Thebe Mabanga
CDs OFTHEWEEK
Keith Sweat, the former stockbroker who lays claim to having invented the R&B/rap/hip-hop style known as new jack swing, has released his seventh solo album, Didn’t See Me Coming (Elektra).
The album continues the trend his sound has been following on his last two albums, Keith Sweat and Still In the Game. He is steeped in R&B but can, with some effort, give his sound a youthful feel to collaborate with rap artists like TLC’s Left Eye, Snoop Doggy Dogg and, on this album, Busta Rhymes. The noisy rapper is one of eight artists featured on this project. Others include Dave Hollister (an R&B sensation who might grow to be as popular as Sweat himself), heavily used newcomer Li’l Mo and a reason for South Africa to be proud our own Lebo Mathosa.
The album, full of promise but never really turning up the heat, confirms that Sweat must turn his efforts to unearthing new artists. His most prominent attempts are the all-girl group Kut Klose and all-guy group Silk, and both have been, at best, a bleep on the radar screen that is the R&B scene.
Lebo Mathosa’s inclusion on the work raises her profile that was built with Boom Shaka and the release of her long-awaited debut, Dreams (Gallo/ Bula). Mathosa continues to use heavyweight club DJ Christos to create a house-influenced sound. Her visual presentation is sensual and polished and her songwriting displays relative depth. Yet, like a number of kwaito albums released last year, it leaves an unsettling feeling that there is room for improvement musically. This is probably a good thing for Mathosa and her peers, for that means that they have room to grow on forthcoming albums.