AVANT - Director Review

Without losing his seductive sound, he seeks to broaden his scope via first-time collaborations with A-listers Rodney Jerkins and Jermaine Dupri. The Dupri-helmed midtempo 'You Know What' featuring Lil` Wayne paved the way for current R&B top 20 hit '4 Minutes,' a searing ballad produced by the Underdogs that relates a man`s desperate attempt to keep his woman....full text This dispensable loverman may reference Marvin Gaye on the cover of Director, his fourth LP, and name-drop Smokey Robinson and Al Green in the album's lyrics, but his soggy quiet-storm R&B recalls those legends in only the most shallow sense. Slight reprieves arrive with the Jermaine Dupri-produced horndog bouncer ''You Know What'' and ''4 Minutes,'' which brings 24's real-time shtick (guess how long it lasts) to generic soul. But milquetoasty also-rans like ''Imagination'' dominate — and make you wish Avant had one....full text