Arika Kane
New Independent R&B artist Arika Kane sparkles the limelight with a few goodies in store for the R&B music seeker. Her debut project from BSE Recordings shares the stage of upbeat head nodders’ with a number of slow ballad selections. With Lou Humphrey & Jasmon Jazz Joyner providing the inside scoop to the production dept., I found this disc enjoyable to hear as well as enlightened by a possible future in music for Ms. Kane. Nor over produced, or over sampled. A beautiful voice indeed.
Track Listing:
~ Make It
~ Watcha Waitin 4
~ Bcuz I Luv U
~ Ring My Bell
~ Here With Me
~ Follow Me (Interlude)
~ All My Life
~ Rock Witcha
~ Tonight I’m Urs
~ Can’t Be Without U
~ 4 the Lovers
~ Never Really Knew U
~ Why Did We Fall ‘N Luv
The album is balanced with fast & slow tempo’d compositions. “Ring My Bell”, the disco classic, was interpreted to follow into the footsteps of todays’ generational dance studio mix. Another ‘cover’, “Rock Witcha'” – A Bobby Brown hit single, offers another stimulating difference from the original. The slower pace cuts, the mellow ones: “Here With Me”, “All My Life”, & “Never Really Knew U” opened up enough room for Arika to become more expressive vocally. Much of the lyrics were simple & practical, which should make the CD very vulnerable for the easy contemporary, adult R&B listening dept. on any given radio format.
The lead single “Bcuz I Luv U” is already generating exposure & feedback. Much of the music presented is served very well a la carte. Ms. Kane’s attraction is admirable because she easily reminds me to the likes of hit recording artists Tamia, Deborah Cox, Toni Braxton just to name a few. And the sound progresses every time I hit the repeat or playback button.
And it’s music that can crossover too. It has that pop appeal flexed somewhere in the mist of a few tracks. The whole CD may not get the complete rotation on most music dials/satellites all over the planet, but it’s here in cyberspace. And that could simply be just the beginning. If you dig a nice, chilled out R&B, all out mid-romantic, mid-storytelling set of musical treats, this may the pick of the day for you.
Terrill Hanna
The Urban Music Scene