February 05, 2004 @ 12:16 pm

Joe - And Then... (Jive)

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Joe’s steez may be as regular as his name implies, but don’t call his music ordinary.

Joe’s steez may be as regular as his name implies, but don’t call his music ordinary. Ordinary Joes don’t have three R&B Top Five albums, 10 Top 20 singles, and two worldwide moviesoundtrack smashes. His latest, And Then…, should be subtitled “Joe 101.” From the cool soul crooning on “Another Used to Be” to the seductive, Mack Daddy vamps of “Bedroom” and the thuglove ballad “You Dropped Your Dime,” this collection represents Joe’s patented gestalt with an A-to-Z fullness. But while he sounded natural and genuine alongside Big Pun on “Don’t Wanna Be a Player (Remix),” he stumbles here as Joe thug, crooning, “What’s really good with you” on “Ride Wit U,” featuring G Unit. And he geeks out on “Street Dreams” singing, “Street dreams is all a nigga know.” The two R. Kelly–produced tracks, however, are absolutely ravishing. “More & More” is a languidly erotic blend of lubricious come-ons. “Make You My Baby” is like the backbeat groove of Kelly’s “Fiesta” slowed to 16 rpms, with silky Sade like guitar chords and Joe tremulously starvin’ like Marvin. Nothing ordinary about that.

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