Issues
Leave it to the guys who brought you the 1995 classic "My Love Is the Shhh!" to slap the "don't-want-no-scrubs" and  "bills-bills-bills" girls upside the head. On their third album, Sauce, Fuzzy, and Cat  Daddy lay down a high-gloss, groove-heavy gang of tracks that show off  their talents as some of R&B's most skilled producers (they've  helmed hits forWill  Smith,Eric  Benet, andBrandy). They also give voice to the macho  R&B backlash that's been brewing sinceErykah Badusaid "you better call Tyrone."  "Bitch with No Man" is SFP's slickly packaged anti-pigeons  tongue-lashing. This slow-burn ballad somehow comes off as an effective  powerhouse ghetto hymn even as it smacks of misogyny. But the album's  high points--the sincere plea of "Can We Make Love," the noble social  commentary on "Things Must Change," and the simply beautiful, aching  honesty of "I Apologize" (featuring Eric Benet)--almost make up for all  the cattiness, and provide some lasting tracks that will resonate long  after SFP'sIssuesaren't issues anymore.--Sylvia W. Chan