Hey, it’s all about the Platinum Headphones in 2009, let me know what you think of the new look!

Greetings to all my Sound-Savvy fam! 2008 has been a rather interesting year and very rewarding. Sound-Savvy was born at the end of March and has since grown into something more than I had dreamed in such a short time. The support of all the readers has afforded me many opportunities to grow the site and participate in many exciting new ventures. For that I’m truly thankful to every single one of you, so please know that this year in review is dedicated to you.

Before I get there though, I got some special shouts to make: In April of 2008, Sound-Savvy embarked on a venture with Mindstream Radio to produce the Sound-Savvy report, a weekly segment on the ever-popular online talk show Mindstream Radio hosted by Adam Butler and Paul Spann. The show airs weekly, each Wednesday from 8-10 PM EST at www.im4radiodc.com with the Sound-Savvy report beginning at the top of the 9 o’clock hour. The audio from each week is now being posted at the top of Sound-Savvy and can be streamed.

Next up, Sound-Savvy was blessed to form a partnership with Suavv Magazine, a leading online magazine, widely known for it’s celebrity interviews, real-life stories, and it’s widespread appeal to young professionals. You can read Sound-Savvy stories, interviews and album reviews in Suavv Magazine, hitting newsstands near you VERY SOON!!

Last but not least, shouts to my entire blogger fam: BshepJr, Odara, iKnowTank, FashionCitizen, My Mood Is Music, A.Red, Sane, all my fam on Facebook, Myspace, Blogadelphia, The UrbanBlogger and on Twitter. 2009 hasn’t even started yet and it’s shaping up to be a great year with lots more in store so make sure you bookmark Sound-Savvy: it keeps gettin’ better! So without further ado, here it is, your Sound-Savvy Year in Review:

This year we watched as products of Makin The Band put out their new albums, both debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts but then faded away from existence until one of them was suddenly disbanded. The Roots retired from touring while Mary J. toured with Jay-Z , Kanye glowed in the dark, and Janet Jackson kinda sorta toured the US. Big David beat Little David to become the American Idol, but neither compared to the UK Idol Leona Lewis. Estelle’s album went gold, and apparently Kellz decided his braids could do the same… Nas resurrected the N word, 50 Cent hung Young buck out to dry and Lupe Fiasco stamped all our passports in Paris and Tokyo. Lyfe Jennings tried for a Lyfe Change (failing in more ways than one), Usher fizzled, Ashanti flopped and everyone-and-they-mama had a remix to A Milli. John Legend gave us the Green Light on his solid album, while Robin Thicke didn’t quite cut it this time around and Soulja Boy made a swimming pool game into another flop. Alicia Keys gave props to the superwomen out there while Katy Perry was off somewhere making girls kiss girls and Pretty Ricky is probably somewhere kissin their careers goodbye. Young Berg was a guest star on his own album, Ne-yo made it cool to be a gentleman, Monica tried to come back, Brandy DID come back and Ciara and Keri Hilson… well they keep getting pushed back. Jennifer Hudson stepped into the spotlight, Ludacris blasted and got put on blast, and the white boy from Makin’ The Band dropped an album somewhere (anyone find it?). As for wack albums, Akon and Nelly can’t stop, LL Cool J and Britney Spears won’t stop, and Diddy, well… NO BITCHASSNESS (nuff said). Beyonce and Mariah made duplicates of their last albums, while Keyshia Cole and Jamie Foxx outdid themselves quite nicely. T.I. stepped up his swag, Kanye West started to sing, T-Pain started to rap, Soulja Boy got even more ignorant and Christina Milian is on her way back via Myspace Records (no really, I’m serious). Anthony Hamilton’s still got soul, Michelle Williams came out of nowhere and apparently went right back, and Solange really did a damn good job. And to top it all off, the quote of the year goes to Jamie Foxx: “Terrence Howard’s album only went plastic!”

-Mack-

How many members are in this incarnation of Dru Hill?

Who’s the new voice?

Why are the lyrics so damn corny?

Why is there sooooo much going on with this track?

When it comes to family musical acts, very few are able to hold it together long enough to establish some tenure in the industry. The Harrell brothers (Grady, Jared, Anthony, Papa, and Jacob) chose to weather their storms in the eyes of viewers on their BET reality show Brothers to Brutha, which chronicles their behind-the-scenes work for their debut album entitled Brutha. It’s a less-than-decent album, a few songs I could keep in rotation, but nothing amazing. The downfall is that the guys failed to capitalize on their unique chemistry and potential to produce something new and exciting. The team of producers on this album seems to have forgotten that Brutha is a group of 5, as many of the tracks focus more on individual vocals instead of the soulful group harmonies displayed on the show.

Despite its shortcomings, this self-titled debut delivers some nice offerings. One of my favorite joints on the album is the opening cut Bang Bang (written by Ne-yo), with its clever catchy hook sample and witty lyrics. Also check for some of the more heartfelt numbers like She’s Gone and Afraid of Love, the latter of which is probably the best on the album. Fabolous makes the only guest appearance with his verse on the lead single Can’t Hear the Music, which is really nothing more than recycled R&B lyrics over a hip-hop beat. Ne-yo also penned the steamy Set It Off, which has more intimate content, as does Like This. To further dispel the good guy persona, the fellas break hearts on Just Being Honest, an interesting twist where the guys give in to lust over love.

The problem with this album is the overall lack of inspiration and soul. Despite their immense talent, there’s nothing here to set these guys apart from any other candy-shop R&B groups of today, and I find that quite disappointing. The soulfulness that fans hear in the show’s performance clips failed to transcend to this album, resulting in the group appearing as a mere carbon-copy of other neo-R&B groups. There are no a capella numbers to culminate the “a capella movement” that they began with a series of widely popular YouTube clips, which include renditions of Love Lockdown (Kanye West), Love U 4 Life (Jodeci), and the Bee Gees classic How Deep Is Your Love. So while the individual vocals on this project are nearly flawless, it’s the unique sound of the entire group that gets lost beneath the work of some of the big-name producers like Ne-yo, Tha Cornaboyz and Bryan Michael Cox. I’d much rather hear the production handled by some lesser known producers who can acknowledge that the sound of the group is more important than the “tooting of their own horns”. I had high hopes for this group, they’re the only R&B group in recent years that could deliver chilling vocals, but I wish them better luck on their next effort.

Sound-Savvy officially rates Brutha with 1.5 out of 5 platinum headphones.

Related Post:
Introducing: BRUTHA!

-Mack-

I’m guessing that everytime Beyonce releases a new single, her gloved alter-ego shall follow suit. I like that concept…