Jamie Foxx - Unpredictable Review
Posted by Mitch Michaels on 02.17.2006
Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Barbra Streisand and Jamie Foxx? Yup.
My Story
I never watched "In Living Color". I became aware of Jamie Foxx through the Oliver Stone movie Any Given Sunday, a football flick that's soundtrack helped to spotlight his vocal abilities. His 2004 biopic of R&B legend Ray Charles, however, put Jamie Foxx's pipes into the national lexicon. I though Foxx did a stellar job portraying Charles in Ray, but, like many, I was all like, "What the fuck?", when this one hit the shelves last year.
His Story
Musically, Jamie Foxx didn't just drop out of nowhere in 2005.
In 1994, Foxx parlayed his success on the hit Fox sketch series "In Living Color" into a mildly successful debut album, Peep This, which reached #78 on the Billboard charts. While Peep did little to prove Foxx as a true "crossover" success, he never totally let his musical career fall into oblivion. Throughout the late-90's and early millennium, Foxx popped up here and there as a collaborator with R&B stalwarts like Gladys Knight. He wound up with a couple of tracks on the soundtrack to the 2000 Oliver Stone film Any Given Sunday, where he also starred with LL Cool J, among others. During this time, he maintained a record contract through producer extraordinaire Clive Davis, but never released a follow-up to Peep This.
In 2004, Foxx, by then an accomplished leading man in Hollywood, popped up on a single with rappers Twista and Kanye West. The result, "Slow Jamz", became Foxx's first taste of chart success, as it reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. That same year saw Foxx star in the critically acclaimed biopic Ray, playing late R&B artist Ray Charles. Foxx's portrayal of Ray Charles was so dead on (he was handpicked by The Genius himself for the roll), that Foxx will be hard pressed not to be associated with the late musician for the rest of his life.
Following the success of Ray, Foxx, now a megastar in the movies, finally released his sophomore album in late 2005.
The Album
On December 20, 2005, J-Records released actor Jamie Foxx's second LP, Unpredictable. The album finds Foxx collaborating with heavy-hitting producers Mike City, Timbaland and Sean Garrett, along with musical guests like The Game, Ludacris, Mary J Blige, and the ever-present Snoop Dogg, along with the aforementioned Twista and West. Unpredictable is available in both clean and explicit versions, as well as clean and explicit DualDiscs. Some versions feature a bonus track, "Rain" which features N'Vyus.
The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard charts, but moved to #1 the next week, making Foxx the fourth person ever to have both an Academy Award for acting and score a #1 album, following in the footsteps of Sinatra, Streisand and Bing Crosby.
The Band: 7.0
Jamie Foxx: vocals
With Foxx's turn in Ray, the question of this album wasn't "Can he sing?" (something that would plague most other actors turned musicians), but "Can he sing something other than classic R&B and blues?", as most were yet to uncover Foxx's earlier, low-key releases. (Minus "Slow Jamz", which we'll call a primer for this LP.)
As it turns out, Foxx is a pretty passable vocalist. His work isn't so much power-ballad as it is smooth and sexy. The veteran production helps, no doubt, as the beats and instrument fills on this album are catchy and top notch. The bevy of guest vocalists don't hurt either. In the end, this album sounds surprisingly, well, exactly how you think it should sound, a characteristic that at the very least won't piss anybody off.
The Songs: 5.5
1. Unpredictable (feat. Ludacris)
2. Warm Bed
3. DJ Play A Love Song (feat. Twista)
4. With You (feat. The Game & Snoop Dogg)
5. Can I Take You Home
6. Love Changes (feat. Mary J Blige)
7. Extravaganza (feat. Kanye West)
8. Three Letter Word
9. Get This Money
10. VIP
11. Do What It Do
12. Storm (Forecass)
13. Still Got It (Interlude) (feat. Common)
14. Heaven
15. Wish U Were Here
With the name value Jamie Foxx totes following his Oscar and hit collaboration with Kanye West and Twista, the songs on this album are almost secondary. I mean, if you're gonna buy it, you're gonna buy it.
Foxx pops up as a songwriter on a handful of tracks, but you wouldn't know the songs were written by different people as they, literally, all but a couple deal with the same subject: the pursuit, acquisition and conquest of pussy. Seriously, that is ALL this album is about. And if the single minded subject matter can be forgiven, the fact that, by track 8 (SPOILER ALERT: the "Three Letter Word" is S-E-X), all of the songs start to blend together is a cardinal sin.
Some songs do stand out, mainly due to the different vocal collaborations. "Unpredictable", the album's big single, is a good opening number, and does well to establish Foxx as a credible modern R&B singer as well as a hitmaker on the same level of Ludacris. The following songs further establish Foxx's smooth and nasty style, but by the time a half hour or so has passed, you start to wonder if you're going to hear another good song. The songs all tend to have the same pace, too, which eventually has you wanting to find a copy of the "Gold Digger" single as, surely, it's more fun than any of these tracks.
Foxx's sole solo composition, "Heaven", is a sweet spiritual-reference filled ode of love to a child. The song works well, but, as it's not the album closer and comes after 13 straight "wanna sex u up cause I'm that good, baby" tracks, you almost get whiplash from a sweet tune like this one. The final track, "Wish U Were Here", is a touching letter to a late parent. The song is great in sentiment, so-so in execution and, again, a strange way to end this album.
The 411: Unpredictable is anything but, but if you enjoy Foxx’s smooth vocals and sexed-up lyrics, then this album is for you. Songs like the title tune, “Extravaganza” and the touching album closing ballads are worth a listen, but the remainders of the tracks eventually drag and blend together. The album establishes Foxx as a serious vocalist, but, unlike his acting career, does little to separate him from the pack.
