Gerald Levert - G-Spot (2002)

When it comes to classic R&B ballads and sexy grooves, Gerald Levert is the best in the business. Gerald has sold over eight million albums, and his most recent solo album, Gerald's World, was his highest charting album to date. He has had more than ten Top Ten R&B hits, and he has written, produced, or both, fourteen #1 R&B hits for himself and for an all-star list of today's top R&B and pop artists. He has won a NAACP Image Award and he's been a Grammy nominee. Always a brilliant live performer, Gerald's concert tours consistently pack the house everywhere he goes. On his new album The G Spot, he takes a very personal look at passion, love, and life, and, as always, his powerful voice is the main attraction.

Most of us have had real-life kisses that felt less sexy than Gerald Levert's best soul songs. On the unabashedly sensual The G Spot, Levert creates music so intimate that you almost want to turn you head away from the stereo to give the man some privacy. That's absolutely true of the title track, which graphically illustrates how Levert pleases his lady, while reenacting his own release. You don't hear that every day, but it's easy to forgive the chart-topping singer, songwriter, and producer such titillating excess, because the rest of the disc is so damn good. The slow-grooving "Funny" paints smirking come-hither lyrics across a lazy swell of strings and a wheezing organ. Album highlight "Raindrops" is a fleet-footed classic, its chiming chorus forming a pop hook sharp enough to carve alabaster. Only the first song, "Too Much Room," featuring rapper Mystikal, and the finger-snapping doo-wop charmer "Your Smile" depart from the cozy R&B template that is Levert's calling card, but even on those, Levert's deep, almost textured voice is spellbinding. These are swoon tunes second to none. --Kim Hughes