Monica - Code Red

Monica
Code Red
2015
Monica - Code Red

It seems like a lifetime ago since Brandy and Monica dominated the top 40 charts and made it seem like they could do no wrong. The pair will always be connected due to their similar styles and singing abilities, but many years since the TRL days Monica has released this new record Code Red. There are a couple of things working against Monica and this record: 1. she has never been an innovator and for a genre (R&B) that more and more is moving into the hip-hop or PBR&B realm trying to push a straight up R&B record is tough. 2. She has never had a legacy as an all time great, people being on board with a Monica album just because it's Monica does not really exist. So then we arrive at Code Red an attempt to stay relevant while not abandoning the thing that made her famous in the first place, Her R&B voice. The title track, also the first, is where we get Monica really pushing something mainstream but still holding on to the past. Have Missy Elliot feature is nice, but it is not surprising nor all that engaging. Her track with Lil Wayne "Just Right For Me" is also a disappointment for both artists and comes across as more of a relationship of convenience than anything else. 

It is sad to see an album like this and an artist like this who is clearly talented slip away into something that you would hear on a adult contemporary station. "Suga" is a song that is trying to hard to sound young that it actually sounds older than it might otherwise. The album is also painfully long. Instead of creating something concise and tight Monica has opted for a make the same song over and over approach. Perhaps this is great music for ladies sipping Chardonnay and taking of their shoes, but as a contemporary record it has absolutely no teeth. There is zero risk on this record, save the first track, she knows her audience and hopes they will be happy just to hear her making music. "I Miss Music" may be some of the most overt pandering I have heard in a long time mentioning other artists and the old MTV days just to get some kind of reaction, not cool. Unless you are a die hard Monica fan you may want to avoid this record like the plague.

2.5 out of 10