Primarily top 40 mix of R&B and pop...
author: Pat Byrne
First off From Brixton to Brooklyn is primarily a Top 40 mix of R&B and pop, nothing out of the ordinary, nothing too distinctive about it, except perhaps the fact that Rhoda does most of the production and it was recorded in her New York apartment. Overall it's a good effort from an underground artist that clearly has the potential to go far given the right management and funding. Tracks such as 'So Complete' and 'Fantasy' show exceptional songriting skills with catchy hooks and poppy melodies. There was a lack of decent uptempos. 'You too late' and 'No cure for Love' were poor attempts at club type tracks. Ends on a high note with 'Crazy' with some simularities to the same-titled song by Beyonce, it still seems to stand apart.
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The work of a promising new writer and producer
author: Billboard
The work of a promising new writer and producer Rhoda Morgan. Melodically durable with an appealing groove and memorable hooks, praise indeed!
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Rhoda morgan does Timbaland
author: The Pop View
Rhoda Morgan first came to attention as a contestant on the second season of Pop Idol, the British version of the program known in the States as American Idol. After the show finished in December of 2003, Morgan moved to New York City to begin working on her music career. Lots of names are dropped by her and others about influences or comparisons (e.g. Christina Aguilera, Nelly Furtado), but the key name is producer Timbaland.
She lists him as an influence and even if she didn’t, I would have still heard it. Timba has a special sound that is a part of hip-hop, but is still in a world of its own (I’ve been listening to Tim’s production of Justin Timberlake’s “My Love” quite a bit during the last few weeks). Morgan does most of the production on her debut album and it’s a bit hip-hop, a bit electronica, a bit dance pop — but all in a manner such as Timbaland might empty. It would hard to prove it, beyond the evidence of my own ears, but I don’t feel she achieves the fatness of sound that a Timba would, but points for trying.
Here are the first two tracks off From Brixton to Brooklyn, songs which I felt were most successful. “He Say She Say,” featuring rapper Jersey, has a spacey quality backed by a stuttering beat, while “Rescue Me” sounds like its samples Sting’s damn lute album, although with a start/stop quality that threatens to teeter over at any second, but never does.
Rhoda Morgan - He Say She Say (ft. Jersey) — BUY
Rhoda Morgan - Rescue Me — BUY
Tags: Rhoda Morgan, Timbaland, MP3s
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Dance pop with a shiney sound and tight production...
author: The Toronto Exclusive
The move across the ocean has been a popular one for British artists lately. The increased popularity of Lady Sovereign has opened the charts for the young ladies moving, like the title implies, from the UK to the Big Apple.
But unlike Lady, Rhoda Morgan takes her cues from the increasingly slick pool of dance-pop that is emerging onto the radios. The album is a collection of surprisingly subtle beats combined with Morgan's feathery vocals. While her voice isn’t overpoweringly good, it definitely doesn’t take away from the album. Her words are breathy and quiet, a sort of whispering that blends well into the tracks. Likewise, the lyrics are not anything other than the standard fair of brash sexuality. But, what a listener will get instead is a set of composite songs, each element leaning equally on the next, a slick, un-obtrusive set of pop tracks that fit better through headphones on a subway than in a club.
The production mirrors obviously the Timberland style, with the sleek multi- layering of beats and the stop-start bursts of drums. The tracks are left uncrowded and almost dreamlike in their softness. The opening song (and lead single) “He Say She say” epitomizes this, melding layers perfectly into each other’s underlined by a chiming bell. Coincidental, this is also the only track where the featured guest-rapper actually works well; the other three (“Don’t Stop” and “Too Late” and “Run Away”) cut in with chunky MCs that only distract the listener away from the track with uneven flows and inconsistent lyrics.
And, try as it might, this isn’t a club record: it’s not loud or sweaty or public enough. From Brooklyn to Brixton is not overtly sexy, instead grinds with a grooving slowness that underlines each song (I’m thinking here of “Rescue Me”). I personally appreciated this, not being attacked by cluttered, cartoony bass lines and instead allowed to melt into the album. While the album does this, it laced the necessary hook to keep me coming back. The problem is then that the tracks all sound vaguely similar, all glossed over with the same polish, pacing, and similar sound. The result of this is that there is no stand-out track: the songs pool together and become relatively indiscriminate.
While lacking in any real distinction from the increasingly saturated pool of peers this genre resides in, as a debut, this album smoothly transitions onto the scene with a shiney sound and tight production. If nothing else, it bodes well for her next album.
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