First Lady

The world may owe Faith Evans, the former first lady of Bad Boy Records, one massive and eternal shout out. Years after surviving Notorious B.I.G. in marriage and in death (the couple was separated prior to his untimely murder), Faith suffered a much-publicized drug-related arrest and rehab stint prior to going into the studio to record her first record for her new label, Capitol Records. Faith elegantly shoves her infamous history out of the spotlight for The First Lady, her first album away from her longtime home Bad Boy Records, and pushes forth what is arguably the strongest, purest, and most polished record of her career. This project (along with her recent, notable collaborations with greats like Puffy and Kweli) will push her into an echelon that includes some of our best, and most timeless, jazz and soul singers: Diana, Jill Scott, Mary J. Blige, and Erykah. It's long since time that this long-suffering lady of soul gets her due, and on this record, she more than earns it.

She faces her doubters and the press straight away with "Again," The First Lady's chilling debut single where she shrugs it all off gracefully with tempered resolve. An anthem for survivor's everywhere, it's less a monologue about her checkered past and more an ode to the power of self-absolution. She kick starts the album with the Neptunes-produced "Goin' Out," a definitive "girlie" club jam. She has never sounded better than she does on the album's show stopper "Mesmerized," a modern soul classic co-written by husband Todd Russaw where she completely exorcizes her inner Prince.

Evans allows herself to fall back more on her classical vocal training, and on most of The First Lady, she hovers over the melodies and hugs the rhythms of these songs like a jazz singer. This is entirely true on the jazzy, mid-tempo "Stop N Go," where she chastises her subject for fading away "Like Jordan/ Then you cross me over/ When you come back again." She croons divinely on the funk-tastic "I Don't Need It," and she hooks up radio friendly fare with old friends Jermaine Dupri (who produced and co-wrote the supa-sweet "Tru Love") and Mario Winans ("Ever Wonder"). She channels Dinah Washington on the deliciously soulful "Catching Feelings," a song about a much younger paramour, and a track where her voice is crisp and pitch-perfect.

Faith has made a comeback album that outclasses most of her contemporaries and stands as an important lesson for the younger sisters who could stand to learn a thing or two from this remarkable singer (yes, Beyonc￩, even you). She has always had a voice that outshines anything that comes near it (probably why she got her start as a back up singer) and on The First Lady, this first class songwriter and arranger gives her top shelf voice its due. So, many shout outs to Ms. Evans -- surely, she has them coming to her.

By Rachel Parker