Search - Tami Chynn :: Out of Many-One

"Out Of Many...One" - One Helluva CD!

CrazyWhacko_88 | Not Telling You :P | 03/17/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Dancehall Pop singer / songwriter / dancer Tami Chynn is bound to draw comparisons to Rihanna and Sean Paul, but facts are facts - her vocal abilities and songwriting skills are rawer and stronger than the former, and her sex appeal is infinitely superior to the latter. As a matter of fact, Tami robs the Stepz riddim from Sean Paul's "We Be Burnin'" for her addictive lead single "Hyperventilating", an undeniable ode of love and lust to an anonymous lover. And "Out Of Many...One", the debut album of this Kingston-born, Jamaican songstress, is full of songs that match (and, in some cases, surpass) the quality of that lead single.



For an album that's loaded with the typical necessities -club ditties, beautiful ballads, 1 or 2 conclusive track remixes, etc.- "Out Of Many...One" sounds surprisingly raw, possibly because it was recorded entirely in Jamaica and Tami Chynn isn't afraid to show her heritage through her Jamaican accent in several of the songs, especially on second single "Looky Looky", a potent ode of rejection to potential suitors over heavy synths and lively drum patterns, and "Tell Mi Seh", a sexily executed kiss-off to a negligent lover.



To make things even more interesting, she dabbles in a few genres in some of her songs, most notably on the Hip-Hop/R&B-inflected club banger "1, 2, 3, 4" and the R&B-leaning "Still Afraid", a stunning ballad where Tami Chynn's vocals are drenched in passion, insecurity, emotion and unforced sensuality as she professes feelings of love and fear to her lover over swaying piano keys and more Dancehall/Reggae production. As a matter of fact, her believability and sensuality are some of her strongest abilities as a singer - whether it's professing love (the effortlessly seductive guitar ballad "Bliss Is", "'Til U Come" and the hypnotic, poetic ballad "Love"), fear ("Still Afraid"), authoritative, responsive rejection ("Looky Looky", "Tell Mi Seh") or more upfront lust (practically everything else), you believe every word that comes out of her mouth, and the natural sex appeal that comes with her voice just makes it easier to draw you in and makes already-great tracks even more listenable.



As talented as Tami Chynn is, "Out Of Many...One" is unsurprisingly low on substance (sorry people, but this is a DANCEHALL POP album), but "Don't Tell Daddy", a saxophone-heavy fiction story (or is it?) about a pregnant woman married to a presumably careless man and who also has a daddy she wishes not to tell about the pregnancy, slightly makes up for it. As a matter of fact, "Don't Tell Daddy" would be one of the best tracks on the album - it's intelligent, it's original, it's sexy, it's vulnerable ("If I don't tell him, he won't love me", "I love my daddy so", etc.), it's presumably sarcastic ("Don't tell daddy I'm happy / `Cause I'll be having my baby / It's been nine months already") and it's kinda remorseless ("Little girl thinks she's all grown up now / `Cause she spread her legs and gave it up now / Wonder if she knows she's like the rest now / Another girl making his bed now"..."Some girls fall too soon, too bad").



On the whole, "Out Of Many...One" is a fine album, and it's a shame it, along with Tami herself, doesn't get the deserved commercial and critical recognition. I'd suggest you buy it, partially because it's generally hard to find the album material over the internet. 5 stars!



5 Best Tracks (IMO) (In No Order):

"Still Afraid"

"Don't Tell Daddy"

"Tell Mi Seh"

"Hyperventilating"

"Looky Looky"



Personal Favourites (That Aren't In Top 5):

"Be Mine"

"Bliss Is"

"1, 2, 3, 4"

"

A decent CD

Joel B. Vince-Cruz | Makawao, Hawaii United States | 05/14/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this CD after I saw 2 videos of Tami Chynn performing 2 songs from this album. Most of the songs are great. But there are a few that left me wanting. The 2 best songs on the album is "Hyperventilating" and "Tell Mi Seh". Tami Chynn definitely has that X factor that will make her a great star. I look forward to new releases by her."