Top 9 of ’09: Favorite Albums

9. “Epiphany” – Chrisette Michele

Chrisette Michele’s sophomore album has gone almost unnoticed despite debuting at #1 on Billboard’s Top 200 albums chart back in May.  Clearly moving 181,00o units in it’s opening week and outselling Ciara meant nothing to Def Jam as the  promotion of the set was damn near nonexistent.  To make matters worse, the Grammy’s showed the Long Island native no love either as she was snubbed with this year’s nominations. Nonetheless, the album managed to sell just over 350, 000 copies and spawn 3 moderately successful R&B singles.

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Now playing: Chrisette Michele – Blame It on Me
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8.  “The Bridge” – Melanie Fiona

If there was ever an artist to watch in 2009, it is Toronto’s contribution to R&B music, Melanie Fiona. The 26 year-old singer’s debut album, “The Bridge” offers what she describes as “pop soul”. Call it what you want, I call it good music. Released in November, “The Bridge” is an overall solid debut however, if there was one flaw it would be the lack of cohesiveness.  Even with the massive mixture of sounds,  the purpose of  “The Bridge” was to introduce Melanie to the world and it worked! The album’s second single, “It Kills Me” has reached  #3 and #57 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and Top Hip-Hop/R&B Singles charts, respectively.  The single has earned  a Grammy nomination for ‘Best Female R&B Vocal Performance’—not bad for her first outing.

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Now playing: Melanie Fiona – Bang Bang
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7. “Transition”- Ryan Leslie

Ryan Leslie’s sophomore album proves that a huge budget, big name producers and songwriters aren’t always necessary to deliver a solid project.  Written, arranged, produced and engineered solely by Leslie, “Transition”offers the Harvard grads signature style without sounding repetitive.  The album has not been a success in terms of sales, in overall quality the album is one of the year’s best! I’m eagerly awaiting  his next album but until then “Transition” will be sufficient.

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Now playing: Ryan Leslie – Something That I Like
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6. “Loso’s Way”- Fabolous

The fifth album from rapper, Fabolous was one of the many welcomed surprises of 2009.  The 18 track set, peaked at #1 on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums chart, selling just under 100,000 copies in July. The Bed-Stuy native’s first #1 album on the Top 200, spawned 5 singles including the album’s first single,”Throw It in the Bag” featuring The-Dream and “Everything, Everyday, Everywhere” featuring Keri Hilson and Ryan Leslie. Following in the same path as Jay-Z’s 2007 “American Gangster”, “Loso’s Way” is more like the distant cousin of  “American Gangster” than it is it’s twin, as it’s good but not quite there yet—-still it was one of best of 2009.

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Now playing: Fabolous – Everything, Everyday, Everywhere

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5. “In Love & War”- Amerie

If there was ever anyone who cannot seem to “get on”,  it’s Amerie. The 29 year-old singer made her return to music  this year but once again found herself receiving the short  end of the stick.  Her third U.S. album (fourth overall) hit shelves in November and apparently stayed there. Debuting at #45 on Billboard’s Top 200 Album chart, selling a mere 12,500 it opening week out, “In Love & War” proved to be one thing…..(besides a commercial failure)… a good ass album.

Sure it didn’t debut high, nor sell anything but regardless Ms. Rogers was able to (once again) deliver a mix of up and mid-tempos with an occasional ballad and do it well.

At this point, I doubt that we’ll ever see the day, when Amerie is  recognized for her work. Maybe 2005 was her year, she released  her only hit “1 Thing” and people actually cared— not really the album (one of her best, btw) because the album still tanked, even though it was certified gold it wasn’t the hit she had hoped for.

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Now playing: Amerie – The Flowers
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4. “D.N.A.”- Mario

Just like Amerie, Mario just can’t seem the formula to connect with the masses. It  is unfortunate  his fan base is still relatively small compared to his contemporaries  i.e. Chris Brown and Trey Songz. Maybe selling his voice and actual talent over abs and choreography is his flaw, who knows. What I do know is,  he continues to produce quality music.  Vocally, Mario is light years ahead of the aforementioned artist especially the latter, who can make good music but sounds as if he’s in pain rather than singing with ease.

“D.N.A.” is a collection of mid and up-tempos with a couple ballads toward the close of the album. In terms of  sales…never mind that…  lyrically and vocally, it’s a step in the right direction.  “Ooh Baby” is set to be the album’s third single with the music video to be released in the early part of 2010.

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Now playing: Mario – I Miss My Friend
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3.  “Lady Love”- Letoya Luckett

In 2009 one album  proved that R&B music is not dead, Letoya Luckett’s sophomore album, “Lady Love”.  Released in August, the album recieved a somewhat unpleasant welcome, debuting at #12 on the Top 200 however it reached #1 on the Top Hip-Hop/R&B charts. Featuring guest appearance from rappers Mims, Ludacris and singer Estelle, “Lady Love” had all the ingredients of the a near perfect album. Unlike her debut, Letoya went for a more contemporary sound. The album almost  decrescendos as it mellows out as it progresses.

The album’s singles proved to be failure that is until the release of “Regret” featuring Ludacris.  Even without a music video and NO promotion from Capitol Records, the track peaked at #8 on Billboard’s Hot Hip-Hop/R&B Singles chart in November solely on airplay. If I made a list of most slept on albums of 2009, this one would definitely top the list.  Just about every song has potential to be a single, sadly the album has gone virtually unnoticed.

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Now playing: LeToya – Lazy
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2. “In A Perfect World..” – Keri Hilson

If there was one artist that I could not get enough of in 2009, it was KERI HILSON! I can even tell you what the allure of her is for me…okay, I’m lying.  Besides being beautiful, her ability to write and produce quality music in an era where a pretty face and ZERO talent equals success, she has been able to come in the game and create her own lane. Released in March, “In A Perfect World…” established Keri as an artist to watch. While her first two singles did not make any noise chart wise, her third and fourth singles proved to deliver. The Lil’ Wayne assisted, “Turnin’ Me On” peaked at #2 on the R&B charts, while the Kanye West and Ne-Yo accompanied, “Knock You Down” peaked at #3 on the Hot 100 and earned Keri, a Grammy nomination for ‘Best Rap/Sung Collaboration’.

Not without flaws, “In A Perfect World”  fell victim to a lack of promotional direction and poor single choices in the beginning.  Interscope and Zone 4 (Polow Da Don’s record label) saw the mistakes, rectified them and eventually got it right.  “In A Perfect World” was certified gold by the RIAA in October.

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Now playing: Keri Hilson – How Does It Feel
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1. “The Blueprint 3”- Jay Z

Of all the album’s released in 2009, Jay-Z’s “The Blueprint 3” was my favorite.  From beginning to end it delievered, while it’s not as good as the original Blueprint, which  is still one of the best rap album’s of all time, it’s close enough for this era.

Combining superb lyrical content, an even doper flow and of course some of the best beats , “The Blueprint 3” proved why Hov is the best to ever do it. Selling 476,000 copies in it’s opening week, two smash singles, “Run This Town” featuring Kanye West and Rihanna and “Empire State of Mind” featuring Alicia Keys further propelled the album’s sells. The album has sold just shy of 1.5 million copies.

Not only did the album prove to be my favorite of 2009 overall but also my favorite rap album of the year. Hov seems to be at a place where he feels as if he doesn’t have prove anything to anybody and it’s true because in the end, “Men lie, women lie, numbers don’t”.

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Now playing: Jay-Z – Reminder
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