Michelle Williams

Michelle Williams is so hot she can stoke the coals of Hell and she knows it. The songstress fuses edgy, pop-influenced melodies with soulful, R&B beats on the ultra confident, Unexpected.

Williams received her training in urban and pop music divadom when she was one-third of the now-defunct supergroup known as Destiny's Child. Williams was sometimes overshadowed by her glamazon bandmates and their extracurricular activities, but Unexpected is her third solo album, and she's poised to be a dance floor queen in her own right, thanks to the smokin' single, "We Break the Dawn." Williams isn't content to step into Beyonce's towering high heels in her post-Destiny career. Rather, Williams is forging her own path. While Beyonce is all about the voice, Williams is all about connecting with a groove and infecting your body with vivacious, danceable songs. Unexpected is by no means a Destiny retread.

"The Greatest" is another tune that allows Williams to express her strengths, which are her breathy voice and her confidence. It's a thoughtful ballad but it's still got a hip-shaking sway that'll coil around your body and have you rocking back and forth, side to side. "Stop This Car" is a mid-tempo, fun anthem of empowerment that's erected on thunderous percussion. "Hello Heartbreak" pulses and pops with a studio-created melody that daringly trades the safety of the pop charts that she once occupied with her former band for the seedy underbelly of the packed club where bodies are bouncing off one another. "Hungover Zoned Out" is the smoothest track on an album full of songs designed for club hoppers. Williams isn't camping out in familiar territory with Unexpected. She's venturing out, taking risks and having a good time in the process. Perhaps this is her Manifest Destiny.

— Amy Sciarretto
09.28.08