Subject

Dwele

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 20, 2003)
• Original Release Date: May 20, 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Virgin Records Us
• ASIN: B000094FFL
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (129 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #55,516 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

One-man show Dwele’s debut, Subject, comes correct with neo-soul staples in place. That is to say, there are enough acoustic guitars, stacked harmony vocals, mid-tempo grooves, and sound effects of scratchy vinyl to power an old-school symposium. What the Detroit-bred associate of backpack-rappers Slum Village lacks in depth, he makes up for in sheer summer-ready listenability. Dwele’s genre could be called neo-neo-soul; he seems to owe as much to the foundations laid down by D’Angelo as to obvious idol Stevie Wonder. While lacking the idiosyncrasies of those artists, Dwele manages to slide out of the speakers with enough skills to convince a casual listener to let the languid mood take over. Subject’s title track is its most fully imagined; the needle-on-record gambit that obscures its likable chorus could actually be heard as a conceptual gambit rather than a mere irritation. Elsewhere, Dwele piles on the quiet-storm stuff so masterfully that he sows confusion, while at least seemingly hoping to settle down with one conquest. Vision is hardly up to talent here, but for now, Dwele gets a pass on winning sonics alone. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Talk about some smooth stuff..., May 21, 2003

By	"novabrown" (New Orleans, LA) - See all my reviews

I have been hearing some of Dwele's work here and there through guest tracks on other artist CDs. Every track he seemed to be on (Slum Village, T-love), the joints were hot.
So when I bought the CD, I had a picture in my mind of what I was expecting since I never even heard a single out for this album. I was expecting it to be pretty good not getting my hopes up too much.
Open package..put in CD..first track on...a little talking going on (expected in intros). Then the beat kicks in. Its hard to explain but this beat has to be one of the cleanest, tightest, whatever -est word I cant think of i have heard in a good while. Its the type of beat that makes you pick up your CD and take out the cover to see who produced this gem. Personally, I was thinking Jay Dee because it had the styling of a Jay Dee beat. I was taken aback by the fact that it was Dwele who produced his own joint. Back to the Intro..Dwele comes on with his playeristic flow, which blends perfectly to the bass heavy beat. This is surely a joint that could hold its own in a club or in constant playback mode on your own CD player and its only the intro.
As track by track went by, I had no urge to press the skip track button once. There are many gems on this album. To name a few: "A.N.G.E.L. w/ Slum Village", "Subject", and "Poppa Yo (Intro)". I could go on and on about this album but you should cop this yourself and find more.
The only complaints I can really think of is that Dwele's lyrics are not "deep" like some people would like them to be. Personally, I can do without the deepness.
I can easily say this is the best album I have bought this year in terms of R&B and the best since D'Angelo and Bilal.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great splash of R&B in a dry time, July 21, 2003

By	Scott Woods (Columbus, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This one really wins with me. Solid R&B, and man, do we always need more of that. You've heard him you just didn't know it was him. He's done plenty of hip-hop background vocals and favors the heavy harmonic layering of Marvin Gaye as a key production value, while the music bubbles underneath with a heavy Jay Dee/D'Angelo vibe without being a rip-off.

I also dug up just about all of the stuff from his demo and earlier, unofficial "Rize" EP...the guy has about three albums worth of material floating around if you can score it. And while the "Rize" material is good stuff on par musically with the material off of the released "Subject" record, "Subject" is a better record. The grooves are more polished, there's more focus to the overall vibe and the lyrics don't go where some of the early stuff did (early track "So Fly" comes immediately to mind...excellent take on Stevie's "Too High" music, but the lyrics are fairly crass in spots). So I'm really into this cat, and having the other stuff sort of pads out the experience as well.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Soulful Adventure, October 14, 2003

By A Customer

Dwele offers up a refreshing debut effort with lush harmonies, creative instrumentation and ingenious lyricism. The problem is that in todays music climate good black music gets pushed out of the way for the popular garbage that we hear on the radio today.
Dweles first single "Find A Way" is a nice uptempo track that finds him searching for a way to get the love he had with his woman back. The gems on this album are "Without You" a track that makes one think of sunny beaches and summer fun while being in love with that special someone. The title track to the album "Subject" is an unorthadox track that speaks of someone who admires the uniqueness of their love interest, this track has a weird cell phone like undertone that works. My favorite track on the album is "Let Your Hair Down", a track that is both uplifting to those who are down on their luck and those who find themselves ailing from a lost love. Dwele handles most of the production on the album and he is a very gifted arranger and producer. I think it is a shame that many black musicians like Dwele never get a chance to show their talents to the world because of the manopoly that cut and paste artists have on the airwaves today. All in all Dwele has given us an album that is relaxing, uplifting, and theraputic.