Jaheim' s Ghetto Classics: Not So Much

Jaheim is a prime example that having an amazing voice does not guarantee making an amazing album. For roughly 5 years, he’s mesmerized millions of R&B fans with that robust yet silky smooth tenor of his; evoking strong memories of Teddy, Barry, and Luther and coercing the younger generation into buying and hailing his first two albums, Ghetto Love and Still Ghetto, as male-R&B masterpieces, or as the title of his junior release suggests, Ghetto Classics. But moving past the spellbinding hypnosis of his vocals, Jaheim’s albums are typically 1/3 pseudo-brilliance, and 2/3 mediocrity. Ghetto Classics only improves on such a trend slightly but still ultimately adds to the pile of misguided talents and wasted potentials clogging the airwaves.

From an aesthetic standpoint, Ghetto Classics leaves much to be desired. The external packaging reveals a tracklist of 11 and the internal packaging is the epitome of bare-bones. Boasting a sole photo of Jaheim and the standard credit listings, it’s easy to assume that Warner Bros. nor Jaheim put much thought into this project. But thankfully, Jaheim’s close-knit, in-house production team of KayGee and Eric & Wesley, with a couple assists from Scott Storch, Bink, and the Co-Stars, makes Ghetto Classics Jaheim’s most impressive record to date.

But impressive for Jaheim still doesn’t leave much to expect. Yet with a terse runtime of 43:00, there’s little room left for fat and positions this record to balance out the equation between psuedo-brilliance and mediocrity. As far as the album title suggests, the Classic part is definitely applicable to the production. Though 80% of the album is sampled, the production unit for this record makes sure those samples are smartly used to fuse Hip-Hop and Soul in some of the sleekest and lushest ways possible.