Album Review: KeKe Wyatt - 'Who Knew?'

Even several years after the fact, the one thing that R&B singer Ketara "KeKe" Wyatt is still best known for is stabbing her then-husband with a paring knife on Christmas Day in 2002. And unfortunately for her, her latest project, Who Knew? isn't likely to make people forget about that incident and/or focus more on her music. Who Knew? is by no means a bad album, and KeKe handles herself with class throughout. But unfortunately there's a lot of formulaic, cliche-ridden material here, and KeKe seems to have made a conscious decision to play it safe. So safe that most of the album's songs are boring.

Although KeKe deserves props for making an album that's essentially safe for the whole family to listen to - something that's too rare for an R&B album by a singer under 30 these days - this particular album is short on thrilling moments and is loaded with bland, generic material. The entire first half of the album, including the title track, are over-produced, forgettable tunes lacking in any real depth and carry about as emotion as a blank wall.

But a funny thing happens starting with the seventh track; the album kicks in gear and begins to shine. "Peace on Earth" is a beautifully spiritual song about improving oneself in order to better the world: "Where does this peace on Earth begin if not in the home?," she sings. "There's too much talk about it and too many walk without it, tell me where is the love?" Two other very good songs are and "Got Me One (Good Man)," a feel-good ode to fellas who treat their ladies right; and "Never Give Up" a well-sung G-rated song about intimacy. KeKe even manages to show off her vocal firepower on the swagger-ific "Getting It."

If all 10 songs on Who Knew? were as entertaining as the final four, then this would likely be a four-star release. Or even if the track order had been reversed, this album likely would be more entertaining to listen to from beginning to end. But unfortunately, priority is given to overly glossy but inferior tracks like "Daydreaming" and the title song. If KeKe had been allowed unleash her vocal chords more often instead of having them mixed down, Who Knew? likely would have been more enjoyable.