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:::Music Review:::
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Faith Evans - "The First Lady"
by William Ashanti Hobbs
author and co-owner of Meroen Press
May 2005
This Music Review is sponsored by:
1102 S. Adams St., ste.#5 - Tallahassee, FL 32301
850.222.6940 - www.flavamusic.net
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"Few people even scratch the surface, much less
exhaust the contemplation of their own experience."
writer Randolph Bourne
After all Faith’s been through, I figured she was well
on her way to wearing herself out by now. Questionable
relations with Pac behind Biggy’s back, wars of words
with Biggy’s Moms, fluctuating weight issues, rumored
cat-fights with Lil’ Kim, studio clashes with Mary J,
the eventual break from Bad Boy and its baggage.… a
bust in Atlanta on charges of coke – leading to a
taste of rehab some months ago. Somehow, her name is
the real deal when it comes to getting through drama –
with an understated, cat-like grace that eludes the
likes of Whitney Houston.
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Be that the case, a lot of the material on past
albums has not stuck on my radar, but my timing has
proven on point because "The First Lady" comes with
the tempered heat and velvet grit needed to keep
Evan’s silky voice honest. This time around, you are
not prone to trodding down a one track road to
melancholy as she did on her nevertheless impressive
debut album.
"Goin' Out Tonight", with Pharrell and Pusha T, proves
to all that Faith is not interested in pulling the
pity card. Here she is up for a night of fun with
girlfriends. "Again" is gracing the radio like an
anthem to every woman that has had to look all of her
****ups in the face and come to terms with it. Par the
course, Faith croons wisdom to every debacle,
promising that every error was perfect in culminating
the woman she is today. (Hey kids, try that one on
your parents.)
"I Don't Need It" is this year’s most believable,
even-footed plea for men to come off of thinking the
paper chase is all there is to keeping the other half
happy. "Nights over Egypt" by the Jones Girls mellows
out the groove and makes it hard not to put on repeat.
"Stop N Go" gets props for putting sports lingo into
the dating game:
I knew from the start you were running game
You'd fade away like Jordan then cross me over when
you come back again...
We're in the first quarter and i feel i wanna but i
know we oughta not
Cuz if i pass it to you there's a chance that you
might mess around and drop the rock
So you better make sure in the court you're the best
i've ever seen
Cuz i would hate to have to trade you to another team
Sweeeeeet! "Mesmerized" is set up over a Johnnie
Taylor sample that starts off with Faith’s earthy chit
chat with her crush (she sounds like Queen Latifah) on
how sprung she is on him. "Tru Love" an admirable
Usher "You Got It Bad" knock off. The songs seem to
progress through the stages of a relationship from
"Stop N Go" to "Ever Wonder", where Mario Winans
sounds too close to the whiny lead singer of 112. "Get
Over You" attempts to conclude the relationship, that
seems lead into a rekindling with the sparkling "Until
You Came." Being sexy and grown in linens and a drink
perspiring in your hand is what "Lucky Day" gets you
in the groove for and Coach Carter’s soundtrack gem of
"Hope - (with Twista)" will make you feel like you’ve
gotten a bonus song on the low.
Relying less on the dated and overused samples of her
earlier Bad Boy material and more on instrumentals,
Faith sounds as though she’s truly come into her own.
Lord knows she’s paid her pound of tattooed, butter
pecaned flesh for it. Her renewed "faith" and
tranquility make this album’s title the preeminent
crown of a gorgeous, battle-tested queen that has
finally found her stylistic domain.
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