MUSIC REVIEW: Graffiti by Chris Brown

"An eclectic  mix  of RnB, pop, Hip Hop and Soul infusion,  songs like "Crawl," "So Cold," "Famous       Girl" and "Take My Time," deliver a bona fide hit album with too many well produced tracks to  ignore."

Disilgold SOUL Rating- ♦♦♦♦♦5 Diamonds

Reviewed by Music Maven Heather Covington

“The Literary Diva” aka “The Literary HEAT”

www.disilgold.com

Email comments to Disilgold@aol.com

The long anticipated  music album, Grafitti, executively produced by Chris Brown, Tina M. Davis and Mark Pitts , arrived in stores nationwide on December 8th with two versions, a dual cd and dvd album and cd album only. Stores pushed the dual cd upfront with a $19.00 price tag, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Chris Brown’s youngest fans arriving after school did not know to request the cd  priced only at $9.99. The $9.99 price tag is what music stores now offer in New York on day one as an incentive for buying a new album on its release date.

 Of course, die hard fans of Hip Hop buy their  Hip Hop cds first. Snoop Dog and 50 Cent  were capped neck to neck at no.1 and no.2 . A good turn out in full album cds is about 80,000 to 100,000.    This is the standard nowadays. Chris Brown easily sold 100,000 cds on day one which means he will sell a million or more before the holidays. There is a range of classic songs from almost every genre such as POP,  Soul RnB, Techno, Hip Hop infused with Swiss Beatz touch, trademark  love ballads and a few cuts to give Timbaland a run for his money. The range is so ecclectic and blends so well, it’s hard to believe that this album was just produced.

Grafitti pours out top hits back to back like  “I can Transform Ya” with Lil Wayne that took a while to grow on me, but is a solid hit that can’t be denied, “Crawl” is a commerical favorite among listeners  with  hypnotic lyrics, “So Cold” is a great song of redemption for this artist beautifully arranged track with light and sentimental piano accompaniment, “What I do” featuring Plies is one for the clubs and an undeniable anthem for fun times,  ”Famous” is dangerously personal and a rocker,”Take My Time” featuring Tank uses sexy drums and percussion to simulate an RnB hit reminiscent of a good ole’ Jodeci  vibe, but all his own and could mark his new signature sound for future albums, “I.Y.A.” is that MTV cut that will soar to number one faster than all of the other hits as a universal track, “Pass Out” with Eva Simons is one for the clubs and a head banger, “What” featuring  Trey Songz is right on time with this new Techno Rap vibe, “Lucky Me”  is a favorite because it starts with an African inspired touch that solidifies this  artist as someone who will be around for sometime, “Fallen” is definitely a Michael jackson inspired track with crossover appeal and of course, “I’ll Go” makes a personal statement that is so sentimental it’s a tear jerker.  He says if “He doesn’t come back your love was worth it!” With a range of artists like Esther Dean, Trey Songz, Ryan Leslie, Jermaine Jackson, James Jones, Tank, The Game, Eva Simons and Teyana Taylor, Chris Brown has got the world’s forgiveness in the “Palm of his hand.”

Chris Brown’s album hands down is clean, solid, easy to listen to, has a happy vibe filled with sentiment, flows with original beats and lyrical power embedded with gut wrenching top ballads making him a top contender for a Grammy next year. A redeemed man is Chris Brown and he’s back!

Disilgold SOUL Magazine rating- *****5 Stars

To vote for this artist on the YOUnity Guild of America Awards Online Top 25 Awards hosted by Disilgold SOUL magazine Literary Legends Awards Ball Online, visit www.disilgold.com . Polls open annually from December 1- December 31 or visit voting polls directly at www.HeatherCovington.net.