Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"It's Real" proves K & J are still the best in the business!, March 9, 2000
The Hailey brothers have done it again! They have succeeded in making an album full of hit-worthy songs. The duo's sophomore album, 'It's Real', is a beautiful collection of mostly heart-wrenching love ballads about broken relationships and love gone wrong. There are the occasional upbeat songs, 'I Wanna Get To Know You', which might remind you of a K-Ci & JoJo-ized version of Jodeci's 'Get On Up'. Also, 'Momma's Song', a song written by K-Ci & JoJo's mother, Anita Hailey, is a song with a positive message and a catchy tune, that seems to have grabbed some attention already. The first single from their album (aside from their hit single 'Life' off the Life soundtrack), 'Tell Me It's Real' is an astounding production piece, with beautiful music and meaningful lyrics that could very well be the best song off this album (which is hard to find, considering all the choices). 'Fee Fie Foe Fum', which was their second single, should take you back to the Jodeci days, with the completely urban vibe it seems to present. And K-Ci really sings like he's living this. 'I Wanna Make Love To You' would also most definitely make you reminisce about Jodeci, with the explicit, freaky content, and the excellent guitar music. It is definitely a stand-out track, but it would most likely never become a single, due to subject matter. 'Here He Comes Again', a Babyface-penned song about abuse in a relationship, has a snappy, almost circus-like rhythm to the chorus. 'What Am I Gonna Do?' in some way resembles 'Fee Fie Foe Fum' (would that be because Darryl Pearson produced both?), but it is a good song in it's own right. 'Girl', their next single, is a somewhat upbeat song, blatantly pop, with more great production and a pleasant aura about it. 'Makin Me Say Goodbye' is also a great song, with a depressing theme. There are bird chirpings in the background for an added 'I'm flying out of here' effect. 'Hello Darlin', a Rose-produced song about love at first sight, is another pop song, which really highlighted JoJo's vocals. And, last, but certainly not least, is 'How Long Must I Cry', a magnificent piece of work, in production and singing. JoJo's talents were also expressed deeply in this song he produced with Rory Bennett. The lyrics are heartbreaking and the singing is superb. This could very well hold up as a single. Now, about the production talents. JoJo, who produced half of this album, did an incredible job, and I believe he's one of the best, most talented producers out there today. And he's not recognized enough. His talents are extraordinary. Darryl Pearson did the job with 'Fee Fie Foe Fum'. That is an excellent track. The title may be silly, but it's not what you'd expect. Other producers were Rose, Emanuel Officer, Mike Smoov, and others. This is an album full of grade A songs, grade A production, and grade A writing. Bravo to the Hailey's on another job well done! I give this a million+ stars!
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
3-1/2 stars, February 14, 2002
I wouldn't call this album WACK, but some people may call it close to that after hearing Love Always. Love Always was filled with smooth, silky singles like "All My Life" and "Still Waiting," whereas THIS album sounds a little experimental.When you want to, you'll hear good stuff like the first single, "Tell Me It's Real," as well as "Here He Comes Again" and the best song, "How Long Must I Cry." Except for "Tell Me It's Real," K-Ci and JoJo made the mistake of not releasing the dope songs. (Of course, another mistake is every song not being dope to begin with.) Also, many of the song titles are not very creative, like "I Wanna Make Love To You" and "I Wanna Get To Know You," not that they're bad songs. In other places you'll find them being a little TOO creative. Case in point: the second single, "Fee Fie Foe Fum." A Jack and the Beanstalk reference? BAD idea. The chorus is "Fee fie foe fum/Got a feelin' you've been dippin' with someone." That's just ridiculous. Also the hook has K-Ci saying "Late at night/I hold my pillow tight/And I wish that it was you." How old is he? Three? One song to steer clear of completely is "Hello Darlin'." At the beginning it sounds like it will be good, but then comes the ridiculously loud chorus with even louder ad-libbing and bad wordplay. Just take my word for it. Because this is a K-Ci & JoJo album, what can we look forward to? How about some essential oversinging by Mr. K-Ci Hailey? Not only does he do it to almost ruin the end of "Here He Comes Again," he strains to do it in "Fee Fie Foe Fum," and he even does it in the intro. Even with all the things I mentioned, this album isn't necessarily something to throw in the garbage. It just doesn't quite live up to most people's expectations, that's all. Fortunately they came back home with their followup, X.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
COMPLETELY AMAZING, December 10, 1999
IT'S REAL IS THE BEST WORK BY THESE BRUTHAS SO FAR! MY GOD, THIS CD IS WHAT LOVE ALWAYS SHOULD HAVE BEEN. THIS ALBULM IS FULL OF SOUL AND RAW EMOTION THAT TAKES YOU ON A MUSICAL JOURNEY THAT YOU NEVER WANT TO END. YOU HERE THE PASSION AND SOUL IN EVERY NOTE. I ADVISE EVERYONE TO LISTEN TO I JUST WANNA MAKE LOVE TO YOU, MAKING ME SAY GOOD-BYE, AND FEE-FI-FOE FUM--THOSE ARE THE BOMB TRACKS.....I RATED THIS CD 5 STARS ONLY, BECAUSE THAT WAS THE HIGHEST RATING AVALIABLE, BUT TRUTHFLY THIS CD IS 100 STARS!
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by K-Ci & JoJo 
