Jamie Foxx - Best Night Of My Life

[Music Head]

not my thing although there were 6 of the 15 that I could like with some play.
maybe JazzyRandy will weigh in with something positive on it

Grade - 1.2

released Dec 21st, 2010



from the album - Fall For Your Type - grade 1.0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9Nn3UdbLh8

from all music

Bio

A major star on television (In Living Color, The Jamie Foxx Show), the big screen (Any Given Sunday, Collateral, Ray, Miami Vice, Dreamgirls), and radio (his second album, Unpredictable, featured two Top Ten R&B singles), Jamie Foxx -- born Eric Morlon Bishop, Jr., in Terrell, TX -- started out as a comedian and went through years of gradually escalating recognition before winning an Oscar for his portrayal of Ray Charles in Ray. Though a 1994 album, Peep This, was something of an underground hit, he didn't really break out as a singer until his guest appearance on Kanye West and Twista's "Slow Jamz." The song helped set the stage for his second album, released through J Records at the very end of 2005. Upon release, Unpredictable duked it out for the number one position on the Billboard albums chart with Mary J. Blige's The Breakthrough. It reached number one and eventually went platinum. Intuition, involving input from the-Dream, Timbaland, Ne-Yo, and Floetry's Marsha Ambrosius, followed in late 2008. Like its predecessor, it topped the R&B/Hip-Hop chart, led by "Blame It," one of 2009's biggest party singles. Near the end of 2009, Foxx issued his fourth album, Body. Previewed by the single "Winner" featuring T.I. and Justin Timberlake, Best Night of My Life followed in 2010. The artist has also collaborated with Gladys Knight, Melvin Riley, Adina Howard, MC Lyte, Ludacris, and Snoop Dogg.

Album Review

On his fourth album, Jamie Foxx isn’t taking his singing career as seriously as he used too, but that’s fine. His acting career has exploded and he even runs his own satellite radio station, so if Best Night of My Life is just part of the bigger Foxx picture, rather than an item from his sideline career, it’s still an above-average celebrity album. Best Night is so packed with hooks, gloriously expensive productions, superstar guest shots, and smile-inducing frivolity that Foxx doesn’t need to push his voice as hard as he used to do. Plus, he’s still got the chops to carry the moody Drake feature “Fall for Your Type,” while the track’s icy cold, hip-hop landscape is just one example of Foxx having his finger on the pulse. Smart choices come from all over the 2010 urban music spectrum as current superstars like Justin Timberlake and T.I. (both on the standout cut “Winner”) rub shoulders with rave-rap production (“Sex on the Beach”), and electro-injected R&B ( Freak”). Charisma is the thing as Foxx free associates R. Kelly style during the title cut (“Girl, can I be real/I just wanna feel/On your booty/That’s not a big deal”) or playfully mocks his guest Soulja Boy by opening “Yep Dat’s Me” with a “Jamie Foxx Tell ‘Em.” Highlights are pushed to the front, so consider the last four songs or so bonus tracks. You’ll still be left with a substantial good time.

Track Listing

1 This Will Be (Intro) Jackson, Yancy 1:40
2 Best Night of My Life Foxx, Hudson, Prescott, Scales… 3:04
3 Living Better Now Foxx, Harrell, Isley, Isley, Isley… 4:06
4 Winner Clifford Harris, Fauntleroy, Tadross… 4:02
5 Freak Araica, Hills, Love 4:34
6 Hit It Like This Hough, Prescott, Wouter 2:48
7 Yep Dat's Me Bereal, Bridges, Foxx, Hudson, Smith 3:07
8 Fall for Your Type Campbell, Graham, Shebib 4:29
9 Gorgeous Foxx, Hudson, Prescott, Scales 5:02
10 Let Me Get You on Your Toes (Interlude) Bereal, Foxx, Hudson, Smith 1:30
11 15 Minutes Floyd, Ho, Prather, Smith 4:06
12 Sleeping Pill Bereal, Foxx, Lambert, Prasad, Smith 4:05
13 Rejoice DeVaughn, Foxx, Lewis, Prescott… 4:48
14 All Said and Done Bereal, Foxx, Hudson, Lambert, Smith 4:40
15 Sex on the Beach Foxx, Love, Prasad 3:16

[JazzyRandy]

maybe JazzyRandy will weigh in with something positive on it
Grade - 1.2

I don't get the chance to listen to much contemporary Soul music. There's only so much listening time in each month for me and I've always listened right up to that limit. Twenty years ago, I listened to a ton of Soul and Hip Hop and was able to keep current with everything in those genres. I also listened to small amounts of Rock, Pop, and Reggae.

About that time, I began listening to Jazz. Very little at first, but by ten years ago, about a quarter of my listening was Jazz. That meant I spent less time listening to everything else. Over the past decade, Jazz has become about 40% (or more) of my listening, and other genres have grown a little as well. Add in that I'm now filling in the gaps of my Soul collection with CDs of the 70-80s, and something had to give. That something has been contemporary Soul, and to a lesser degree, Hip Hop. Add in the fact I now have three young children and my listening time has been reduced even more.

As a result, instead of buying/listening to 5-10 newly-released Soul albums a month, I'm down to about 2 a month. No offense to the talented Mr. Foxx, but I don't think he's on my short list. Especially not when there are at least a half dozen other 2010 Soul albums (Bilal, Yahzarah, Aloe Blacc, among others) I really want but haven't bought yet.

I need more time to listen to music.

Oh, where can I find an explanation of your rating system? I'd like to know what I'm reading when I see those.

[Music Head]

Oh, where can I find an explanation of your rating system? I'd like to know what I'm reading when I see those.


Sorry, I have explained it before, but don't like to put it with every review I do.

Range is 1.0 to 3.0

1.0-1.6 = do not like
1.7-2.3 = like
2.4-3.0 = love

Albums I own, I grade each individual track as a 1.0, 2.0 or 3.0, then post as *, ** or ***

Albums I listen to for the first time online, I am a little more flexible, as an impression can change with more play.
In that case, for each track, I use 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 or 3.0, with the same meaning, but the .5's allow for the possibility of them moving up a notch after repeated listenings.

In either case, I then add the total of the track ratings together and divide by the number of tracks to arrive at that final rating, 1.2 for Jamie's album, which translates back to six 1.5's and nine 1.0's. Meaning nine of those tracks I would not care to hear again and even if I did, I probably would never like them. Six of those tracks I would probably actually like if I heard them more.

[pawdog]

I can't help but continue to be disappointed with Jamie Foxx as a music act. He just comes across as juvenile and low class more often than not. A man his age should not still be acting like he just discovered sex and profanity like a 12 year old. I will be glad when he turns loose the hip hop street mentality and starts making some real music. I know he has it in him.

[Music Head]

I can't help but continue to be disappointed with Jamie Foxx as a music act. He just comes across as juvenile and low class more often than not. A man his age should not still be acting like he just discovered sex and profanity like a 12 year old. I will be glad when he turns loose the hip hop street mentality and starts making some real music. I know he has it in him.

Well said dog.
That's what gets me about these r&b/rap artists. The profanity and like you say, immaturity that seems to be obsessive in their music.
I like sex as well as the next guy, but give me a break already.
Maybe that's what sells, but not for me.

[JazzyRandy]

That's what gets me about these r&b/rap artists. The profanity and like you say, immaturity that seems to be obsessive in their music.

To be fair, MH, those elements are not dominant in all R&B/Hip-Hop artists' albums; and not even present at all in a lot. I'd say it's not a part of even half of R&B/Soul. It is present in a fair amount of radio-HipHop, but there are just as many Hip Hop albums (if not more) that don't get airplay that aren't centered around sex and bling.

It's too easy to fall into the "all contemporary R&B & HipHop sucks" trap (especially for those who don't like much contemporary R&B/HipHop), but it's far from the truth to say that. I didn't take Pawdog's disappointment in the Foxx album as an indictment against all contemporary R&B, but only that particular album. Maybe I misread ... or maybe I'm just listening to a different kind of contemporary Soul/R&B than you.

EDIT:
For instance, the '10 albums by Incognito, Faith Evans, Fantasia, The Roots, Janelle Monae, Leela James, Nas & Damian Marley, and Sade, are just a few of those I've heard/bought that don't center around sex and have minimal or no profanity. There is a good amount about relationships, but not explicit content about sex.

And those are simply a few examples.

[Music Head]

I'm sure you are correct JR.
Don't mean to broadbrush the whole genre.
However, it is much more prevalent there than any other place.
Niggas, bitches, ho's, and that's the light stuff.
You would just think adults would be a little but more, I don't know, adult.

[JazzyRandy]

You would just think adults would be a little but more, I don't know, adult.
Many musical artists are barely of legal age. And many young people, especially young males have sex on the mind a LOT. This is not a phenomenon restricted solely to Hip Hop and R&B.

However, it is much more prevalent there than any other place.
How many Rolling Stones songs are about Mick chasing tail? i seem to remember an entire album (Some Girls) devoted to the topic. Moving forward a couple of decades, you could sample the Red Hot Chili Peppers for another example of songs written by young men who might not exhibit the best judgment. The examples are endless. The saying "Sex Drugs & Rock and Roll" didn't come into being for no reason.

Niggas, bitches, ho's, and that's the light stuff.
As far as the language, eh, I think there's a bit of "kids today, get off my lawn" going on here. Didn't the R&R stars of the past here similar complaints about their music in the 50s, the 60s, the 70s, and on to now?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not enamored with albums that rattle off one profanity after another. However, I'm not about to condemn an entire genre because of a few examples. Again, I point out the examples I mentioned earlier as artists who don't rain profanity upon the listener. There are many others, too many to list them all: Raphael Saddiq, Maxwell, Me'Shell Ndegéocello, John Legend, Res, Alicia Keys, Mint Condition, Ledisi, K-os, Solillaquists Of Sound, Mos Def, K'naan, Pharoahe Monch, Brother Ali ... really, the list is literally too long.

I'm a little disappointed to feel like I have to defend R&B and Hip Hop here. I thought this place was more ... I don't know ... more something. It seems like every forum not explicitly devoted to R&B/HipHop ends up disappointing me in how easily the members disdain those genres.

EDIT: Sorry for the quick edits and re-edits. I sometimes dive right back in and complete a thought or clean up a grammatical error or two.

[Music Head]

Sorry
Don't mean to offend.
Just expressing my opinion.
I did say you were correct.

[JazzyRandy]

Sorry
Don't mean to offend.
Just expressing my opinion.
I did say you were correct.

I don't mean to offend either. However, in one breath you say you don't mean to paint with a broad brush, then in the next breath you continue to say how it's "much more prevalent" only in R&B and Hip Hop. Again I feel compelled to say "no offense", but it seems like the first statement is an empty statement, while the second one (which reiterates your earlier point) is your true statement. You say I'm correct, but your own words betray that you really believe I'm right.

You're right, it's just your opinion. And my words are simply my opinion. I'm not interested in a right/wrong debate. I just wanted to discuss what I perceive as a gross misjudgment of R&B/Soul/Hip-Hop. That's why I presented artists who don't fit the earlier broad brushed indictment. If you've heard those artists, I'd love to hear your opinion of the content of their lyrics. I know you're not a fan of the musical styles, so I don't expect you to be a fan of their albums as a whole. However, I don't think you'll find much to be offended at in their lyrics. Well, except for the politics of Me'shell. ;-)