Mic Navarro's Corner: K. Michelle - Anybody Wanna Buy A Heart? ALBUM REVIEW

Sexy, feisty, brash, cocky, a little bit of country with a dash of ratchet. Just a few of the traits that best describes the reality show star turned R&B diva K. Michelle. The southern belle has become quite the fan favorite in such a short time (no pun). Her very relatable topics in her songs, her deeply sensual and intimate sex talk, and her overall "keeps it real" attitude makes her loved by many. Women love her and men are in love with her. So obviously, that leads to much anticipation for this. Her second album Anybody Wanna Buy A Heart (A.W.B.A.H. for short). She's coming off what I believe was a stellar debut album in Rebellious Soul. I had the pleasure of the reviewing it and it was easily one of my top three favorite R&B albums of 2013. I loved it's dark yet intimate tone wrapped up in up and down emotions. But keeping it real with everything she says about herself at the same time. That's pretty much what I expected again going into this new project. I thought this album, while not as good as her debut, was still a good album. She sticks to her usual script content wise. Guy drama, self esteem issues, controversial "keeping it real" lyrics and yes fellas, plenty of sex talk. Pretty much the same deal from the last album. Although this time around she goes more in depth with these topics. Especially the relationship drama. Let's begin the break down:

1. Judge Me

She starts this album on a high note with some strong and powerful vocals. Singing about how she has flaws and is not perfect. Therefore you shouldn't judge her. In the hook she says " I know it's easy to point your finger at me/cause I say things that y'all think". This is exactly what I've been saying about her. How she's keeps it real. Speaks her mind and really does say things people think and are afraid to say. Overall this song was great. Loved this intro.

2. Love 'Em All

This is the first single and a very interesting one. This is one of those songs that has multiple meanings. It all depends on what you hear. To me it sounds like she's getting a joy out of playing dudes. They think that she loves them but she "loves them all" as the hook says. I don't know how most of you fellas will take this but I bet then females are getting a kick out of this. This is just another case of K. Michelle going where no other females dare to go. A very bold song to be a single.

3. Going Under

Here we speed things up. I love the old school hip hop inspired beat here. Props to Pop and Oak on the production. She seems to be singing about how she doesn't love to let her down again. I thought the hook was pretty cool as well. She does her own rendition of the classic line from Grandmaster Flash's "The Message" saying "it's like the journals of time it makes me wonder how I keep going under". Which makes sense considering the 80's hip hop sound this song has. Dope song overall.

4. Cry

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. That's the moral of this song. It's another topic where K. Michelle just speaks how she feels. In what kinda feels like a true story, she sings about getting revenge on him by cheating on him with one of his friends. How she's gonna let him "kiss her body, touch her body" and record it so he can see it. Damn. Most women think of doing this as revenge for everything their man has done to them. But barely any are this blunt about really doing it. Anyway, the vocals are fantastic here and the beat, though a bit slower, is also sharp. Great song. I'ma pray for that guy.

5. How Do You Know?

Nothing much here but a calming love ballad over mostly piano keys. I can hear a lot of pain and emotion here. Which isn't a surprise considering what's been going on on this album up to this point. Pretty decent song overall.

6. Hard To Do

This is one of my favorites of the album. First the beat. I love the drums and snares on it. I just love how well she rides this beat. Especially on the hook. Definitely one of the best beats on the album. Props to Soundz on the production. As far as the lyrics, she's wanting to make it up to her man for whatever it was she done by giving him good...loving we'll say. As a man, nothing is more entertaining then hearing K. Michelle's sex talk. I even liked the couple of bars she spit at the end. That was cute. But anyway, this had huge single potential and I hope it happens. This was great.

7. Maybe I Should Call

Here comes some more emotion. She singing about a man that she used to be with and how she wishes it could have lasted longer. She's still in love with him and is heartbroken that he has a wife and child now and probably has no chance of getting him back. But still contemplates calling him. This is a situation females and even some males could relate to if they were in a similar situation. It's a very difficult situation to go through. I was surprised to find out this was the second single. Doesn't really scream single to me. But whatever. I guess this is a story she wanted people to hear. It may be a true one.

8. Something About The Night

Alright fellas here we go. More sexy time with K. Michelle. This about how wild she likes to get at night after a few drinks and a few blunt hits. Wild as in horny and/or freaky. This song tricked me at first listen though. I'm thinking she's just talking about sexing up her dude until I listened again and heard one line..."is it your good looks or lips below that make me blow". Lips below? This is about...another woman? I mean not that I'm mad that this is possibly a lesbian fantasy song but that went over my head big time. Nowadays a lot of females it seems are into each other now so this song isn't that much of a surprise. We also just seen Keyshia Cole do something like this on her latest album. Overall, it's a cool uptempo song with a whole lot of kinky content.

9. Miss You, Goodbye

Okay fun is over now. Here some more guy drama. It's about how she misses this guy and how apart of her still loves him. But at the same time she remembers why she's left and isn't regretting leaving. Sound likes another complicated mess of a relationship. This is one of the more weaker songs for me on the album honestly. It will take a minute for this to grow on me to where I can at least call it decent.

10. Build A Man

Through some of these songs she's been on quite the emotional roller coaster dealing with men. But no songs shows a bigger out-pouring of emotion more than this. This is a six minute long track about all the men she has been involved with (even name drops a few). Talking about how they each had a different flaw that made the relationship fail. She's tired of not being able to find the perfect man with no flaws and wishes she could just build one. Build one using the good traits from past exes. I could tell that this really gets to her just by the tone of sadness in her voice. Not to mention a few lines like "so many men gave me a song to sing/but none of them gave me a ring". This is a story I've heard from plenty females. A lot of them go through this. Which is why I know for a fact someone is gonna relate to this heavy. The only issues I have with this song is it's length (which was kinda unnecessary) and the excessive hook. Especially towards the end. But other than that, it's a decent song. Very relatable for many.

11. Drake Would Love Me

Oh boy. Here we go. When the track list for this album released and people saw this song title, Twitter erupted. I myself couldn't wait to hear this either. Turns out this wasn't quite what I was expecting. It's a slow ballad where she seems to be crushing on Drake. Telling how their relationship would be, what she would do for him, what he would do for her and so on. She even ties in his hit songs on the hook ("I'd be the best he ever had", "he'd be on his best behavior", "he would make me so proud" and so on). This to me just makes me think of high school when you wrote your crush a love letter. But normally it's the guy writing it. Not this time. The song is cool I guess but I can't help but laugh a bit. Knowing him, I can only imagine what Drake will say (or record) as a response to this. If he responds at all. Hell if it was me, I'd see what's up. I can't imagine lover boy Drake turning down someone as fine as K. Michelle (especially considering the girl to girl jumping he's been doing lately but that's another story). Anyway, I'm sure everyone will get a kick out of this. I'm actually interested in seeing where this goes from here.

12. God I Get It

She closes this emotional roller coaster of an album with a testimonial. Talking to God. Admitting to all her faults, everything she's done wrong and how she's missing out on God's many blessings. As a few songs have already indicated, she not afraid to admit that she is not perfect and has plenty of flaws that need fixing. At the end of the day, asking God for guidance and support always helps. She does go through a lot. Almost too much. But she has great faith that things will get better for her. I believe they will as well. Great way to end this album.

Overall, I thought this was a solid sophomore project from K. Michelle. She shows again that while she may not be the best singer in the world or have the same kind of glitz and glam fame, she's ahead of them by being more real with who she is and speaking on what no one else would. I give this a final grade of a B. Like I said in the last review I did of hers, K. Michelle is R&B's #1 rebel. She doesn't follow the same blueprint of these other R&B chicks. She tells it how it should be told. She's not scared to say what the others won't say and "gives no fucks" what people may think. She is definitely cut from a different cloth. It's because of this, K. Michelle will have a long, long career. Of course, all of us fellas (and I guess some women) don't mind that at all. End.