REVIEW: TANK - R&B MONEY

4/5

Money Walks.

Salute the general! If 'R&B Money' really is the big statement album were Tank cashes out of the game. An 'Open Invitation' to retirement we hope is temporary like 'The Black Album'. His tenth LP from the vault (not including his big 'Three Kings' with 'The Bachelor' originator Ginuwine and 'Fast and Furious' actor Tyrese (can we get a sequel?)) sits on top like the cash he stacks. And this is an artist who aside from writing hits for everyone from Mary J. Blige to Jamie Foxx (with a late, great Aaliyah co-sign), has an armoury of albums. Whether it be the 'Maybe I Deserve' singer showing you he was a 'Force Of Nature', after his own 'Fast and Furious' 'Race Against Time' (love to Ja Rule). Or the 'One Man' and Grammy nominated 'Sex Love and Pain' (how about THAT sequel 'SLP' too?), that after a half-decade break started this incredible rolling run of an album, EP (the 'If You Were Mine' for the Valentines like J, 'A Classic Christmas Night' and the 'Wait's' through quarantine for the weight-room pusher) or even the 'Diary Of A Mad Man' mixtape, every other year or less, for more than a decade and change. Like it was 'Now Or Never'. Telling us 'This Is How I Feel' (groundbreaking). Getting 'Stronger' with Motown influences. Straight 'Savage' with sexual explicitly that could even make Prince blush a shade of purple. Showing us real 'Elevation' back in 2019 for his last epic too. And now this. All from the man who has so many hits he even fired shots with Chris Brown that didn't even make albums. Now he's showing 'This Woman's Work' with Kate Bush like he had on 'Stranger Things' headphones, taking it to the max. From 'Maybe I Deserve' to flat-out 'I Deserve'. No two ways about it, keeping it 100 proof. Stacked on top of Scrooge McDuck revenue, draped in gold all Tank has mined is worth its weight. And it more than glitters. From partial hearing loss, to coming back like the boss. The only one that can stop this Tank is Durrell Babbs. 

Falsettos flow like signatures scribing across the songwriting paper's pad for the 'R&B Money' call-sign album intro that sounds like a song and a thank you to the fans, when really we should be thanking him like said 'Stronger' song. It only gets smoother 'When We Dance'. "No communication/Both of us are running out of patience/Feel like times been wasting/is this defeat we're tasting" the lavish lyricist harmonizes over an outstanding opening that will have you and the one you hold closest, no longer at an arms length 'Coldest'. The slow grind stays 'Home' for your bedroom sessions were Tank compares downstairs to the heat of a fireplace for real fire. Alex Isley shows Tank 'No Limit' like a 'Summer Breeze' for the Jasmine of this piano play. "I'm the master with the P when I'm in it", Tank muses though. Giving as good as he gets. Keeping the perfect piano in play with his R&B protégé J. Valentine (managing and matching), Tank makes a chart shy chorus of "I'll f### you slow" and a lingerie video sound beautiful and romantic in all its x rating devotion to the one you love. Reminding me of the time someone commented on my last Tank album review that "he always sings about getting nasty", to which I wanted to reply, "have you seen his wife!" But that's none of my business like Kemrit with the cup as Tank tells the one he loves "I'll make you come over...and over" with tongue-in-cheek, songwriting genius King like Stephen. Taking it to the 'Morning' with Vedo. But for this man's work, it's the Bush sampling 'Can't Let It Show' that's the best reworking since neo-soul icon Maxwell's cover and then live 'MTV Unplugged' take with love. All before his 'Lonely' loyalty with Chris Brown continues with 'See Through Love' in the chamber. Another collaborative classic. But spoiler alert, like you were dealing with Mark Ruffalo for 'She Hulk' press. 'Spoil Her Alert' is a beast of a real marvel. Case closed. Wallets and you know what else open. Big budget blockbuster, but how about a classic for a man whose playlist plays like a greatest hits package (who needs one when everything bangs?)? As 'I Deserve' is a throwback all the way to the single artwork duds for Babbs, who these days is more suited and booted than early 2000 hip-hop fresh. 

"I told you I'd be home after the club/Waitin' by your phone while I'm goin' up/Way to many drinks, I was slippin'/This one have been on me all night, I'ma sleep in/She didn't waste no time, took them clothes off/And before I knew it, damn, I dosed off/Pictures of a fool, laid up in a room/With a cloutchaser, sealin' my doom", sings the man who once cried 'Lonely', "tears of a f#####g clown like Mr. Robinson after the seduction. Don't be 'Too Late' in raw relationship regret like this standalone standout that talks about the one, "cutting the water off", holding the single-life scissors. Repossession of self. 'Make Sure' you heed the warning like the Feather touch lightwork of a man who floats like an Ali butterfly as love and life sting like bee, or Bey in her 'Lemonade' renaissance. Listen up like the three-hour plus podcast with Drink Champs and rap and reggaeton legend N.O.R.E., talking about love like Brandy over spirits. And revealing the raw racism that still exists in an ignorant industry for the black man in real talk ("We love it when you talk that s###...but love?! We're cool.") 'Let's Take A Ride' he says, calling up Rotimi and TVERSE in shotgun side, handing the keys to the future of the game. All for a subtle scorcher that feels like this season, akin to a 'Summer Killer' in curtain closing for good. Especially with the beat switch tuned into the car radio. 'It's Nothing' like this man's machine like output all in quality control. Producing and manning the boards like under the armour of a hard body of work. But in reality it's not nothing...except for the one you love. It's 'Awesome' like getting suited with Blaq Tuxedo for the platinum plaque fitting. Comparing himself to Brad Pitt in whip-smart 'Bullet Train' time for this music matrix. We just hope for a resurrection like Reeves for this reloaded revolution. Because nothing is 'Regular' for this king of R&B ("trying to watch my moves, I'm ahead of ya!"). Money bands for R&B's finest on the same day South Korea's BLACKPINK give us 'Pink Venom' set to break YouTube records they hold. Still, even K-Pop can't take the crown of an underground king. What's so good about goodbye when it's to a modern day Smokey? We're prayin' like a miracle that this isn't it, yet thanking him for everything. But if this big hitting, home-run is one last dance in victory lap, then 'R&B Money' is more than safe. Locked down after some Spotify boycotting (salute the soul soldier) delay like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell against some Joe Rogan misinformation. Let's hope we can say the same about the game without its best player. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Playlist Picks: 'Slow (Feat. J. Valentine)', 'Can't Let It Show', 'I Deserve'.