Jaheim wants to take you for a ride

The artist makes more baby makin' music for the

By Patrick Daugherty

Published March 3, 2006

New Jersey's Jaheim returns with Ghetto Classics, his latest album since 2002's Still Ghetto. Jaheim made a triumphant comeback this past week, when Ghetto Classics topped the Billboard 200 album chart, and became Jaheim's first number one album.

Jaheim might have the word "Ghetto" in all three of his album titles, but his sound is about as ghetto as John Denver's. Jaheim takes his cues from Luther Vandross and Brian McKnight, not 50 Cent or The Game.

Jaheim crafts pure R&B and also breathes fresh air into a struggling genre. Anyone with a radio knows that R&B has recently gone by the wayside.

A Ja Rule duet with Ashanti passes for mainstream R&B and this isn't close to the true spirit of the genre.

Jaheim, along with John Legend, is starting to raise the bar to a much higher level.

The first track, "The Chosen One," could be an unreleased Marvin Gaye song from the late '70s.

A smooth trumpet sample and sexy beat support his singing about finding the perfect woman. "I Ain't Never" and "Like A DJ" follow the same winning pattern, with chimes and subtle horns supporting his seductive voice. "Daddy Thing" is the album's standout, perfecting his blend of old school crooning with a solid R&B beat.

The most the album ever strays from the '70s soul/R&B formula is when Jaheim brings in guest singers. "Everytime I Think About Her" features Ruff Ryder Jadakiss, but unlike some guest spots, Jadakiss' understated rhyming mix well with Jaheim's musings.

The rapping also doesn't offset the album's firmly established flow.

"Fiend," featuring rapper Styles P, is nearly as strong. The rapping perfectly bounces off Jaheim's stylings.

The lyrics are a bit redundant at times.

Either he's got a woman who's getting him in trouble and he can't resist her or he simply just wants to "take her for a ride."

The lyrics also can be a bit silly. He once refers to the girls passing by as "swisher sweets," but they mostly take a backseat to the retro production and sound, and are still better than most others in the hip-hop and R&B field.

Jaheim set out to do one thing with this album: Make baby makin' music that you can repeatedly play for hours on end.

And he succeeds with frightening ease.

The album is so smooth and laid-back that at times it seems effortless.

But, it is never lazy and the consistent groove allows the listener to get in the flow and simply get lost.

Jaheim moves himself to the top of the R&B pack with this album, and raises the previously low bar up many notches.

He is an excitingly fresh voice in a genre that desperately needs one.