Singer Songwriter’s Mediocre Follow-up | The-Dream 'Love vs. Money' CD Review

After penning 2007s biggest number 1 summer single, “Umbrella,” for Rihanna, Mariah Carey’s 18th number 1 single “Touch My Body,” Beyonce’s number 1 female anthem “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It),” and the release of his debut album Love Hate (Love Me All Summer, Hate Me All Winter), Terius Nash commonly known as The-Dream found time to work on his sophomore project.

“Let Me See The Booty,” a track produced by Atlanta heavyweight, Lil Jon, was initially listed to jumpstart Love vs. Money. The not so radio friendly song had little to no impact on radio & charts, subsequently becoming seen as the album’s promotional single.

Officially setting off the project was the single, “Rockin’ That Sh*t.” With enough personality to keep fans singing and rhythm to keep them dancing, it managed to peak at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 (as of March 21st, 2009s charting week). The official remix includes an all-star group of Hip Hop artists, including Fabolous, Juelz Santana, Rick Ross, and Ludacris. Though the remix features the exact same instrumental as the original and limited vocals from The-Dream, each rapper adds their own persona to make the track even more addictive than before.

Following “Rockin’ That Sh*t,” becoming an R&B hit, The-Dream decided to release the Pop flavored “My Love.” Past collaborator Mariah Carey, definitely adds to the appeal of the duet. The mid-tempo single “My Love,” currently rising up the Hot 100 has the potential to become The-Dream’s biggest Pop hit, as a singer and songwriter.

On the supposed future single, “Walking On The Moon,” The-Dream brings along rapper Kanye West. The songs Dance Pop feel mixed with a verse from West help make the song more enjoyable and perfect for the dance floor. The-Dream illustrates his love, as he states, “I’ll pull down a cloud for you, I'll circle the stars and bring you and back, I'll walk through the sun for you.” A song that was quite different for the singer songwriter, but certainly something he and West handled well together.

The-Dream constructs slick, unique love songs on Love vs. Money such as “Kelly’s 12 Play.” He even ends the song with a bit of self promotion, “now we doin’ it, to Dreams Love Hate.” Also managing catchy songs, like “Mr. Yeah.” Where The Dream announces how he is the perfect can do it all, type of guy.

Despite the fact, that The-Dream is a great songwriter and has the stats to prove it; lyrically he manages to get lost throughout Love vs. Money. While you can expect to hear extraordinary production on the majority of Love vs. Money, the issue is that many songs don’t allow The-Dream’s little vocal range to outshine the production. In turn making certain songs sound rather similar vocally. Nevertheless the album is filled with a great deal of sexually charged R&B, which will have classic R&B fans craving more of The-Dreams uniquely written music.

Songs to hear:
2. "Rocking That Sh*t"
3. "Walking On The Moon" [featuring Kanye West]
4. "My Love" [featuring Mariah Carey]
5. "Put It Down"
12. "Mr. Yeah"
13. "Kelly's 12 Play"
* "Rockin' That Sh*t" [Remix] [featuring Fabolous, Juelz Santana, Rick Ross, & Ludacris]