Tamia : A Nu Day

Soulful balladeer Tamia gets stuck in a MOR jam...

It seems fraudulent to review this under the banner of r&b, because while Tamia has the blues, it’s debatable that there’s much rhythm going on here. Tamia continues the long-held r&b tradition of pressing love, pain and joy, with a few limp tears chucked in for good measure. And on a sizeable chunk of ‘A Nu Day’, she wraps up her anguish in a blanket of forgettable, down-tempo ballads (‘Love Me In A Special Way’, ‘Stranger In My House’ and ‘If I Were You’).

Apart from a few notable exceptions -Joe, Jodeci, H-Town – r&b balladry rarely lends itself to excitement and originality. ‘A Nu Day’ is the kind of MOR musical traffic that only real hardcore r&b heads would want to get stuck in.

At times, you just wish Tamia would be a bit spunkier and hit us with something that boasts an edge. Luckily, on track nine there’s relief. ‘Un oh… To You’ rocks along superbly with Keith Murray’s hip hop jewel ‘Get Lifted’ as its instrumental. And if you take into account two of the cuts penned by Missy Elliott (‘Wanna Be’ and ‘Can’t Go For That’ – a remake of the Hall & Oates classic, which features Doggs

Nate and Snoop, Warren G and 213 on vocals – they just about save what was shaping up to be a really dreary set. As it stands, it just about scores a pass.

Vincent Jackson

You May Also Like

Advertisement

TRENDING

Advertisement

More Stories