Ashanti puts her best foot forward on CONCRETE ROSE, but it's not quite big enough to fill the R&B Diva shoes she so clearly longs for. Everything about this, her third album, is just so-so.

Starting with the singing, Ashanti's pleasantly adequate voice is carefully and electronically enhanced by her production team, who should get the lion's share of credit for anything good about CONCRETE ROSE. Her vocal limitations are beautifully disguised, but it becomes obvious after a while that this young woman just doesn't have the power or passion necessary to hold her own among many of her phenomenally talented contemporaries. There's a sweetness and a bit of style, but not much else.

Move on to the songs, which are also pleasantly adequate. Filled with repetitions and clichés, they just aren't all that interesting. A few lovely, beautifully produced songs are surrounded by filler.

And then the lyrics: a few gratuitous uses of the "n" word, with no apparent redeeming social message; the rest is either sap or glossy sexual innuendo -- nothing original or amazing enough to get excited about. The package includes inserts advertising debit cards and video players, and the references to jail time and gangsta life feel obligatory and forced.

Let's hope this young artist is allowed to keep growing, and growing up.