Rebirth - Blender

Review

Rebirth

(Elektra)
Release Date: 08/13/2002 12:00

Keith Sweat’s 1987 debut, Make It Last Forever, created a sensation with its new-jack-swing blend of soul crooning and hip-hop beats. Eight albums later, the 41-year-old Sweat is no longer a new jack, and while his sex-obsessed ballads still show an eagerness to swing, his limp sound needs a little musical Viagra. Rebirth starts off strong, thanks to the old-school funk of “I Want You,” and occasionally — as with the strutting, push-and-pull groove of “100%” — evokes the he-man sizzle that originally earned Sweat his rep. But much of his funk seems forced, while the slow-grind ballad “One on One” verges on self-parody. Sad, that.

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