Search - Raheem Devaughn :: Love Experience

Excellent Debut from Raheem!

Dorrie Wheeler | 06/28/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Love Experience is the debut album from young soulful singer Raheem Devaughn. Raheem is signed with Jive Records. The album opens up with the intro which poses the question, "Are you feeling loved today?" The title track is wonderful and I am quite surprised that this wasn't chosen as a first or second single. It's followed by the album's first single, "Guess Who Loves You More." This is a nice laid back track.



One thing about the album that I'm not that fond of is the album cover. The art work is nice but the side profile isn't the most flattering picture of Raheem. I have met him in person and he is a very handsome young man. I have my theory about this picture. He is a very soulful and mature sounding young man, but when you see him in person with his cornrows and his baby face he looks more like a hip-hop artist than a soul singer. "Who" is another really wonderful song. The entire album for the most part is filled with uptempo soul songs. "Sweet Tooth" is a great song and "You" is a unique sounding song.



All I can say now is buy this much anticipated CD and you won't be disapointed. There is nothing out right now that sounds like this and this album is great from start to finish. The song "Until" which borrows from a popular Isley Brothers song is sure to be a favorite with listeners. "Cadillac" is another great song which has a Lenny Kravitz feel to it.



If you enjoys artists such as Anthony Hamilton, DeAngelo, Angie Stone, Raphael Sadiq or Jaguar Wright you may enjoy this album.

"

(4.5 stars) Experience The Love, Y'all!!!

Charles L. Hubbert | Milwaukee, WI | 08/05/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Raheem Devaughn is the hands-down R&B newcomer of the year! That's a bold statement considering most people probably never even heard the name Raheem Devaughn before. Some of you might have been lucky enough to have heard his first single "Guess Who Loves You More" on your local radio station or satellite radio channel. But if that's all you heard, you are in for a real treat in his debut album entitled The Love Experience. Raheem takes you on a whirlwind of love, heartache, and everything in between.

Take for instance "Ask Yourself," a stand-out single that takes you back to the good old days of Prince and Marvin Gaye when they practically tantalized women with their songs. This notion is further repeated in the songs "Breathe" and "You," but each track stands on its own despite the seductive characteristics they all have. But the title track "The Love Experience" digs a little deeper in describing the different situations that we all go through when dealing with love. "Where I Stand" is Raheem's effort at getting into the mind of a girl who can't make up her mind on whether they will be more than friends.



But the album isn't all romance. "Green Leaves" is an attempt at giving advice on enriching your life and aspiring to do more regardless of the obstacles that get in the way. "Catch 22" is basically Raheem's story about how pushing forward and ultimately ending up right where you started and accomplishing very little in the end. He goes further into the everyday struggles in "Until," basically exclaiming that we shouldn't judge each other because we don't know anything about how good or bad another person's got it. "Who" is his dialogue on how we need to start caring about what goes on in the rest of the world and not being self-centered and concerned only with our own lives.



Raheem Devaughn is a well-rounded artist with a lot of things on his mind. With The Love Experience, he gives you a piece of his soul and hopes you will see that there is more to love and life than what conventional wisdom tells us.

"

BELIEVE!!!

Ollie | Columbia, Maryland United States | 06/28/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"YES!!!! It's about time this CD came out! And yes it's worth it. I went to another store to buy this joint and they only ordered 6 copies!!!! And this store is smack dab in the middle of Maryland!!!! How is a store in Maryland only going to buy 6 copies of local talent??!!?? They might as well went down to downtown DC and smacked Raheem in the face. They was doing the same thing! But I still got this joint and it's hot!! You get an extended version of "Guess Who Loves You More" and "Believe" is hotter then hot! (Is that even possible?)

There is one slight disappointment. I was wishing that his jam with the Isley Brothers sample in the back ground, you know the one that Ice Cube used, was on this album. Oh well I have to get that CD too. It's called the Street Experience No. 1 I believe. And that song is hot too. Get this album. It's good music. Raheem delivers us some good music to the massess that are hungry for good music. For those of us who are tired of listening to the same cookie cutter stuff over and over. He asked us to believe and he delivered. Must buy!!!



P.S. Okay. It helps if you listen to the whole CD but that track I'm talking about is on the CD. It's track 13,"Until"



Here is a break down of the whole CD.



2 The Love Experience: A catchy tune that get's you into the mood and picks your mood up.



3. Guess Who Loves You More: The hit that's been blazing the airwaves for the past few months.



4. Who: A catchy tune that gives Raheem a little cross over appeal. But he really doesn't need that.



5. Where I Stand: A nice mellow groove that I can definitely see making the radio



6. Breathe: Another jam I think could be on the radio



7. You: Ditto



8. Sweet Tooth: I'm not really feeling this one. But all tracks can't be perfect.



9. Ask Yourself: This jam is slightly better then "Believe". I think I already heard this one on the radio. It's definitely a blazin' track.



10. Believe: Is definitely on the radio and is just as blazing as "Guess Who Loves You More". I like how they put "Ask Yourself" and "Believe" back to back like that. Back to Back jams.



11. Is it Possible: A nice mellow track. Not just a CD filler thou if you know what I mean.



12. Catch 22: This track had to grow on me. It's alright and worthy of a listen.



13. Until: I struggle to figure out why this track isn't blazing the airwaves right now because it's hot. It's hotter then "Guess Who Loves You More". This track will definitely have you bopping your head.



14. Cadillac: Definitely a CD filler track but it's worth of a listen.



15. Green Leaves: CD filler, probably won't make the radio.



16. Thank you: A track that should have "(Outro)" in it as well because that's what it is.



As you can see, Amazon only shows this CD with 12 tracks but it actually has 16. With one intro, one outro, and 10 out of 14 tracks that are really good, that more then justifies the purchase of this CD. With so many good tracks, you could put this joint in your player and just hit play. You could even put it in Shuffle mode. Buy it and enjoy it.





"