A mature attempt

Royalty
Chris Brown
RCA Records, Rs. 448

Chris Brown began his careers as a teen sensation. He could move like Michael Jackson and sing like Usher. Royalty, his seventh album, is named after his daughter Royalty, and it demonstrates a more mature singer.

However, the lyrics of many songs are explicit and cynical about women — a far cry from someone who was portrayed as a young innocent singer in his earlier albums. Broadly, the album has two distinct sounds — the pop vibe to appeal to a mass audience, and the staple for his R&B fans.

The album begins with “Back to Sleep”, a hypnotic R&B fare but with rather explicit and tasteless lyrics. It appears that Brown needs to make up his mind whether to be a singer, rapper or a pop artiste. “Anyway,” and “Fine by Me” have pop elements.

“Wrist” is that trap song featuring Solo Lucci with a rap verse, and has the normal trap song features. Trap music is a music genre that originated in the early 1990s. It is typified by its aggressive lyrics and sound, where the instrumentals are propelled by kick drums and heavy bass-lines.

While “Make love” is a slow R&B jam, “Little Bit” has a catchy melody and “No filter” has some upbeat funk. “Zero” is a snub to a former girlfriend (“How many nights I’ve been thinking of you? Zero). Brown borrows on Janet Jackson’s sensual rhythms on “Discover.” “Proof” is a song about a breakup and trying to convince the girl not to leave.

The closing song “Little More (Royalty)” is an ode to his daughter, whose joint custody he won recently. Enjoyable in parts, this album lacks thematic and musical coherence.