Notes & Personnel Info |  | Personnel: Craig Love, Gregg Landfair (guitar); Chris De La Fuente "Red" (acoustic guitar); Kendrick "Wyldcard" Dean (strings); Bryan-Michael Cox (piano, keyboards, drums, programming); Wali Ali, Rodney East (keyboards); Abel Garibaldi, Andy Gallas, Ian Mereness (programming); Jonathon "Lil' Jon" Smith (drum programming). | | Audio Mixers: John Frye; Aaron Renner; Dave Russell ; Jonathon "Lil' Jon" Smith; Phil Tan; Richard Furch. | | Editor: Aaron Renner. | | Photographer: Anthony Mandler. | | Arranger: R. Kelly. | | On his fourth studio outing, 2006's two-disc ALTER EGO, R&B singer/actor Tyrese Gibson presents a collection divided between smooth, romantic slow jams (performed as "Black Ty") and more upbeat, hip-hop-oriented tunes. Highlights of the ambitious release include the sensual "Turn Ya Out" and "One," where Tyrese makes an uncharacteristic appeal for monogamy, as well as the funky "Roll Tha Dice," a slice of West Coast rap featuring none other than Snoop Dogg. Although Tyrese spent much of the time after '02's I WANNA GO THERE focusing on his movie career (2 FAST 2 FURIOUS, FOUR BROTHERS), ALTER EGO resoundingly proves that the former model is still committed to making music. | | Whether you've been a fan of Tyrese the VJ, Tyrese the model, Tyrese the actor, Tyrese the singer, or any combination thereof, one glance at the two-disc Alter Ego is likely to provoke a question or two. On the front of the package, a stone-faced Tyrese is "Tyrese (aka Black-Ty)," and this is meant to indicate that disc one offers more of Tyrese's sensitive (if swaggering) R&B. On the back of the package, a stone-faced Tyrese puts on a pair of sunglasses and transforms into (dun-dun-dun) "Black-Ty (aka Tyrese)," indicating that disc two is very different from disc one. With rare exception, disc one is indistinct seduction material, and little of it compares to either of Tyrese's first two albums. On disc two, Black-Ty is an indistinguishable amalgam of at least a dozen big-name rappers (some of whom even guest here), but the disc itself happens to be more distinct than the first because it is so bad, with many of the guests on the verge of self-parody as Black-Ty serves up verse after verse of clumsy, inarticulate, and relentlessly over-the-top rhymes. It's all a put-on, and it ends up making the first disc -- which, at the least, sounds relatively natural and sincere -- seem like an act as well. [A 'clean' edition of the album appeared in 2006.] ~ Andy Kellman | | Whether you've been a fan of Tyrese the VJ, Tyrese the model, Tyrese the actor, Tyrese the singer, or any combination thereof, one glance at the two-disc Alter Ego is likely to provoke a question or two. On the front of the package, a stone-faced Tyrese is "Tyrese (aka Black-Ty)," and this is meant to indicate that disc one offers more of Tyrese's sensitive (if swaggering) R&B. On the back of the package, a stone-faced Tyrese puts on a pair of sunglasses and transforms into (dun-dun-dun) "Black-Ty (aka Tyrese)," indicating that disc two is very different from disc one. With rare exception, disc one is indistinct seduction material, and little of it compares to either of Tyrese's first two albums. On disc two, Black-Ty is an indistinguishable amalgam of at least a dozen big-name rappers (some of whom even guest here). At the least, the first disc sounds relatively natural and sincere; the second sounds more like a put-on. [A 'clean' edition of the album appeared in 2006.] ~ Andy Kellman |
Producer: Bryan Michael Cox; Kendrick 'Wyldcard' Dean; Antonio Dixon; C. "Tricky" Stewart; J. Que; Eric Dawkins; Wali Ali; Jonathan "Lil' Jon" Smith; Mannie Fresh; R. Kelly; Scott Storch; Dewayne Swan |
Engineer: Kuk Harrell; Aaron Renner; Bram Tobey; Conrad Golding; J. Que; Mark Vinten; Aaron "Swamp" Holland; Abel Garibaldi; Sam Thomas; Andy Gallas; Ian Mereness; Richard Furch |
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