Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

Tonex, from all accounts, is a troubled soul. He has had a musical career full of personal ups and downs, which, while it has affected his business, has not affected his music, to the extent that he has been able to create it and release it. Tonex’s discography is somewhat confusing, with the instant disc, Oak Park 921'06 Japan being first among equals in that regard. OAK PARK 92105 was originally issued as a digital-only CD, then reissued. About all I can tell you is that if you have some version of OAK PARK you might want to check some samples of this disc before making a purchase. If Oak Park 921'06 Japan is a case of first impression, for you, however, you want to get into this. It’s one of the best R & B discs of recent memory.

Tonex has a street music sensibility that is solid. It took me a while to get through OAK PARK, since I kept getting stuck on “holy-NESS,” a slice of funk worthy of Prince. Every track on Oak Park 921'06 Japan, however, before and after, is first rate. Now, which opens the set, is about the downside of promiscuity, presenting an important --- and frightening --- lesson. Can’t You See is an easy groove dance number that could go on forever without anyone tiring of it. All of the tracks, from Priceless to God’s Got It, have an unabashed, unapologetic message of the Christian Gospel --- Tonex has his own active ministry --- buoyed by a contemporary R & B sound. Fail U, for example, wouldn’t sound out of place blasting at 11 from a set of car stereo speakers ‘round the way. Tonex takes an active role in all facets of his music --- composition, arrangements, and production --- and the results are uniformly first-rate. Out The Game and Feelings are two of the more heartfelt and personal songs you are likely to hear out of any genre, and include what seems to be a piece of one of Tonex’s sermons, pulpit style. Yes, meanwhile, demonstrates the continuing link between contemporary R & B and traditional black gospel music.

Part worship, part confessional (and painfully so), all personal, Oak Park 921'06 Japan is a riveting release, one of importance regardless of your belief system. Whatever personal demons are affecting this young man, I hope, whether he ever releases another disc or not, that he’s able to overcome them. Given the belief and hope that permeates Oak Park 921'06 Japan, my money is on Tonex. Recommended.