[Review] John Legend: Get Lifted

Get Lifted John Legend Date: 2004-12-28   —   DVD / VHS product page Rating:

My sister gave me this John Legend (real name: John Smith) album when I first got back from South Africa.  For whatever reason, it took about a year for me to get into.  Had I reviewed the album then, it would have received the Snow Patrol treatment.  Fortunately, I waited until now.
Normally, I despise modern R & B.  I despise it because it doesn't at all resmble what R & B used to be in the '50s, 60s and 70s.  Modern R & B typically symbolizes everything that's hatable about pop music: sparse, lazy production, trite lyrics, similar singing styles with no sense of restraint, a bunch of people singing over twice-sampled rap beats.  Seriously, R. Kelly is a perfect example.  "You Are Not Alone" (a song he wrote for Michael Jackson to sing) is the exact same song as "I Believe I Can Fly", which really isn't much different from "Freak Me" or "Ignition."  It's the same beat over and over again, with similar-sounding lyrics and the whole nine.
Thankfully, Get Lifted is completely different.  John Legend is clearly inspired by the Motown-era rhythm and blues artists like Stevie Wonder and others.  "Ordinary People", though a near-ripoff of a famous Stevie Wonder song, is sung with heart and without too many stale lyrical stylings.  But my new favorite song on the album has to be "It Don't Have To Change" featuring the Stephens Family.  This song really does make you feel nostalgic, and if you're in the right mood it may even bring tears to your eyes.  Yes, I said it --- and I don't easily get that way, particularly from music.  That's how effective the high points of this CD are. 
What is truly amazing is that almost every song is a keeper: out of 14 songs, at least 10 are excellent.   Ironically, the only songs I'd drop without a second thought are the songs with famous cameo performances.  The Kanye cameo song ("Number One") is both a tired soul sample and a played-out topic - and why does it seem that the more I listen to Kanye, the more I find his lack of actual rhyming skills to be more glaring?  The Snoop-cameoed "I Can Change" possesses the exact same flaws.  You'd think these songs would be high points, but they end up sounding like filler next to everything else. 
There's no shortage of hyperbole when people offer their opinions on music, but I'm going to fall on the hypocrisy sword: John Legend's debut album Get Lifted is strong evidence that Legend might be able to accomplish what Maxwell, Musiq, Craig David and Glenn Lewis together could not -- he might just singlehandedly save the R & B genre (as we used to know it).  There, I said it.  Now go get it.

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