[R2HM]TYRESE (aka Black-Ty): “Alter Ego” (J)
TYRESE (aka Black-Ty): “Alter Ego” (J)
Tyrese, a model-singer-actor, goes for one hyphen too many on “Alter Ego,” a double album split between slow-grind r&b songs and his newest job: rapper.
The CD of songs continues Tyrese’s career-long homage to R. Kelly, with oozing minor-key synthesizer grooves and a variety pack of come-ons, from a marriage proposal (”One”) to a shrug at infidelity (”Better to Know”).
Kelly produces one song and provides guest vocals on another, revealing how pallid Tyrese sounds by comparison.On the rap CD, Tyrese renames himself Black-Ty, brags about his career, claims ghetto credibility and switches from suave importuning to raunchy demands.
He sounds strained and whiny, but as one lyric points out, “I got plenty collabos.” Guest rappers like Snoop Dogg, David Banner, Kurupt and Method Man, and producers including Mannie Fresh and Scott Storch, arrive to prop him up.
Is Method Man mocking him with lines like, “These silly rappers is really actors and swag-jackers yappin’ they lips”? After a while, Tyrese mostly sings hooks while guests dominate the rhymes. - Jon Pareles, The New York Times
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