The-Dream - Love King (2010) [Def Jam] // Grade: A-

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: a platinum-selling artist on a major label, arguably at the height of their commercial peak, abruptly decides to call it quits after their third album. From the Game to Lupe Fiasco, this story has been a quizzically well-worn one in music over the last 5 or 6 years. While these artists rarely ever seem to officially “retire” from music, you can now add Terius Nash, better known as The-Dream, to that list. After years as a successful songwriter and producer and the two best R&B albums released in the last 5 years (2007’s Love/Hate and 2009’s Love vs. Money), it seems The-Dream’s also decided to hang it up for the day.

Even if it’s just a marketing ploy, the thought of losing an artist as ubiquitous as The-Dream is a scary one. Even if you’ve never heard a song by The-Dream (and if you haven’t, you’re losing), you’ve heard a song he’s penned or produced. As genius as tracks like Rihanna’s “Umbrella” and Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” have been, The-Dream’s best output has come on his solo albums, where he and his partners in crime, producers Tricky Stewart and L.O.S., have been the ones writing, producing, and performing all the tracks, which are heavily indebted to R. Kelly, Prince, and Timbaland (usually in like a 50-20-30 ratio). Love/Hate was a head-turning debut, with highlights like the piano-driven “Shawty is da Shit” proclaiming that you should let your woman make you eggs and grits in the morning, and the “Red Corvette”-aping, extended metaphor “Fast Car” really showing off some personality, creativity, fun, and flat-out skill The-Dream and his associates possess when crafting great R&B. If Love/Hate was the promising debut, his sophomore effort Love vs. Money became his undisputed classic. While he was still throwing out some of the more ridiculous lines you’ll ever hear on a track this side of Robert Kelly (he’ll get “all up on you like a monster truck”, be careful), the album was impeccably sequenced and possessed a surprising emotional core, hinting at a more introspective and mature Terius Nash.

So what would happen with the awesomely titled Love King? A continuing maturation from LvM, or a throwback to the more fun and light L/H? Well, the answer (of course), is a mix of both. The opening title track is one of the best singles of the year, essentially a meta-remix of “Shawty is da Shit”, in that it’s another track featuring a beautiful piano line and listing a bunch of random girls The-Dream’s got around the world. As simple as it sounds, The-Dream’s draw has never been his lyrical prowess, though that’s part of the fun. His strength as an artist lies in his ability to combine melodies and harmonies into a complex net of saccharine sweet deliciousness that worms its way into your brain and stays there. From his little ad-libs of “Ay!” and “radio killaaaaaa” to the “Oooh-wa” on the bridge, everything is precisely laid out in the song to build it into something great. This happens time and again throughout Love King. From the minimalist sex jam “Sex Intelligent” to the hilarious fuck-off track “Florida University”, everything falls into place perfectly, but is never as heavy or dense as it first seems. This is a summer album, after all. Even when the 3-song arc in the middle of the album, featuring album highlights “Yamaha”, “Nikki Pt. 2”, and “The Abyss”, threatens to take the album down the more emotional path of LvM, it’s quickly railroaded (for better or worse) by another sex jam, “Panties to the Side”.

If you’ve heard The-Dream before, you know what you’re getting into with this album. There’s nothing as jaw-dropping as “Fancy” on here and the two guest turns, from T.I. and Jeezy, don’t match the great verses Fabulous and Kanye dropped on his first two albums. But even rehashing his own material, The-Dream’s still done enough to make it sound fresh. Plus, if you can’t get with a guy who starts off the remix of “Sex Intelligent” by singing “she wants me to remix/this dumb shit” or seriously sings the word “stalkerish” in a love song, then I’m sorry, you just suck. It’d be a damn shame if we never heard from The-Dream again, but even on this album he hints at a fourth album, so I think we’re safe. Grab your woman or your guy, blast this, and let it ride out. This shit is perfect for these hot summer months.

- Walkmasterflex