The women of R&B today (as well as the genre itself) have become so diverse with talent. Especially when it comes to region. In the south, it really shows. Whether it's Beyonce' and Kelly Rowland from Houston, Ciara, Keri Hilson and Monica from Atlanta, Fantasia from North Carolina and so on. Well now Tennessee has their new leading R&B diva in K. Michelle. Though she came into the game in 2010, it really wasn't until this year where she gained huge popularity. Not because of her music but because of her role in the very popular VH1 reality show Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta. Now personally I'm not a fan of that show but she became an instant fan favorite on there because of her looks, her sassy southern attitude and her brash rough around the edges demeanor. The show alone was enough to make her name bigger than that booty of hers. But now on to her as an artist. After a few mixtape releases since 2010, here she finally releases her debut album Rebellious Soul. Now obviously because this is her first album, and because I never heard any of her mixtapes, I can only go off her radio singles as references for this review. Also because of that I really didn't have any kind of expectations for this album. After listening to it I'm impressed. This was a solid debut from K. Michelle. Now you certainly don't have to watch the show to know how she is because it's well displayed throughout this whole album. The album has this very dark, sentimental, passionate and intimate feel to it. At the same time however, her ghetto raunchy side comes out a lot on here with plenty of strong profanity laced tracks and strong sexual content the likes of which a male rapper would make. Not that I have a problem with curse words or sex talk but considering the mood of the album and the fact that is really a soul and R&B album, this is very different. There's nothing on here with a hip hop sound aside from Meek Mill's guest verse. Well now on to some notable tracks. Right off the back, "I Don't Like Me" stood out. Here she speaks of her insecurities and self esteem issues when it comes to men and relationships. With lines like "cause all I can see is that she's prettier than me/damn I wish I had her body". Now you would think someone as attractive as her wouldn't have problems like this but you never know. I loved the soft piano on this track too. Most people don't even know (unless you watch the show religiously) that K. Michelle is a talented pianist and shows off her skills on plenty of songs on the album. Now I can't go any further without mentioning this next track. "Pay My Bills". At first I thought this was gonna be something similar to Destiny's Child "Bills, Bills, Bills". I couldn't have been anymore wrong. I mentioned how her raunchy and ghetto side comes into play a lot and no song showed it more than this. On this song she gets very x-rated with her lyrics. Just look at the hook: "I'ma fuck you like I'm trying to pay bills". Well damn. The whole song is nothing but her basically bragging about her sex game and how she puts it down in the bedroom. Not mad at all. In fact, the male in me enjoyed hearing a bunch of lines like "a lot of time spent on my knees but I damn sure ain't praying". Bottom line, this should definitely be a favorite among all her male fans. Hell maybe females too. "Sometimes" is an emotional ballad about dealing with the heartbreak of a man leaving her and just straight up doing her wrong. But yet she still loves him and wants him back. A very relatable topic I'm sure for most women. While it was a good song, oddly enough, the song itself was not even the highlight. The highlight is what followed right after it. The hidden interlude "Coochie Symphony". Here we go again. This time however she brings some sexual humor as she sings opera style about her lady parts being broke and needing fixing. Saying how she "wants to have fun but it won't cum". It kinda sounds like some freaky yet weird sexual role playing or something. It's very funny but I don't know if placing it after that song was such a good thing. "A Mother's Prayer" is the final track and the most heartfelt one. The song is one big prayer and/or message for her child. Which honestly, unless she's speaking for the general audience, I didn't even know she was a mother. It's a beautiful song. "When I Get A Man" is her speaking from the view of a single woman dreaming of the right man and mentioning everything she would do for him. But at the same time trying to hide the fact that she's alone and unhappy. Again, this is another one most women should relate to. In fact she may have exposed how single women who claim they don't need a man really think. Cool song. My issues with this album are minor. The intro "My Life" was actually okay, but it got derailed by Meek Mill's terrible guest verse. For him to be the only featured artist on the album he really could have did better. To be honest the song really didn't need him but she needed at least one feature so whatever. I didn't like that verse but the song is okay. After the track "Sometimes", the album kinda loses steam. She had two tracks back to back in "Ride Out" and "Hate On Her". Both kinda talk about the same thing. Cheating. But told in two different ways. "Ride Out" she talks about how salty her ex is gonna feel after he sees "ride out" with a new and better man. "Hate On Her" is the other way around as she talks about how she can't even be mad at the new chick he's with because she knows how much of a low life he is. My problem with the two is that I think she could have went the extra mile with this concept. Maybe combining both songs and playing the role of the male and the female in the relationship. Showing both perspectives (think about J. Cole's "Lost One". Similar to that). Both songs were just average to me. Well overall, I really did enjoy this album (for more reasons than one). This was certainly a solid album for a debut. I give it a final grade of a B+. I believe this album is perfectly titled. K. Michelle is indeed a rebel. She's showing that you don't always have to do smooth romantic R&B the old fashioned way. You can bring some attitude, some edginess, some hood, and a bit of nasty. I would say that she's trying to bring change to this genre in that sense but that would be wrong because this is just who she is. It's why she has a strong following of fans now. She keeps it real. That's who she is. A rebellious soul. End.
Final Grade: B+
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