Block Music
Shawnna, daughter of the inimitable blues legend Buddy Guy, is meant to be huge; base that on tracks like "Damn"--as fine an ode to bootyliciousness as listeners far removed from the block will ever trip across--and the puff-chested, big-banging title track. But early boosts from BET aside (the kind that may be inevitable when DTP, Pharrell, Ludacris, Lil Wayne, Too Short, 8 Ball, Bobby Valentino, and world-class daddy Guy line up as insurance against a sophomore slump) Shawnna still feels like a best-kept secret--a hard-nosed, downhome chip off her old block. Late-disc surprises such as "Can't Break Me" and "In the Chi" trade in the grit for go-deep truth-telling, and they're bolstered by production that feels snap-tight in some places and billowy in others. Fourteen tracks in, the effect is somehow intimate, as if only block-centric types should be allowed a listen, but through skill alone, Shawnna's made room on the stoop for the whole world.--Tammy La Gorce