It’s not the same squeaky voice we heard eight years ago from the innocent though maybe not respectful “Chris Breezy”, but it’ll do. It’s hard to set aside accusations thrown at this popular Hip-Hop star (“homosexual woman-hater”) but it’s necessary in judging this album fairly, and most people seem to forget that.
The X-Files mixtape is meant to hold fans over until next year, when the other half will be released. Brown’s sixth studio album features his usual blend of R&B and Hip-Hop; quite simply more of the same type of bouncy love ballads and collaborations one could have predicted him capable of.
His first track, “War For You”, is a mellow–though explicit–song, quite mediocre and poppy enough to dance to, but lacks in impressing listeners with something new. “Waiting” was a more artful blend of melody with Brown’s voice–though the computerized beats were a bit unnecessary and distracting at times. He raps once more about that one lucky gal (“You just got me waiting/Waiting for you”) but there’s really no way of telling which one he’s talking about now.
“Sweet Caroline” brings back a bit of the contagious beat that Brown used to have such a knack for, the kind of track whose content didn’t matter because it had listeners on their feet. It ran smoothly until Busta Rhymes appeared near the end spewing his belligerent rap garbage, perhaps competing for world’s fastest speaker.
“Fantasy 2” was another track demolished by a featured singer brought back from his musical grave: “Luda!” His lyrics are cringe-inducing, and I can honestly admit he was the reason I held a grimace for the rest of the song. Following that is “Main Chick”, a decent space-filler featuring Kid Ink through most of its three minutes and fifteen seconds.
X simply gives us a taste as to what Brown is up to, but from only these five tracks there’s no way to tell which way he’s headed. As a long-time fan of Chris Brown’s music, I can say he can no longer impresses me, and it has nothing to do with his personal life decisions. The soulful young Chris from his music is gone, and he has been for a very long time. For me, X was ruined by its collaborations, which took away so much from Brown’s naturally sultry voice that can so easily stand alone. If he was searching for people to compliment his voice, he couldn’t have picked worse artists. The aftermath of X is this: it fails in pumping fans up for the second release, but it also gives Brown the opportunity to redeem himself. We can only hope he saved the best for last. Score: 5.5/10.
Nataly Capote/A&E Editor
