June 21, 2003 @ 9:00 pm

Dave Hollister - Things In The Game Done Changed (Motown)

Serena Kim

Dave Hollister isn’t just another thug crooner—his talents defy classification.

Dave Hollister isn’t just another thug crooner—his talents defy classification. But stylistically he stands between the new jack sheen of Jodeci and Al B. Sure and the earthiness of D’Angelo and Musiq. What sets Hollister apart from middle-ground contemporaries such as Carl Thomas and Donell Jones are his sonorous, gospel-tinged voice and the gritty realism that frequently emerges in his lyrics. Knowing that his God-given singing ability and his tumultuous relationship history provided enough fodder for a productive solo career, Hollister broke away from Teddy Riley’s Blackstreet soon after its debut in 1994 to pursue his own, more mature artistic vision. Because of poor promotion, many slept on the sensual bodies of work that resulted: Hollister’s Erick Sermon–produced Ghetto Hymns (1999) and his critically acclaimed sophomore release, Chicago ’85…The Movie (2000). Last April, he switched from DreamWorks, a label with scant urban-music expertise (despite the Def Squad imprint’s former affiliation) to Motown. It remains to be seen whether that legendary label can turn the Chicago-born Hollister into a chart-topping success. But he continues to make earnest, soulful, grown people’s music. On “For You,” he apologizes for taking his beloved for granted: “This song is for the times I made you mad / The times I left you sad....” Like his 2000 Mike City–produced hit “One Woman Man,” Things in the Game Done Changed imparts the message that love is not just about bumping and grinding in the clubs or making booty calls. Relationships mean working through the tough times, building trust, and keeping the faith. Hollister has sequenced his latest album like a love story. This structure, a sonic novella with every song moving the plot toward resolution, is the perfect template for showing off Hollister’s amazing dexterity. On “What’s a Man to Do,” his vocals, with the smoothness of a fine merlot, convey the exquisite torture of unrequited love. Such impassioned infatuation inevitably leads to seduction on “Baby Do Those Things.” After starting off with a Barry White–style spoken intro, Hollister lists the unique, little lovemaking tics that turn him on: “How you push the hair back from over your face / Alright / Bite your lip when you want me to come and have a taste.” The plot suddenly twists as he succumbs to the explosive frustrations that plague many a marriage. On “Love Hate Relationship,” the more sophisticated offspring of 1999’s “Baby Mama Drama,” Hollister demonstrates his singing range, turning guttural and diving deep before soaring into the heavens. He belts verses like, “I love you deep down, but ‘I hate you’ comes out / This love-hate relationship is tearing up our house” over a stripped-down double-time beat accented with dramatic strings. The honeymoon is officially over. From a production standpoint, Things in the Game Done Changed is decidedly less street than Hollister’s previous work. Erick Sermon’s rugged beatmaking is nowhere to be found, and the neo–hip hop sensibility of Mike City is evident on only one song, “Tonite,” a tenderly mellifluous homage to reconciliation and forgiveness. Hollister favors generic R&B tracks laced with a little background flavor—flutes here, some organ work there, but nothing that competes with the real star of the show: Hollister’s golden pipes.

Article tags: Dave, Hollister, Things, Game, Done, Changed, Motown 

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