So, I'm really not one for the whole R&B genre. I am, however, a big fan of Virginia. Perhaps the two seem a bit disconnected, but with Chris Brown's Exclusive (which debuted Nov. 6) Virginia and R&B surprisingly complement each other quite nicely.
How? Chris Brown was born and raised in Tappahannock, Va. Just less than two years ago Brown was a 16-year-old country boy who was not even a blip on the music business radar. Now, two albums later, the 18-year-old is well on his way to super-stardom.
This album, however, is a constant source of confusion the more I listen to it.
First, there are the typical R&B lyrics -- "I'll take my time, we'll be all night girl," "just tryin to make sure I'm that body that you call your man," "let me know what is your number, girl." Those are found in most of the slow-paced songs, and I've never found that type of song, as a female listener, very appealing. Songs like "With You," "Take You Down" and "You" I find to be the downfalls of the album because of the complete lack of originality.
Just as I'm about to turn off Exclusive and put on something more familiar to my ears, though, the style switches, and I can't quite bring myself to stop listening.
It is worth mentioning that the first thing that caught my attention in Exclusive is multiple mentions of Virginia in popular songs like "Kiss Kiss" and "Throwed." As a born-and-raised Virginian, I remember noticing when I was smaller that according to the rest of the continental United States, Virginia rarely existed except when talking about its affinity for historical sites. Now, Chris Brown has managed to put ol' Virginia back on the map.
In "Kiss Kiss" he proudly shouts "I'm a country boy from Tappahannock / V.A. is where I reside, so shawty understand it." Is it my fault that hearing those words on what, in my opinion, will turn out to be a pretty popular album makes my pride swell?
Unhealthy ego boosters, though, aren't the only things that make this album one of my guilty pleasures. Songs such as "Down" featuring Kanye West, "Kiss Kiss" (you know it's catchy) and "Lottery" show more promise than I expected to find.
"Down" is probably my favorite song on the album with its refreshing guitar riff in the beginning and a great fusion of vocals, harmony and lyrics. If you end up buying this album, buy it on iTunes -- it comes with two music videos ("Kiss Kiss" and "Wall to Wall") that feature some pretty fantastic dance sequences. In the "Wall to Wall" video Brown's footwork and choreography can really only be summed up in one word -- hot. I don't care how you feel about his music -- we all wish we could move like that.
Basically, I can't stop listening to this album. Exclusive does have some downfalls: pedantic lyrics and boring sound. But it also has some rather obvious gems. The very fact that I usually listen to bands like The Strokes, Ben Kweller and -- if I'm in the hip-hop mood -- The Roots, and I still manage to like this album, shows Chris Brown is definitely on his way to being an addition to the music world. I really could keep going, but as T-Pain says in the "Kiss Kiss" video, "If you ain't got it by now, you just ain't gettin it."
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