Review: Truth Hurts, Truthfully Speaking

File under: Possible One Hit Wonder with an unfortunate moniker and potential for so much more.

Truth Hurts, Truthfully SpeakingNo, Truthfully Speaking isn’t as immediate as its lead single, the contagious, Middle Eastern-inflected “Addictive.” Instead, Truth Hurts’s debut is a slow burner that draws on more traditional hip-hop and R&B sound structures and displays Truth’s versatile, often coquettish, vocal (think a less socially-conscious Jill Scott). The brass-filled “Push Play” is an intro fit for a (ghetto) queen, produced by mentor Dr. Dre, whose watchful ear presides over almost every cut on the album. Truth (a.k.a. Shari Watson) demands a little R.E.S.P.E.C.T. on “Grown,” dryly calls for, um, truth on “Bullshit” (“Bullshit pours down like rain/But the truth will not change”) and mourns for an incarcerated boyfriend on “Jimmy” (“He can’t come ‘round no more/He’s locked up for 10 or more”). Speaking of incarceration, R. Kelly wrote, produced and guests on “The Truth” while the less legally-challenged Timbaland mans the boards on the song “Real.” Aside from a bevy of hip-hop’s finest producers and guest artists (Dre, Big Rube, and a recently resurrected Rakim), Truthfully Speaking features a diverse—albeit subtle—array of musical textures (operatic vocals, marimbas, acoustic guitars and classical-style piano). File under: Possible One Hit Wonder with an unfortunate moniker and potential for so much more.

Score: 
 Label: Aftermath  Release Date: June 25, 2002  Buy: Amazon

Sal Cinquemani

Sal Cinquemani is the co-founder and co-editor of Slant Magazine. His writing has appeared in Rolling Stone, Billboard, The Village Voice, and others. He is also an award-winning screenwriter/director and festival programmer.

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