nonetheless makes good on all the promise of the mixtapes. Its destined to become a 2010s classic. ~ Andy Kellman

波乱万丈な私生活でも注目を集める西海岸オークランド出身の新世代R&Bシンガー。チャンス・ザ・ラッパーらも参加した2作目のミックステープ『You Should Be Here』(2015年)はグラミー賞にもノミネートされるほどのヒットとなったわけだが、メインで制作したポップ&オークらによって多様な血を引くケラーニらしい全方位なポップネスが引き出されたこの初公式アルバムも期待を大きく上回る。先行曲の"CRZY"や"Distraction"が伝えていたように、楽曲はトラップやアンビエントを通過して90年代R&Bに着地したようなメロディーの良さが光り、仄かな色気や煌めきと諦観が入り混じる人懐っこいヴォーカルも10代でドウェイン・ウィギンス肝煎りのグループにてリードを取っていた実力を証明するような安定感で説得力がある。アリーヤやニュー・エディションの曲を引用して時代の気分を掴んだあたりも吉と出るか。タトゥーの入り具合も含めて共演経験のあるゼインの女性版という安直な喩えにも共感してもらえそうな好盤だ。
bounce (C)林剛