Melanie Fiona is a monster...and trust me, I mean that in a VERY good Kanye West monsterish type of way. Ever since I heard "It Kills Me" (and I mean LITERALLY from the minute I heard it) I've been checking for this chick. To me, shorty had it all, the looks, the voice, the swag but I can't front her debut album "The Bridge" was like a "Golden Coral buffet" of music and I've never been a fan of "those" kinda albums. I've always been a one genre kinda guy (at least when it comes to an album) because with so many different kinds of styles floating around, I kinda felt like who is Melanie Fiona? I looked at "The Bridge" the same way I looked at Tribe's "People's Instinctives..." a good album but I wanted something doper. So would the "MF Life" give me that "Low End Theory" steez I've been wanting from Ms. Fiona?
"The MF Life" sets off with the No ID produced banger "This Time"which you wanna listen to very loud cause headphones don't do this track ANY justice...trust me. The Rico Love produced "4am" has Mel looking for her man "it's 4am, and my lover won't answer/he's probably somewhere with a dancer/sipping champagne while I'm in his bed" and "I've Been That Girl" written by Drake has Mel sympathising with the next chick over a bad relationship, "Heard you got into it with his ex Sunday night/who really fights on a Sunday/must be sick of telling you friends that's life's alright/you want to change that sh-t one day/when you've been in the kitchen, and you fix him a dinner/you wanted to talk to him, but he doesn't listen/when he's played enough games, and you've played your position/he'll tell you stay, but you want to go I know, I know cause I've been that girl." The Jack Splash produced "The Wrong Side of A Love Song" INSTANTLY transports you back to the 60's and gives you that "good feeling" soul music that's non existent on today's air waves and the Salaam Remi produced "Running" keeps the "good feeling" soul music party going while Nas checks into with a hot 20, "told ya, lately I'm bingin' on Mercedes Benzes/ a lot of my ladies friends is getting older/looking for somebody to cuff 'em/rush into a husband, don't even truly love 'em/at they best friends bridal ceremony/jealous and they lonely/crying but they phony/yo, Fiona you know me."
The snare ALONE is reason enough to bang "Change The Record" featuring B.O.B. where Mel compares a bad relationship to a DJ switching up the record, "Gone and Never Coming Back" is that classic ballad EVERY R&B album needs and "Bones" has an strong Amy Winehouse/Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings vibe going on while Mel sings, "straight through your skin, pass you soul to your bones/further inside you then you've ever know." "Watch Me Work" is an uptempo banger who's intro reminds me of a mixture between The Temptation's "Ball of Confusion" and "Psychedelic Shack" and "Can't Say I Never Loved You" is a real nice cool out jawn but what I love the most about "The MF Life" is how Ms. Fiona ends this album on an incredible high note with the No ID (who I see is still in the zone from Common's "The Believer, The Dreamer) produced L.O.V.E featuring John Legend. Truth be told I haven't heard John Legend sound THIS good on a track since his debut album "Get Lifted" and when you mix his voice with Mel's...you're gettin' nuthin' but magic from this collabo. So at the end of the day "The MF Life" doesn't give me that "The Low End Theory" (but that was REALLY expecting a lot) classic I wanted from Ms. Fiona but it damn sure comes close.
4 outta 5
No comments
Post a Comment