1st Born Second
Riding in on aD'Angelo-spawned  wave of shivery voodoo groove, 22-year-old Bilal Oliver tries to flip  the neo-soul script on his long-awaited, oft-delayed debut. It's an  ambitious effort, a collection of 17 tracks on which this latest  inductee into the Soulquarians collective (who's made appearances onCommon'sLike Water for  ChocolateandGuru'sStreetsoul, and  produced tracks onErykah Badu'sMama's Gun) proves  he's worth his salt in hype. A host of A-list producers--Mike City,  James Poyser,Dr.  Dre(who rolls out a fine slice of funk on "Fast Lane"), and the  ubiquitous Raphael Saadiq (behind the slinky "Soul Sista," which first  appeared on theLove and Basketballsoundtrack)--provide  backing tracks that show off the young singer-songwriter's depth and  range. Equally at home in reggae riddims ("Home"), anguished balladry  ("When Will You Call"), and carnivalesque,Busta Rhymes-style  sardonics ("Sally"), Bilal wants to show us he can do it all, and winds  up spreading himself a bit thin at times. The best moments on the album  happen when the classically trained vocalist lands on solid, soulful  hooks (as on the sweetly aching melody of "All That I Am" or the  haunting hum of "Love Poems") that allow his limber pipes to swoop  gorgeously from gravelly basso to full-bodied falsetto, evoking shades  ofPrinceandMarvin Gayealong  the way.--Sylvia W. Chan