Yesterday, The-Dream hosted a private listening session at Jungle City Studios in New York City for his upcoming album IV Play. Mr. Terius Nash was gracious enough to extend us the invite to get a sneak peak of what is certainly one of the most highly anticipated albums of the summer. The follow up to 2011’s Terius Nash: 1977, which was a heavy and deeply emotional project, marks a return to the sound The-Dream is most known for: captivating, immaculately polished, baby-making R&B. The album’s final track listing and sequencing hasn’t been finalized, but we heard enough to give you a taste of what you can expect when IV Play arrives next month.—Sean Ryon

The Dream 2
loading...

PRODUCTION:

IV Play’s production is engrossing, a diverse patchwork of sounds and styles that remain cohesive throughout. Songs like the slow rolling “New Orleans”, the instantly seductive “Michael” and the pristine “High Art” employ modern hip-hop tropes of rattling snares, screwed vocals and booming 808 kicks, while others like “Where Have You Been” featuring Kelly Rowland adhere to more traditional R&B stylings. Two songs in particular that best capture the marriage of hip-hop and R&B here are “Too Early in the Morning”, which crosses Houston-screw with elements of old school soul music, and “Fi (Fire)”, which transforms a samped-based beat with hip-hop leanings into a sultry duet. 

The Dream 3
loading...

SUBJECT MATTER:

A return to his pre-1977 base, IV Play tip-toes the line between romance and in-your-face raunchiness, the latter songs being the most fun. Songs like “Michael” and “IV Play” see Nash toss subtlety out the window with lines hooks comprised of “Fuck a love song, I need to fuck you” and “I could give a fuck about the foreplay, I want it now/ I’m talking straight to sex, shawty/Stop fucking around” respectively. The songs with more personal connections like “Self Conscious”, “Divine” and “Where Have You Been” work too. It’s this duality that make The-Dream such an engaging artist, who manages to evoke an emotional response to his songs, regardless of what approach he takes.

The Dream 4
loading...

FEATURES:

The version of “High Art” played yesterday was left with some room for a Jay-Z verse that’s on the way. Destiny’s Child groupmates Beyonce and Kelly Rowland compete for Dream collaboration supremacy with “Fi (Fire)” and “Where Have You Been”. We give Kelly’s a slight edge in an upset for the ages. Mary J Blige appears ever so softly on “Divine” and then there’s “Dope Bitch” featuruing Pusha T and “Slow It Down” featuring Fabolous, but you already knew about those two.   

image
loading...

OVERALL:

The-Dream’s role in the direction of contemporary R&B in recent years cannot be overstated. Early listens of IV Play would suggest that Nash isn’t just a pioneer, but an artist who’s still very much at the forefront. The production, the songwriting, the radio-ready singles. They’re all there. Final mixes and sequencing will likely make IV Play that much better. It’s in stores May 28th through Def Jam Records.

More From XXL