Bobby Valentino - 'The Rebirth'

When Bobby Valentino broke from Ludacris' Disturbing Tha Peace clique and started his own label in 2008 it was a risky move considering how Ludacris was a big rap star and Bobby wasn't nearly as successful - or respected - in the music world. But Bobby had said that his style of sensual R&B didn't fit in with DTP and that more of the real Bobby V. would be revealed on his third album, which is his first as his own man. Well, Rebirth, which was released in the U.S. on Feb. 10, 2009, is definitely the most ballad-oriented album of his career so far. But despite that, it's not much better than his previous efforts.

Bobby Valentino's stage name comes from the fact that he was born around Valentine's Day. So it's sort of appropriate that his "rebirth" as an artist was released around Valentine's Day as well. But the 'reborn' Bobby V is too much like the old Bobby: mediocre singing, a lack of charisma and disposable songs.

But before getting into that, here's the album's positive points: the song "Butterfly Tattoo" is a fairly well-sung mid-tempo track about a seductive female with a special symbol on her lower back. And Bobby's cover of Tony Toni Toné's '90s hit "Just Me and You" is good for nostalgia purposes. He doesn't come close to singing the song as well as Raphael Saadiq did on the original, but he deserves props for being bold enough to give it a shot. Also catchy is "3 is the New 2," Bobby's freaky ode to the ménage à trois. Like most of his songs, the singing isn't particularly good, but the lyrics are fun if you're into that kind of thing.

Unfortunately, the really good moments are few and far between. Bobby made the right move in ditching the DTP crew, because this album firmly establishes him as an R&B artist, not a hip-hop one (although the first single, "Beep," does feature Yung Joc). Bobby's singing has improved compared to his last album, 2007's Special Occasion, but he still has trouble carrying a tune and his voice still doesn't sound like it has fully matured. Bob comes across as a guy who thinks he's a great singer, but he's wrong; very wrong. And although this album represents a half-step forward for him, his shortcomings as a vocalist undermine the entire album.