Posted on 11/17/2006

 

My rating of 2 stars may be on the very high end for this release. I had hoped to find something worth holding onto, and I did. The only reason to buy, yet alone hear this, is the production. The people behind the music on Konvicted definitely know how to create some great sounds, and in fact in terms of R&B (if you wish to categorize Akon as R&B, more on this later), this is one of the best sounding releases in the last few years. Even the Eminem-produced "Smack That" sounds fairly good, even better than the tracks Eminem has done for himself. One of the best songs on this is the reggae-flavored "Mama Africa" co-produed by Hakim Abdulsamad. If the last name seems familiar, Abdulsamad and his brothers were in the group The Boys (Hakim was the lead vocalist in "Dial My Heart" fame), and each of them have done their share of session and production work since The Boys left Motown (they are now known as The Suns). Sadly, Abdulsamad's involvement in Konvicted is one of the few things that gives this album any merit. If this is the industry's opinion of something worth selling to the public, no wonder things are so out of shape. Akon tries to cover a lot of ground by being one-part singer, one-part rapper, and really not being good in either. In terms of songwriting, this is a complete embarrassment. The Seattle band Soundgarden once released a song called "Big Dumb Sex", poking fun at soul and funk songs from the 1970's, which had a habit of speaking about the dirty deed but never actually describing the deed itself, the act was always covered in thick imagery. In "I Wanna Love You" (featuring Snoop Dogg), Akon proves subtlety is not one of his better qualities, with such assonyne lyrics as "I see you winding and grinding up on that pole/I know you see me looking at you, and you already know/I wanna fuck you, you already know/I wanna fuck you, you already know in 'I Wanna Love You'". It sounds like a complete joke, but when one realizes that this is how he represents himself, he sounds like someone with a mean case of itchy nuts. The term "cut to the chase" was never more appropriate than on this album, but in a cinematic sense it was always about the build up which lead to the chase. None of the songs have something worth waiting around for, and once you're at the chase, it's nothing but a highway collision waiting to happen.

Akon is credited as a producer or co-producer on the majority of the tracks, and it is here where he truly shines. This is nothing against any one who wants to pull a musical hat trick, but he needs to know his weaknesses and strengthen what he does best. He does have a unique voice, but he has to be open to working with someone to write his lyrics. Konvicted is disposable.