Chain Letter 2005 Album

Brooke Valentine

Brooke Valentine's one and only studio album opens with two decent bangers and the best moments are in the first third. All of the first five songs offer something and some enjoyable variety. It starts to falter for a few tracks from the Dupri assisted and co-produced 'Playa' though where it does fall into the crowd of everything else in mainstream R&B from the era this was released in. When the hate-filled 'I Want You Dead' came on, I thought the album had finished and moved on to another release. It sounds quite different, with its baroque pop vibe, than what you'd expect to find on most R&B albums like this in the mid '00s. 'American Girl' sounds a little different as well. There's a Spanish verse on 'Million Bucks' from the featured artist, Queenz Deliz, that I don't see the point of being here. There's nothing amazing from Brooke, but I don't dislike anything either, and there is some variety and some different sounds. She deserved a second album. Best Tracks: Girlfight, Taste of Dis, Long As You Come Home, Cover Girl, Dying of a Broken Heart