#30 - Phil

The-Dream

Love vs. Money

2009

If I had to admit which genre of pop music I like the least, it would probably be R&B. Occasionally there will be a song I love, such as Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love” last year which I consider my second favorite single of the decade – just ahead of Franz Ferdinand’s “Take Me Out” at #3. But it is extremely rare for me to latch onto an entire album of this music. The-Dream’s Love vs. Money is one of those rare exceptions. I first heard of The-Dream this year when I read a review for his album in Rolling Stone that mentioned he wrote both Rihanna’s “Umbrella” and Beyonce’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” – and that was enough to garner my attention as those were two of the catchiest singles of their respective years.

Like I said, it’s so rare for an entire R&B album to maintain its consistency with me. But there’s not a track on Love vs. Money that couldn’t be a Top-20 single. And on top of that, The-Dream is somehow able to arrange these songs in a way that creates an amazingly cohesive yet varied-sounding record. The first three tracks – “Rockin’ That Shit,” “Walkin’ on the Moon,” and “My Love,” – form the perfect trio of upbeat, booty-shaking jams that lead into the album’s more artistic and conceptualized center. Some of these middle tracks are straight-up hilarious; “Sweat It Out” pushes sexual distastefulness to new heights: “Just call Atisha (a tissue) your beautician / ‘Cause your hair is goin’ need fixin, yeah…” But many of them are simply sensationally-produced numbers that come together to form really interesting stories, such as the brilliant back-to-back set “Love vs. Money Parts I and II,” that represent the album’s point-of-no-return. Today’s pop music at its finest. -P.W.

R&B music is something I never gave the time of day. Lately, though, I’ve really enjoyed folks like Rihanna and Justin Timberlake with Good Girl Gone Bad and Future Sex / Love Sounds respectively. So, when I heard that The-Dream was the mastermind behind mega-hits like “Umbrella” and “Single Ladies” (...one of the best music videos of all time!!!), I had to give this guy a chance. Afterward, I decided R&B is generally just not for me. I may be able to dabble in it here and there, but Love Vs Money was just too cheesy. I can see why fans of this genre would love this, but I ultimately feel that The-Dream should stick to writing other peoples’ songs. - Ryan

So The-Dream (Terius Nash) penned a ton of smooth mainstream R&B hits in the back half of the naughts, it's been quite an impressive streak. This album though, does nothing for me. It's schmaltzy, keyboard-laden R&B pop, one of those records that Phil can love but I never understand why. It doesn't have the lyrical content that he values and he never seemed especially enamored by hyper-slicked anthems, so what's even left? Eh, in the end it's catchy, yet disposable cheese. - Steve