Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

The fact that I have never heard of rising star J. Phoenix surprises me immensely. He has been featured on many a TV show and has written with and for some of the biggest names in the music business. Finally transitioning from working behind the scenes in the past to the front of the stage with his music is J. Phoenix in his full-length debut, Masterpiece.

After being shunned from many major labels in the past, Phoenix decided to finally release his songs on an indie label for the world to hear; and the world is thankful for it. You can never have too many great R&B singers, even though they seem to come along every ten seconds these days.

After winning numerous awards as a writer, and receiving praise from legends like Luther Vandross and Mattias Gustaffson (whom he has written over a hundred songs with), J. Phoenix was still somehow a relatively unknown commodity in the music business. But that is all about to change.

Masterpiece contains many possible hits and great songs, but four in particular stand out for me. First, the song Sweet Freedom flows amazingly well and shows off the artist’s writing prowess. As a matter of fact, the entire album is one of the most well-written I’ve heard in a long time. Three other musical gems on the record are Hate To Love You, For the People, and Heart of a Soldier, all of which I could imagine hearing time after time on some of the more prominent R&B radio stations throughout the country.

Count on 2008 to be the year of the breakout of future megastar J. Phoenix. If you want to be ahead of the curve, then go ahead and pick up Masterpiece while you can still find it on the shelves.