Faith Evans
The First Lady
The liner notes to Faith Evans’ first album since 2001 thank a dizzying array of people. They include, for some reason, Shooter Jennings. It’s hard to imagine exactly what common ground the widow of Notorious B.I.G. found with the son of Waylon Jennings. It’s the sort of tidbit that prompts a scramble through the rest of the CD booklet to see if the country scion contributed to any of the songs. Well, he didn’t contribute. Plenty of others did, though, including Pharrell Williams, Mario Winans and Twista. They’re surely nice to have, as marquee names go. They’re also completely unnecessary, because Evans doesn’t need any help on “The First Lady.” It’s a strong collection of R&B tunes that digs into her personal troubles for material.
Best track: “Again,” which employs a vintage ’70s sample as Evans makes references her 2004 arrest on drug charges.
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Edited by Cara DiPasquale ([email protected]) and Kris Karnopp ([email protected])