David “Davinci” Chance and Dante “Chi” Jordan better known as R&B duo, Ruff Endz are back on the scene with their new album Rebirth via the SoNo Recording Group. The duo opens up their fifth album with the up-tempo bop “Party Over Here” which finds the duo paying mixing a bit of EDM with soul. Now while I’m not a fan of EDM, the vocals and production on the song make it a solid opener.
“All Of My Love” is up next and finds the group paying homage to Guy’s “Piece of My Love”. I liked the old-school vibe of this one and hope they push it as a single. In fact, it would be great to hear a mash-up of “All of My Love” and “Piece Of My Love” with the added vocals of the Nasty Man himself, Mr. Aaron Hall.
“Running Through My Mind” and “Be The One” are up next, which finds the group experimenting with autotune. Some of the group’s day one fans may have an issue with the duo trying to appear to a more youthful audience. In hindsight, I fall into that category, as I know both members can actually sing. Thankfully, the songs do not go too far left and will please fans of the group.
“Congratulations” is one of the strongest songs on the album and is single-worthy. Here the men sing about moving on from lost love. While “Sorry” is about a man professing his feelings for a new relationship while letting her know, that not all men are the same. You know it is not an R&B album without a sexy slow jam and the duo delivers the goods on “Overnight”.
The track finds Ruff Endz sampling the Jodeci classic “My Heart Belongs To You” and putting a Baltimore spin on it. The bedroom grooves continue on “Your Body” and “Slow” both of which will serve ear candy to fans of nineties R&B. Ruff Endz closes out their latest project with the sentimental ballad “Only One I See”.
Rebirth is a solid entry in the Ruff Endz catalog. While the duo never reaches the heights of their signature songs “No More” and “Someone to Love You”, there is enough winning material here for fans of nineties-styled R&B.
Top Songs: “Congratulations”, “All Of My Love”, “Overnight”
Final Grade: B-