(One exception here is РІР‚СљJennifer,РІР‚Сњ an anguished ballad that shows off some of K-Ci and JoJoРІР‚в„ўs peak harmonizing. After an excessive twenty-year wait, R&B quartet Jodeci returned to the music scene with their fourth album The Past, The Present, The Future. And he gets better as he devolves, his finest moments less about lyrics than postverbal utterances. When K-Ci is seducing, heРІР‚в„ўs pleading and moist. He may have roots in the church, but the LordРІР‚в„ўs favor isnРІР‚в„ўt what his music typically craves. The best Jodeci songs are slick marches that focus on the body, like this albumРІР‚в„ўs РІР‚СљCheckin for YouРІР‚Сњ and РІР‚СљStress Reliever.РІР‚Сњ Atop it all is K-Ci. (There have been some projects by individual members and by the Hailey brothers together, but nothing of note since 2000, the same year that DРІР‚в„ўAngeloРІР‚в„ўs РІР‚Сљ VoodooРІР‚Сњ emerged.) And if you can forgive the albumРІР‚в„ўs concessions to the musical innovations of the last decade or so, like the Timbaland-assisted production on РІР‚СљIncredible,РІР‚Сњ itРІР‚в„ўs a logical, if slightly aged, continuation of the groupРІР‚в„ўs music from its prime.

РІР‚Сљ The Past, the Present, the Future,РІР‚Сњ the fourth Jodeci album, arrives 20 years after the last one. In the early- and mid-1990s, Jodeci was the group that fully imported hip-hopРІР‚в„ўs louche swagger into soul.

Hailey is the centerpiece of Jodeci, which also includes his brother JoJo and the brothers Donald and Dalvin DeGrate. Just as R&B badly needs DРІР‚в„ўAngeloРІР‚в„ўs righteous howl, it also needs K-Ci HaileyРІР‚в„ўs ecstatic wail. AllMusic relies on advertising to keep providing the reviews, biographies, historical information and new release coverage our users have relied on for over 25 years. A few months ago the soul savant DРІР‚в„ўAngelo released a new album, РІР‚Сљ Black Messiah,РІР‚Сњ some 14 years after his previous one, РІР‚СљVoodoo.РІР‚Сњ On its own, it was an accomplishment, but it was also a reminder of many things that todayРІР‚в„ўs R&B mainstream lacks: political engagement, the warmth and tension of a live band, a voice with fascinating crevices. Read and write album reviews for Freekin by Jodeci on AllMusic.

Review jodeci new album