record reviews

December 26, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

SOULJA BOY

Album: “The DeAndre Way” (Interscope)

Grade: A

Because Soulja Boy’s music is nearly artless, his eagerness to please drives rather than compromises it. He actually pulls off being everything to everyone: “Speakers Going Hammer” is squeaky-clean braggadocio about his boomin’ system before he makes the filthiest boast of the year just two tracks later (Hint: He’s got something that “tastes like ribs”). “Mean Mug,” featuring 50 Cent, is playfully menacing in a way 50 himself hasn’t managed in years, while “Blowing Me Kisses” is this year’s irresistible “Whatever You Like”-style sing-along. “Kisses” sets off an unprecedentedly pretty third act, with the sweetly sticky “Fly” setting up the hilariously impassioned Kanye Jr. plaint of the closing tune, “Grammy” (“Am I not good enough?” emotes guest Ester Dean). This artist will never scale the heights of Kanye West or Big Boi. But he could be LL Cool J, who had plenty of haters at 20: “Kidnap the world/ ‘Til they pay my ransom.”

— Dan Weiss, Philadelphia Inquirer

JAMIE FOXX

Album: “Best Night of My Life”

Grade: B

Jamie Foxx makes everything look easy.The Oscar-winner can switch between actor, singer, stand-up comic and impersonator so effortlessly that it’s almost hard to believe. That’s a great skill to have in all those careers, except R&B singer, where slick doesn’t play well, but struggling does.

On “Best Night of My Life” (J), Foxx gets a little closer to letting folks see him sweat, but not too much. The album is set up like a night on the town. There’s a short warm-up in the title track, a bunch of club bangers about finding a special lady, and then a string of ballads designed to romance said lady, ending with “Rejoice,” on which Foxx croons, “Unwrap my body like I’m your birthday gift.” The up-tempo “All Said and Done” wraps things up, presumably signaling that we’re going to start the cycle all over again.

It’s all a neat bit of sequencing, though it’s often Foxx’s collaborators that bring out his best, as if he needs someone to pace him. Justin Timberlake and T.I. help make “Winner” work. Rick Ross and, more important, a sample of The Notorious B.I.G. from “Big Poppa” are the actual stars of “Living Better Now.” And “Yep Dat’s Me” finds Foxx slipping into the cadences of Soulja Boy, who is on the track with Ludacris.Apparently, using the it-takes-a-village approach works, because “Best Night of My Life” is Foxx’s best album so far.

— Glenn Gamboa, Long Island Newsday

KERI HILSON

Album: “No Boys Allowed”

Grade: B+

Don’t worry, Keri Hilson isn’t swearing off men in “No Boys Allowed” (Interscope/Mosley). She has lined up her usual gang of first-rate collaborators for her new album — from Timbaland, who offers a remarkably nonbleepy-bloopy production on the gorgeous girl-group-influenced “Breaking Point,” to Rick Ross, who gets Hilson incredibly riled up on “The Way You Love Me.” Though Ne-Yo gives “Pretty Girl Rock” an addictive sheen, it’s the remix featuring some memorable verses from Kanye West that gets the point across best. Considering all the support she gets on “No Boys Allowed,” Hilson is practically the female Drake, and she doesn’t fail, either.

— Glenn Gamboa, Long Island Newsday

JAZMINE SULLIVAN

Album: “Love Me Back” (J)

Grade: A

One of the brightest young female stars of R&B-hop leaps into her second CD with force, good taste — and Ne-Yo, who takes part in the project.

For Sullivan, brash confidence rules. She’s got gall enough to rap in character as both a crack-addicted girl and a wife-beating man on the gospel-tinged “Redemption.” She rants manically about being the disposed-of love interest on “10 Seconds,” yet can show delicately emotive and deeply nuanced tenderness on “Excuse Me,” accompanied by the delicious Manhattans sample (thanks to Missy Elliot’s production). Ne-Yo? Sullivan makes mincemeat of the lover man on “U Get On My Nerves.” Brava.

— A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia Inquirer