Gifted Songwriter Hits Sour Note With Debut Album

By Gregory Brand Jr.
Black College Wire

Popular songwriter Terius "The Dream" Nash decided to step into the recording booth and drop a collection of his very own material with the debut disk, "Love/Hate." The result ends up being closer to a nightmare.

www.defjam.com The Dream

Known for his repetitive hooks and less-than-clever word play, he does not deviate too far from his usual formula.

The album is riddled with mindless dribble about sex and relationships, but few of the tracks show thought-provoking glimpses into these themes.

The Dream is good at making a danceable single, evidenced by his debut hit, Shawty is a 10.

Listeners had an opportunity to hear a seemingly impromptu and fun, though repetitive, track about a cute girl that has grown into a 'perfect woman.'

The Dream also scores with the luscious follow up, Falsetto, where he stretches his slim vocals into a sensuous sex ballad on which he brags about his bedroom skill.

When it comes to stepping outside of the box, he must be commended. I can honestly say a lot of the tracks here sound almost totally original.

The Dream even channels a little Prince here with his high-pitched tone and slow grinding music.

Realistically, it is hard to categorize the guy because he spends almost equal time half singing and half talking. Think T-Pain with less flavor and musicality.

While the album has plenty of dance tracks and slow grind gems, lyrically he is a little limited. The subject matter doesn't vary at all and listeners will take notice.

From beginning to end, the album bounces between sex songs and him plotting on stealing someone else's girl.

Fellas out there looking for a new voice with which to woo their women should look elsewhere, because this dude is foul. He not only wants your girl's sex, he wants to humiliate you in the process and ultimately take her from you.

Less than memorable tracks, Playing in Her Hair, Ditch That and She Needs My Love, all deal with taking somebody. I guess finding your own is out of style.

While this isn't a blaring red flag for some people, it really is the only thing he is talking about, and while doing so he repeats himself over and over.

Production and song construction are clearly the strongest parts of this album. While at best he is an average writer, the music is well done and just plain cool.

There is an in-the-club feel to the album that blends the tracks and keeps the shallow themes nicely embedded.

Having penned tracks for the likes of Mary J, J. Holiday and Rihanna, it is no surprise he has a knack for good sounding songs.

The question is, will listeners forget that good-sounding music can also have a point?

Coming in at a slim 13 tracks, the album is a little too short to suck. Too bad it fails to do much more than that. Of the 13 songs, only one other track is worthy of a mention in a good regard.

Bottom Line: Production and the overall music are great. Just don't expect anything more from The Dream. Grade: C

Reviews represent the opinions of the individual writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Black College Wire.

Gregory Brand Jr. writes for The Meter, Tennessee State University's student newspaper, which originally published a version of this article.

Posted Feb. 4, 2008