Disturbing Tha Peace Presents Bobby Valentino CD

Personnel: Bobby Valentino (background vocals); Bobby Valentino (vocals); Kaleena Harper, Brooke Newman, Kalenna Harper (vocals); Tim Kelley (various instruments, guitar, piano, Fender Rhodes piano, keyboards, bass guitar, drum programming); Lamar Edwards (keyboards); Gary Smith, Gary Smith , Gary Smith (drum programming); Bob Robinson (guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, 12-string guitar, piano, Fender Rhodes piano, keyboards); Annan Gause (guitar); Kevin "KD" Davis, Ludacris.
Audio Mixers: Tim Kelley; Kevin "KD" Davis; Jean-Marie Horvat; Leslie Brathwaite.
Recording information: 7th Day Studios, Atlanta, GA; Midas Studios, LA, CA; Moodswing Studios, Atlanta, GA; Record Plant, Hollywood, CA; The Ludaplex, Atlanta, GA; The Preacher's Kids Studio, LA, CA.
Photographer: Christian Lantry.
It's easy to imagine R&B crooner Bobby Valentino stretched out on a crimson, crushed-velvet couch as he delivered his self-titled debut. This pillow-talky album must have been recorded with candles filling the recording studio, but you can bet there was the faint smell of patchouli too. Valentino's first full-length has mystical touches in its overall slick and sexy production, touches that help separate the album from the competition in a way the everyday songwriting doesn't. Pan flutes, atmospheric interludes, and French women cooing sweet nothings flesh out the album, an album that's 99.9 percent "for the ladies," save an appearance from Valentino's main man, Ludacris. As limited as this sounds, Valentino and producers Tim Kelley and Bob Robinson make the album seem a lot more diverse than it really is by alternating the "let's get busy right now" numbers with the "you're very special, let's take this slow" numbers. That otherworldly production helps a lot too, as does Valentino's committed delivery, sounding like he's not at all tired of this sensual material, so why should you be? His Babyface-like voice is above average without a theatrical edge but with a charismatic street swagger and just the right touch of humble joy. As they would say in the tech world, "Slow Down" is the killer app, a single good enough to buy the whole album. Past the single, Bobby Valentino the album doesn't disappoint, but it is a bit frustrating when the smart music and bold "Real R&B Singers Needed" sign point to grander possibilities. Of course, it is a debut and, considering that, pulling a daring punch or two is forgiven. If he keeps on the path of breaking the R&B crooner rule book and really lets his inner maverick out, Valentino will go farther than competition can even imagine. ~ David Jeffries
Soul man Bobby Valentino, the first R&B star on Ludacris's Disturbing Tha Peace label, may have seemed an overnight success when his hit "Slow Down" rocketed up the charts in 2005. However, there is a reason Valentino's self-titled album sounds more richly honed than most debuts. Like Anthony Hamilton, John Legend, and other R&B artists whose breakout records revealed a deeper history, Bobby Valentino knocked around the music world for years (primarily as member of the 1990s vocal group Mista) before Ludacris signed the Mississippi-born singer.
The experience pays off for Valentino on a record that frequently travels outside of standard R&B territory, as his capable voice occupies smooth compositions, with both passion and restraint. The catchy single "Slow Down" opens on an orchestral hook, before gliding into an ode that pulls off the feat of being both leering and courtly. "Never Lonely" features distorted, quirky stops and starts, but its strongest characteristic is its winsome melody. By the time "My Angel (Never Leave You)" comes around, Valentino has fully seduced the listener with his satisfying and sultry debut.