On "I Don't Wanna," Aaliyah (who's also the film's star) pillow-talks her way through the new jack ballad as if she were snuggled in the soothing splendors of a hot bubble bath. Declaring her unwillingness to live without her man, she croons the words of the song, alternating between a breathless daddy's-girl naïveté and the throaty vibrato of a grown woman's heartache. The disc has much of what you'd expect from a hip-hop-driven movie soundtrack -- fairly good production, with a beats-du-jour tunesmith like Missy Elliott's Tim "Timbaland" Mosley at the helm, and a crew of hit-hungry young rappers for him to play with, such as Mack 10, B.G. from Cash Money, Dave Hollister, Confidential, and Blade. Problem is, when paired up with Mosley's hip-hop-as-pop recipe of bouncy arrangements, halting beats, and quirky synth effects, most of these C+ rhyme-droppers come off uninspired, lacking the alpha-dog charisma of DMX, who takes control of things in his duet with Aaliyah on "Come Back in One Piece." Mosley does manage to do himself a decent turn, trading words with partner Magoo on "We at It Again." But the rest of the tracks, with the exception of Aaliyah's "Try Again" and "Are You Feelin' Me," could easily be mistaken for anything concurrently found on urban radio. ~ Derrick Mathis, All Music Guide
-
Hot 100
Gotye tops again
-
Billboard 200
Adam Lambert rules
-
Dance/Club Songs
Karmin's 'Brokenhearted' rises
-
Digital Songs
Carly Rae Jepsen scores
-
Soundtracks
The 'Glee' cast rocks it
-
Social 50
Rihanna is social queen
-
Dance/Electronic Albums
Skrillex nabs No. 1
-
Country Albums
Carrie Underwood blows us away
-
Rock Albums
Tenacious D 'Rizes' to the top
-
Rap Albums
Nicki Minaj takes the top spot
Romeo Must Die - Original Soundtrack
More Features
All features
All of Billboard.com's Great Lists
Billboard chart app
Billboard archives
© Billboard. All rights reserved.
Portions of content provided by Rovi Corporation. © Rovi Corporation.
Thanks For Joining Billboard
Log in to create your profile, speak your mind and connect with listeners like you.
Haven't Joined Yet ?
For the full Billboard experience, you need to be a member. Sign up. It's free.
Forgot your password?
Enter the e-mail address you used to sign up and we will email you the password .
Email Sent !
Your password has been sent to the email address you provided. Please sign in below :
Log In
Action Successful
We'd love to hear your feedback on the new Billboard.com!
Whether it's a feature request or a bug
We want to hear from you. Please use this form to anonymously give us your input.
Up for Discussion