Trevor Nelson

The British deejay-as-superstar mentality meets the global domination of American R&B and hip-hop on this compilation that celebrates Radio 1 presenter (the UK term for disc jockey) Trevor Nelson as he fills two disc with the multiple shades of crooning R&B, contemporary diva soul, and party laden hip-hop. Disc one focuses on upbeat jams by hip-hop superstars Noriega, Big Punisher and Jay-Z dispersed between entertaining productions by Monifah, which samples the beat from Laid Back's "White Horse," and Mc Lyte who gets her own cutting edge beats courtesy of the Neptunes. Disc two is more smoothed out affair with butter soft Brian McKnight failing to compete with old and new diva queens Aretha Franklin and Lauryn Hill, who join forces on "A Rose is Still a Rose." House music makes a slight appearance with Masters at Work's "I Can't Get No Sleep," although the featured mix is slowed down to standard R&B tempo. The idea of R&B being presented as something more than Top 40 fodder is a novel concept. Unfortunately, the tracks are sequenced with standard two-second CD breaks between them and one track doesn't necessarily lead to the next with any sort of continuity. When compared to INCredible's other releases, including the masterfully assembled mix by Gilles Peterson, this particular edition has all the impact of Now, Vol. 325. In fact, the thinly veiled illusion that Trevor Nelson will somehow bring out something special in these standard urban music cuts makes the whole sham more insulting. Perhaps it's a British thing, but any compilation featuring "Whoop, There It Is" is in need of serious re-evaluation. ~ Joshua Glazer, All Music Guide