Jaheim's new album, Ghetto Classics is a breath of fresh air, as it moves away from the intense music that has taken over the music world and gives genuine, romantic lyrics with pleasant, entertaining beats.
Jaheim is perhaps best known for his 2004 collaboration with Nelly on "My Place," a song that met with resounding radio success.
Ghetto Classics is both Jaheim's third and, easily, his most mature album. He writes more passionate songs about lovers and relationships, likely fueled by his own experiences with the subject matter. He joined Divine Hill Records in 2000, which later combined with Warner Brothers Records.
Jaheim grew up in the projects of New Brunswick, NJ. He's often said that the tragedy of losing both parents at an extremely young age has given him enough ambition and drive to create such powerful and deep music. Furthermore, his singing talents are somewhat genetic: his grandfather, Victor Hoagland, sang with the successful group the Drifters.
Ghetto Classics features popular artists that include Jadakiss, Styles P, Beanie Seigel, Lil' Mo and Nas. Adding to this all-star cast is a production by the likes of Scott Storch, KayGee, Eric Williams (of BlackStreet) and Wesley Hodges. All of these artists and producers contribute to the variety of songs throughout the album that make it so enjoyable.
The first single off the album, "Every Time I Think About Her", features rapper Jadakiss. The song hit the radio waves fall of 2005 and has since been working its way up the Billboard charts. Jaheim's soulful vocals with Jadakiss' rougher vocal edge make the song soothing, yet at the same time capture some of the "hardcore" rap aspects of today's music scene. Jadakiss' appearance serves as the perfect sprinkling on the song to make it a large success and give the album a little twist to the R&B majority of the album. The song is about having one girl that you really care about and doing anything and everything to keep her around even through the ups and downs of relationships.
As Jaheim croons on the song's hook: "Every time I think about her / I can't make up my mind / it's hard to explain / just the way I feel about her … I just can't let her go".
This song puts to words the romantic conflicts many listeners might have, and it is nice to have an authentic song to which many people can relate.
The album keeps going strong with "The Chosen One." He wrote and produced this single himself and it definitely shows his wide range of lyrical and vocal talents. This song is about putting your girl above everything else and showing how much you love and care about her. His powerful vocals with the repetitive clapping beats make for a song one can really relate to and have a great jam to listen to while you're hanging out in your room, in a car or if you're with a significant other.
"Daddy Thing" features soothing lyrics that talk about his position as father of a child with a woman he deeply cares for.
"On the first day of school / holidays / from the very first steps she made / when she needed love, trust, patience and truth / I want you to tell me who / who did the daddy thing?"
The success of this album seems promising because of the deal that he has made with Verizon's new "Music On Demand Campaign." Verizon has set up a program that allows people to access songs and music videos on their cell phones. His single, "Every Time I Think About Her," is one of these singles people can purchase for their music library. Furthermore, he will appear on TV commercials for the service, which will begin airing in March on MTV, UPN, BET and other networks.
Jaheim cites famous musicians like Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway, Sam Cooke and the recently departed Luther Vandross as being influential during the creating of Ghetto Classics. It is evident that these soulful artists seeped into the style of music that Jaheim wants to give to his fans. Overall, his lyrical content and background story behind the songs are extremely moving and make for an excellent new album.
Rating: 4 out of 5
