Dave...what happened?!

I'm a huge Dave Hollister fan. I first noticed Dave on his solo project "Ghetto Hymns" (which I still play at least twice a week in my car). His second solo album, "Chicago '85...The Movie" was a masterpiece and a shining point in his career, and he continued this success on his third album. Because of this, he's one of the few R&B singers that I feel keeps it realer than real. He personifies that "realness" on this album, but it becomes repetitious and boring after the first few songs we hear it.

Moreover, the second half of the album contains the same boring R&B cliches that have plaqued the industry. I felt Dave should have stuck to his roots--eschewing the carbon-copy commercial singers for the style that has gained him his fan base. I hope Dave will return to his quality music on his next album. In sum, buy this album if you are a HUGE Dave Hollister fan, otherwise, stay away from it.

What will it take?

I want to know what it will take for people to realize that Dave Hollister is an artist to have in your collection? I'm a big fan of this man, and he does not get his just due in the industry. His last two albums got no radio play in Georgia, but I bought them anyway. I've never been disappointed. Track #8 Karma is my JAM!!! This album was good, not his best, but it's a keeper IMHO.

Will the REAL Dave Hollister please stand up?

I've been a fan of Dave Hollister ever since his BLACKstreet days. Still, when it came to his solo albums, I never seemed to give him as much attention as I should have. I didn't hear Ghetto Hymns but I LOVE Chicago '85...The Movie. I never got around to picking up Things In the Game Done Changed but I got my hands on Real Talk. But unfortunately, for this album, there really isn't much to talk about.



People may look at my rating and think I'm crazy for giving Dave three stars. Well, if we were talking about his voice only, then that would be five stars easily, but this ALBUM is very disappointing. Not only are there really no standout singles, but the songwriting isn't all that good. The first four songs on the album are poorly told ghetto stories, and he has a habit to keep saying things like, "Let me know if you feel me." We heard you the first time, Dave.



One strange thing about this album is that most of the songs on here are written by Tank. Unfortunately, we all know the problem with Tank's albums, too: great voice, god-awful lyrics. Maybe Tank thought, Hey, the songs didn't work for ME, so maybe they'll work for someone else, right? WRONG. His contributions are sexually charged metaphors gone wrong, like "Case Is Closed". And "Reason With Your Body" has Dave saying things like: "Girl, I'll make you scream like a scary movie's on."



Dave should know that he doesn't have to be so ghetto, because that really didn't work for him in the past (ever hear "I Don't Want to Be a Hustler" off Chicago '85?). Maybe he was following the example that BLACKstreet used for the horrendous Level II. At any rate, while he still has a wonderful voice, Real Talk should only be purchased to complete your Dave Hollister collection.



Anthony Rupert