Chain Letter (by Brooke Valentine, Hip-hop)

Brooke Valentine's voice evokes a young Diana Ross without the benefit of a brilliant producer's (Berry Gordy's) clear aesthetic vision. CHAIN LETTER is musically all over the place. What may be meant to come across as versatility ends up sounding like a mish-mash of styles performed by a talented young woman in dire need of some thoughtful production. The musical high points also happen to be the bits that will make parents cringe the most: cameos by Li'l Jon and Big Boi from Outkast; the songs "Girlfight" (infectious and danceable) and "I Want You Dead" (let's be honest -- we've all felt that way at times). But there just aren't enough high points, nor enough consistent sound or vision, to make this a great album.

Brooke Valentine's voice, unfortunately, isn't nearly as versatile as her wide swath of musical choices, and as a result some songs are far more successful than others. Even worse, most of the tracks suffer from tediously uninspired arrangements. The artist's breathy, baby-doll voice is pretty, but not forceful enough to make up for a whole lot of insipid instrumentation.

Released on: April 12, 2005
Label: Virgin Records
Genre: Hip-hop
Parental advisory: Yes
Edited version available: Yes