Soul singer and songwriter Brian McKnight managed to connect with hip-hop and R&B as well as with the nu-soul of the mid-nineties during his career. Decisive in McKnight's successful career are the musical collaborations he entered into with star producers such as R Kelly and Puff Daddy. In the Netherlands he is one of the lesser gods, but in America he belongs to the absolute top. On his sixth
… studio album (his third for Motown) there is no noticeable change of direction. Once again, the soulful songs are provided with solid hip-hop beats and at strategic points offer well-known colleagues such as rapper Nelly and R&B singers Tyrese and Joe vocal counterplay. Anyone who can listen through the fashionable production varnish layer will hear a technically very gifted singer, who can also convince witness The Rest Of My Life a cappella. In the closing duet One Of The One's Who Did with gospel singer Kirk Franklin, both singers pray for their fellow countrymen on the battlefield in Iraq, involved in a war that was yet to begin at the time of recording, but which was now a reality with the release of this album. is. (MS)more