Bilal - 1st Born Second ( Neo Soul )

1. Intro
2. For U
3. Fast Lane
4. Reminisce
5. All That I Am
6. Sally
7. Sometimes
8. Love It
9. C'mere
10. Soul Sista
11. When Will U Call
12. Queen Sanity
13. Love Poems
14. You Are
15. Home
16. Slyde
17. Second Child

 

Riding in on a D'Angelo-spawned wave of shivery voodoo groove, 22-year-old Bilal Oliver tries to flip the neo-soul script on his long-awaited, oft-delayed debut. It's an ambitious effort, a collection of 17 tracks on which this latest inductee into the Soulquarians collective (who's made appearances on Common's Like Water for Chocolate and Guru's Streetsoul, and produced tracks on Erykah Badu's Mama's Gun) proves he's worth his salt in hype. A host of A-list producers--Mike City, James Poyser, Dr. Dre (who rolls out a fine slice of funk on "Fast Lane"), and the ubiquitous Raphael Saadiq (behind the slinky "Soul Sista," which first appeared on the Love and Basketball soundtrack)--provide backing tracks that show off the young singer-songwriter's depth and range. Equally at home in reggae riddims ("Home"), anguished balladry ("When Will You Call"), and carnivalesque, Busta Rhymes-style sardonics ("Sally"), Bilal wants to show us he can do it all, and winds up spreading himself a bit thin at times. The best moments on the album happen when the classically trained vocalist lands on solid, soulful hooks (as on the sweetly aching melody of "All That I Am" or the haunting hum of "Love Poems") that allow his limber pipes to swoop gorgeously from gravelly basso to full-bodied falsetto, evoking shades of Prince and Marvin Gaye along the way.