The Dream's "IV Play" Is For The Bedroom...Obviously
IV Play will leave you with an unexpected pregnancy if you're not careful. The falsettos of The Dream's crooning mixed with sexy bass, seductive lyrics and sultry female vocals from R&B queens is a recipe for a lovemaking session gone too far (if there is such a thing).
"Y'all are gonna want to f---," he declared at NYC's Jungle Studios during a private listening session. IV Play follows 2012's Terius Nash: 1977 which was harsh and bitter--not the love(making) music his fans had come to love. Well that Dream has returned. And he's brought the Carter family with him.
"IV Play" - You know that one R&B song you wouldn't be embarrassed to blast from you car's speakers? This is it. It's heavy bass will rattle the car. People will stop to listen to Dream sing, "I don't give a f-ck about the foreplay/I'm talking straight sex/stop f-cking around."
"Fire" ft. Beyonce - Beyonce's unleashing her inner ratchet. 'Tis the season for her paying homage to her Houston, Texas roots. That's cool and all, but it's not believable. Beyonce singing "I'm so trill, I'm so trill" is as believable as Justin Bieber winning a fight. With anyone. Dream enlisted Bey to sing about sex and getting high. Somewhere Jay-Z is behind this. Whether or not it's believable may be a moot point. It knocks, and folks will love it.
"Where Have You Been" ft. Kelly Rowland - It sounds nothing like Rihanna's hit of the same title. Ms. Kelly Rowland is having a moment. This bluesy oldies feel is definitely one of the standout tracks. Kelly's vocals are strong singing, "I can curse you out and ask what took so long." The piano keys are heavenly. Everything about this song is magic.
"Too Early in the Morning" - Another old school track. There's a bit of auto-tune but the guitar strings dominate the sound. Oh, and Dream wants you to know it's too early in the morning to argue.
"Michael" - Inspired by MJ it starts off almost in the realm of a doo-wop then switches as the beat drops. Dreams pitchy "This ain't no love song/I need to f-ck you" reminds you once again that Dream wants to have sex. Lots of it.
"Self Conscious" - As much as he's in to the sex he's into love. There's no need for Dream's woman to be self conscious because "there's nothing that can change the way I feel."
"High Art" ft. Jay-z - The version with Jay-Z wasn't on Dream's iPod. But what we did hear was another song about sex and getting high, like "Fire" with Jay-Z's Misses. This is the turn up/club anthem. Even without hearing Jay's verse DJs won't be worth their turntables if they don't spin this at every party this summer.
By the time "Divine" ft. Mary J. Blige (we heard the version sans Mary) and "Question" were played, nothing tremendously stood out. The head nodding had decreased along with the enthusiasm. The final song of the session is Dream's way of telling the world, "here's my shoes." "Y'all" is about his life, mostly what you won't read on the blogs. After every "what they won't say" he offers up a piece of himself. Singing about his daughters, his parents, how hard he loves, he reminds you he's only human. "Crucify me if you want, but I won't stop loving y'all."
[Photo: Getty Images]