Bobby Valentino | Special Occasion

Bobby Valentino | Special Occasion By Terrill Hanna

Just as much as the suit speaks loud with the pinstriped tie on the CD cover, comes the return of Urban R&B young man Bobby Valentino with a palate of tracks for the new generation of listeners awaiting to see whether or not this project can hang with his last release.

In my humble opinion, it can! From the Intro right on down to a surprise cover of an R&B classic, I thoroughly enjoyed his chance at the microphone. Although, what REALLY speaks much louder, & possibly through your headphones or Speaker cabinets, are the creative productions displayed track for track! From Timberland…to Tim & Bob….to Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, Bryan-Michael Cox & on…..no disappointment!!

The often-rotated “Anonymous” is prevalent to how the stage is set for this album, feat Timberland of course; “Rearview (Ridin)” feat Ludacris still provides room for Luda to lay it out for the dance floor; one of my Fav’s “If I Had My Way” might get additional attention for radio airplay. The beat & groove sounds much like his predecessors & its an easy track to dig right of the start! The others can grow on you, the more you listen to them of course…

But the main track that got my attention & for various reasons is “Soon As I Get Home” ~ a Babyface slow jam classic! I had to pay extra special attention to just about everything – From the production – To Mr. Valentino’s ability to pull off, vocally, a matchmaking oppty to do better for this composition than Mr. Edmonds. It didn’t quite make the grade (It was time consuming decision), but it is an acceptable start overall. I appreciated the effort more than anything, of hearing Bobby take a chance at a classic, & who knows, his rendition may come to grow on me. Y’all may or may not agree….we’ll see!!

As stated before, this one is recommended. But a note to go with it – This CD was purchased at Wal-Mart (Just like the rest of our Urban R&B selections for review), meaning there was no profanity heard during feedback. Could it have change the way I listened & judged this piece….quite possibly.

Terrill J. Hanna
The Urban Music Scene