Kevin Michael (album)
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| Kevin Michael | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 2, 2007 | |||
| Length | 57:07 | |||
| Label | Atlantic | |||
| Producer | Bloodshy & Avant, Josh Deutsch, Eric Hudson, Wyclef Jean, Brian Kidd, The Clutch, Lester Mendez, J.R. Rotem, Shea Taylor | |||
| Kevin Michael chronology | ||||
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Kevin Michael is the debut album by American singer Kevin Michael, released by Atlantic Records on October 2, 2007 in the United States.[1] Three singles were released from the album: "We All Want the Same Thing", "It Don't Make Any Difference to Me", and "Ain't Got You". Kevin Michael and his mother did a joint interview in the November issue of Sister 2 Sister magazine.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [2] |
| laut.de | [3] |
| PopMatters | 7/10[4] |
| Rolling Stone | [5] |
AllMusic editor Marisa Brown felt that "with songs that could fit equally on pop radio as they could R&B, Michael does his best Michael Jackson-meets-Prince-meets-Justin Timberlake (hardly a stretch) impression on his debut self-titled full-length. The results aren't wholly imaginative or unique, but Kevin Michael has a good enough voice, and a good enough production staff and group of writers behind him, to sound competent, even fun."[2] Christian Hoard from Rolling Stone wrote that "on his debut, Michael makes bright R&B for people who think Chris Brown isn’t pop-friendly enough. At his worst, the young Philadelphian sounds green, relying too much on vocal swoops and falsettos and over-employing cutesy singsong choruses. But on friendly jams like the lovestruck "Hood Buzzin" and the slinky, Prince-esque "We All Want the Same Thing," Michael is a confident hookmeister and born crowd pleaser."[5]
BBC Music critic Nick Street felt that Kevin Michael's problem was "that it seeks to cover many different vibes — several being thrown into one tune — but it doesn't remotely distinguish itself from other artists out there in this genre [...] It's a worthy attempt in a field that's already saturated. Let's just hope he can develop himself further in future."[6] Michael Endelman, writing for Spin, found that while "We All Want the Same Thing" was a "clever let’s-just-all-get-along party cut, powered by a chugging slide guitar vamp and a sprightly Lupe Fiasco rap," [...] the "rest of the album buries otherwise thrilling moments [...] amid a steady stream of generic R&B."[7] David Hilzendegen from laut.de noted that "dDespite appearances by Wyclef and Q-Tip, it remains pretty inconsequential."[3]
Commercial performance
In the United States, Kevin Michael peaked at number 24 on the US Billboard Heatseekers chart and number 90 on the magazine's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.[8]