New Music Reviews - Home of DJ Willis

“Twenty-plus years later, does he still make us sweat? That’s the appropriate question to ask about “Just Me,” Keith Sweat’s first set of new material in six years. He knows how to surprise but, ultimately, chooses to do what we know him for best. The album’s fresh moment is “Somebody,” a love ballad that starts with rapper Chris “F.L.O.” Conner declaring, “By popular demand, he’s back!,” samples Blue Magic’s “What’s Come Over Me” and finds Sweat singing entirely (and out of character) in falsetto. From there, however, Sweat reverts to the languid tempos, explicit bedroom talk and layered, interwoven vocals that are the New Jack’s screed. Some reunions mark the set as well; Sweat hitmaker Teddy Riley co-wrote and produced “The Floor,” while former Kut Klose singer Athena Cage, Sweat’s duet partner on 1996’s “Nobody,” takes another turn on “Butterscotch.”—Gary Graff”