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32 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Just as reviewer Constant states, "Ghetto Classics" makes it 3 for 3 for Jaheim, February 22, 2006
I use to always see Jaheim's video for "Could It Be" on the show Midnight Love that use to come on BET and at first I have to admit I couldn't take the song seriously. "Could it be my chromed out whip, break your neck when you see a n___a dip. Or could it be the ice you see, but you tell me that you're really feelin' me". I am saying to myself that here is a new artist with a great voice and this is what he wants to sing about. So a couple of months passed and a female that I was talkin' to that knows I collect CDs and love listening to music asks me, did you pick up that Jaheim? I said that he has a nice voice, but I don't need to hear a whole CD about "or could it be the ice you see".... She told me that the CD was nice and I picked the CD up on her word alone. "Ghetto Love" was a nice CD. The CD was in heavy rotation for awhile. My favorite tracks were "Looking For Love", "Just In Case", "Anything" w/Next, and "Remarkable" w/Terry Dexter. I also realized that this CD would be "too real" for some folks as Jaheim wasn't afraid to put a street edge to alot of his songs. The next year Jaheim released another CD entitled "Still Ghetto". "Still Ghetto" was an anticipated release because of the people like me that slept on "Ghetto Love" and because of the 1st single on "Still Ghetto" entitled "Fabulous". "Fabulous" was Jaheim's inspirational anthem for all the kids out there that are coming up in difficult times. Once "Still Ghetto" was released, Jaheim's 2nd CD was in heavy rotation as well. My favorite tracks were "Diamond In The Ruff", "Let's Talk About It", "Beauty And Thug" w/Mary J Blige and "Long As I Live". "Still Ghetto" was essentially "Ghetto Love Part 2" as the CD was very similar to his debut CD.
After over a three year layoff, Jaheim has returned with "Ghetto Classics". Just as reviewer, Constant, stated, Jaheim is now 3 for 3 when it comes to his CD catalog or discography. Some people may not be able to get into Jaheim because of his use of the street and the block and his use of profanity, but to me good music is good music.
"Ghetto Classics" starts off in true Jaheim fashion with "The Chosen One". The track is co-produced by Kaygee, who was known before as the DJ for Naughty By Nature. Kaygee has been Jaheim's main producer over his three CDs. On "The Chosen One", Kaygee and Bernard Belle do a good job of incorporating an old school, Willie Hutch, (RIP) sample. Jaheim's voice takes care of the rest and "Ghetto Classics" gets off to a nice start. Bink produces the first single, "Everytime I Think About Her" w/Jadakiss of The LOX, who are killin' the mixtape circuit right now with two crazy songs, "Take Everything" with all of D-Block and "I'm Sorry Ms. Jackson" where Jada and Styles P have alot of words for 50 Cent over the Outkast instrumental. "Everytime I Think About Her" is my favorite song on "Ghetto Classics", as of this moment, as Jaheim talks about a girl that is not necessarily right for him, but he still wants her anyway. Jadakiss gives the track 2 quality verses and the A&R has earned their paycheck by naming this the first single. "Daddy Thing" has Jaheim talking about a situation where he gets involved with this married woman, who has a child and since her man is in prison, Jaheim decides to take care of her and her child by providing her with a new ride and her baby the essentials that she needs. At the same time, though, Jaheim realizes that this will be short lived because when her man gets out of jail even he isn't to naive to realize that she will want to return to her husband. "Forgetful" is produced by Scott Storch and is a nice midtempo track. "Forgetful" basically talks about a situation where the woman that Jaheim is with is ungrateful despite all the things that he says that he does for her. Eventhough, relationships shouldn't just all be about the material things and what someone else does for the other. "Like A DJ" is produced by Kaygee and the Untouchables, which includes Eddie F, the DJ from Heavy D & The Boyz. The Untouchables have done some nice work on Donell Jones' CD before. "Like A DJ" has Jaheim using clever metaphors talking about the woman that is in his life and expressing them like he is actually talking about a DJ playing songs. Ladies and gentlemen, please don't be confused. All Jaheim is talking about is how this woman is putting other men before him. It's just clever how he expresses this through words of a DJ: "You fade me out and you blend him in, I can't get no spin unless I'm requested, she's something "Like A DJ." That is the chorus. "Fiend" features Styles P of The LOX and it won't take a rocket scientist to figure out what he is talking about especially once he says that he isn't talking about niccotine. "I Ain't Never" is vintage Jaheim. Just as "Could It Be", "Beauty & Thug" and "Long As I Live" did for me before, Jaheim does it again with " I Ain't Never". Someway, somehow Jaheim mixes his ghetto life with the elements of romance, relationships and love. This is captured best on "I Ain't Never", which should definitely be the next single. "125th" basically talks about a girl that Jaheim happened to run into in his travels of the day and how he wants to "do thangs" as Gerald Levert would say. "Masterpiece" ends up being just that as Eric Williams and others create an excellent midtempo track about Ms. Tracey Donatello, who I assume is the fictional character in this song. "Conversation" talks about a girl that Jaheim meets at a club and what usually happens when you try to get someone's attention who you thinks looks nice. You either try to immediately just ask for her number, you offer to buy her a drink or you just stare at her all night and hope that A) you'll work up the nerve to say something to her or B) you just smile at her and see if she will inititate the conversation. "Come Over" ends things up real nice. Eric Williams and Wesley Hogges produce the last 3 tracks on this CD which are Masterpiece, Conversation and Come Over. All of these three songs flow well together and if you judge them by these three tracks then they should definitely be doing alot more production work real soon with other r&b artists or groups.
If there are any faults with "Ghetto Classics" is that each time Jaheim makes a CD you expect better and even better. "Ghetto Classics", although it is a nice CD tends to get very repetitive. Although, "Come Over" is one of the best tracks on this CD it really ends up being a slower version of "Conversation". Some r&b fans will not be able to deal with the profanity as well. If the profanity is too much for you then I would just suggest you get the clean version, because I know all people can't deal with profanity like I can.
In conclusion, I started to only give this CD 4 stars because of the fact that the CD is only 11 tracks deep and 43 minutes long. However, I would rather have a CD with 11 tracks I can listen to all the way through than have a CD with 16 tracks that has 5 songs that shouldn't have even been on the CD or are just there for "filler" purposes. If you are a r&b fan and you can deal with the way that Jaheim mixes the streets, ghetto life, personal pain, male/female relations and love then, trust me you will enjoy this CD. If you are a Jaheim fan and you enjoyed "Ghetto Love" and "Still Ghetto", then you can not afford to pass up on "Ghetto Classics".
Correct Track Listing
1) The Chosen One
2) Everytime I Think About Her w/Jadakiss
3) Daddy Thing
4) Forgetful
5) Like A DJ
6) Fiend w/Styles P
7) I Ain't Never
8) 125th
9) Masterpiece
10) Conversation
11) Come Over
James' Top 5
1) Everytime I Think About Her w/Jadakiss
2) I Ain't Never
3) Masterpiece
4) Come Over
5) The Chosen One
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nice soulful third album..., February 14, 2006
Just got that the new Jaheim cd, Ghetto Classics...let me see which word i can use to suitably wrap this album's mood, cuz it is a mood...moody as in the kind which compels you to subconsciously sway back and forth, nod your head, and think about those sweet old childhood memories...ok maybe that is just me...but when soul music is done right, this is what it does to me...makes me hope, dream of old and new combined into better reality...for some reason, Jaheim pulls that off as well as any of his contemparies and has gotten consistently better from album to album...his voice is undeniable if limited by range but nonetheless, it works! his brand of soul will not reinvent the wheel but it's just very well-done R&B...something comforting like home and waffles for breakfast...so if chill music is what u are looking for, can't go wrong with this one...
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
JAHIEM DROPS A GHETTO CLASSIC, February 15, 2006
This albums a must have for anybody whos into the real singers in the game. Jahiem is at his best wit this cd and Ja shows hes ready to step his game up right at the jump off with the opener "The Chosen One", the singe with Jada "Everytime I Think About Her" and "Like A DJ". This cd is a must have if u've been down with Jahiem since Ghetto Love and those who havent heard of his music before buy this album, it wont dissapoint. The production is on point and the vocals are perfect, next time around there should be more than 11 songs tho. Thanks Ja for bringin talent back to R&B...Chris Brown better study this cd top to bottom ~peace~
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