Jagged Edge - JE Heartbreak II

My earliest experiences listening to R&B have to with projects Jermaine Dupri was involved with. The first Jagged Edge song I heard was the "Where The Party At" remix on the Hardball soundtrack. Needless to say, I've been riding for JE for a while. Even as their career seemed to be winding down, Jagged Edge would come through with songs like "Good Luck Charm" and "Put A Little Umph In It." Those albums didn't make much noise, but that's how the game goes.

With all this said, I find it a huge cop out for older artists to complain about the state of R&B when they're really just mad they're not poppin' anymore. R&B is in a weird place. Every single needs a rap verse, and the genre as a whole doesn't seem to mean as much as it did even six or seven years ago when piracy was already a huge problem. But if you look at Billboard and radio, you'll see names like Jeremih, Miguel, Trey Songz, August Alsina, Drake, The Weeknd, Jhene Aiko. These are artists that — with rap features and without — have established themselves as new and relevant ambassadors of the genre, like them or not.

Jermaine Dupri is heavily involved with both the production on the album and its promotion. He, too, is on the we-must-save-R&B bandwagon. While there's no doubt Dupri is an amazing songwriting talent across multiple eras, he's had a quiet few recent years. Especially with Mariah's album flopping, he needs a win.

JE Heartbreak II is a logical step for both parties involved. Let's bring back R&B. Let's remind people what R&B really is. Let's make it a sequel and invoke as much nostalgia as we can. The songwriting is the main focus. It is focused on global topics – I see my "Future" in you; All I want to do is put her "Hope" back into a man. There's a crowd that probably appreciates this that'll cry, "This is it!" But great R&B isn't limited to slow love songs. In fact, the only criteria for truly great R&B are an inescapable melody and a groove. "Future" and "Hope" are fine, but "Things I Do For You" is it. You can try to prove to the world that "real R&B" is here to stay by making "Getting Over You" a single and including inspiring songs with no drums, or you can give the world songs like "Wanna Be" and "Ready."

The album is not only serviceable, it's pretty good. And there isn't much out like it. That in itself should be enough.