Ray J - All I Have
GRADE: C
Ray J, Ray J, Ray J… By all logic, there is no reasonable explanation for why this guy has been able to stay relevant for the better part of 11 years. He is far from a great singer, a D list actor (his last major film was the Shaq star vehicle Steel) and he has only had one album reach the top 10, ever. Yet, every couple of years we find ourselves talking about this guy. Maybe he knows something that we don’t.
After the infamous Kim Kardashian sex tape, Brandy’s brother managed to raise his stock even higher this year with the certified banger “Sexy Can I.” The track is the shining jewel of his new disc of predictably mediocre material. The rest of the album is mostly pseudo-gangsta fronting (”Real Nigga,” “Where You At?”) and raunchy sex talk (”Boyfriend”) over run-of-the-mill beats. There are definitely some high points like the strip club anthem “Gift” and the album’s title track, “All I Need.” But, these bright spots are scarce.
Apparently Ray also figured out how to use T-Pain’s auto pitch module. Unfortunately, he is not able to copy it as well as Lil Wayne. This is most obvious on the catchy, but painfully misguided “It’s Up To You;” it actually sounds like Ray J is singing badly on purpose. What’s most unfortunate about this song (and the album as a whole) is that if Ray J would just stop reaching so hard for the credibility that he will never have, he could probably put out some tolerable music.
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Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 at 2:44 pm under
