Bobby Valentino:
Bobby Valentino

Release Date: 25 April 2005

Reviewed By: Sophia Jackson

1. Some Bobby

2. Slow Down

3. Give Me A Chance - ft, Ludacris

4. Never Lonely

5. Mista Valentino - interlude

6. Tell Me

7. My Angel (Never Leave You)

8. Want You To Know Me

9. Gangsta Love

10. Come Touch Me

11. I'll Forgive You - interlude

12. I'll Forgive You

13. Love Dream

14. Lights Down Low

15. One Girl To Love

16. Thank You Lord - Outro

17. Slow Down remix - Bonus Track

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“I really need some Bobby, you really need some Bobby”. As the intro to Bobby Valentino’s [real name, Bobby Wilson] self-titled, debut album says, “We need some Bobby in our music collection.” Even if you only buy this album for the monster hit, ‘Slow Down’, it would be money well spent. Track number two of the solo artist’s album hogged the No.1 spot for five weeks in the U.S. Billboard Charts.

The preppy-dressing, Atlanta raised heartthrob proves he isn’t a one-hit wonder. From the age of 11, he used to sing on the school bus with friends and they used to get into trouble for it. Valentino is the first R&B act join Ludacris’, Disturbing Tha Peace [DTP] label and leaves some hard steps for others to follow. The college-graduate delivers a classic album for all R&B lovers with a romantic mix of sweet, love-making anthems and dance-floor fillers. You would imagine nothing less from the Piscean who got the nickname Valentino because he was supposed to have been born on St. Valentine’s Day.

With Chaka Zulu, Luda and Jeff Dixon as executive producers on his first solo effort, only the best could be expected. The former member of the group Mista, who had one hit in 1996 with ‘Blackberry Molasses’, took time out of the music industry to pursue his education. He wanted to learn about other aspects of the media industry, so studied Mass Communications at Clark Atlanta University, and before knocking on DTP’s doors, the dedicated writer was kitted with three albums’ worth of material.

The talented 23-year-old’s first album features Jagged Edge-sounding tracks like ‘Gangsta Love’ and ‘Give Me A Chance’ with Luda. ‘Tell Me’ is sure to be a summer hit with a wicked baseline for pumping in the car or nightclub. ‘Angel’ is a beautifully penned song about ‘the one’. (I want my husband-to-be [he’s out there somewhere], to play this in the background when he proposes to me!) With lyrics like “I’ll never leave you, you’re my best friend/ In this to the end, I’d die for you”, it’s enough to make your heart melt. It’s also the perfect prelude to some love-making action.

Valentino’s future girlfriends can rest reassured by listening to powerful and soothing lyrics on ‘I’ll Forgive You’. Even though the lady almost “destroys” him, he just needs more time. What a sweetie. Ladies, Bobby had a special lady in mind when he wrote this album and it wasn’t you, sorry. In the ‘Thank You’ section of the CD sleeve, he does the regular, ‘I’d like to thank my family, my friends, etc’ and then like a slap in the face, he slips in at the end that a lot of the songs are for Halle Berry.

Bitterness aside, Mr Valentino’s got some impressive lyrics and vocals to match on a great, soulful album which will keep ladies and gentleman entertained from intro to outro.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Top Three Tracks:
2) Slow Down
3) Give Me A Chance
11) I’ll Forgive You

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