Citizen Cope
(Dreamworks)
2 Stars (out of 5 stars)
Reviewed: April 1, 2002
By Tony Bonyata
Memphis-born Clarence Greenwood, the brainchild behind Citizen Cope, brings a lot to the table on his self-titled sophomore album. Serving up white-soul, light hip-hop, ska, R&B, funk and a touch of blues, it seems that Greenwood has covered all the bases.
Unfortunately, though it seems this singer, songwriter, keyboardist, guitarist, DJ and producer has spread himself a little too thin as he covers so much ground he's unable to fully commit to any of the genres he works into his mix. In fact, the only style of music that manages to rise to the top above the rest is a half-hearted soulless R&B.
While Greenwood's raw style of crooning works for a while on numbers such as the barren "Salvation" and "Holdin' On," it becomes lost in the flood of so many other faceless, middle-of-the-road smooth-rock vocalists.
On the outside turntables scratch and four-letter explitives are lightly peppered to give a confrontational edge, but strip away the street veneer and what's left are safe, wishy-washy numbers that are easily forgotten.
This stuff may work for people who think that Sting's later solo work is cutting-edge, but I'm not buying it.