The Rundown: Jennifer Hudson, JHud
A track-by-track look at the singer's third album.
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The Rundown: Jennifer Hudson, JHud - After a three-year hiatus since her 2011 No. 2 album, I Remember Me, award winning singer/actress Jennifer Hudson is back with a new haircut, new attitude, and a new moniker. On JHud, her third studio effort, Jennifer strays from her classic roots to dabble in the dance arena. With assistance from fellow Chicagoan R. Kelly, super-producer Timbaland, and Hustle Gang’s own T.I. and Iggy Azalea, she offers her signature soulful vocals with a dance-pop twist opening a new lane for JHud like never before. Keep clicking for a track-by-track look at her latest effort. —Dominique Zonyeé (@DominiqueZonyee)(Photo: Sony Music, RCA Records)
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“Dangerous” - Nothing says walking on the edge like a snare-heavy beat and JHud’s lyrics, “I do it for the thrill even if it kills, you make me feel dangerous.” In this R&B ride-or-die, Jennifer devotes herself to her man (or “Daddy” as she affectionately calls him).(Photo: Maury Phillips/BET/Getty Images for BET)
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“It’s Your World,” Featuring R. Kelly - This up-tempo song screams roller-rink, disco-ball pop. JHud’s powerful voice is restrained, controlled and strategically left to find its own way at times seemingly in efforts to remind listeners that yes, this is a new sound, but the same killer vocal range. Once she riffs on the word “world,” it foreshadows the shouting match to come. By the time Kellz jumps on the track, it’s the right time for that old-school feel reminiscent of his “Step in the Name of Love” days.(Photos from left: Gregg DeGuire/PictureGroup, Michael Tullberg/Getty Images)
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“He Ain’t Going Nowhere,” Featuring Iggy Azalea - Maintaining the nod to the disco era with a throbbing bassline, Jennifer keeps you on your feet with this track. Just when you get into a good groove as Jenny serenades, “Ahhhhh, he ain’t going nowhere,” Iggy comes through with a Southern twang that makes you want to add just a little more bounce to your two-step.(Photos from left: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for BET, Bennett Raglin/BET/Getty Images for BET)
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“Walk It Out,” Featuring Timbaland - It's time to wind it down with a sultry and sensual JHud. Produced by Timbaland and Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon and starring Tim's signature bouncy drum-heavy notes, this track mirrors his Justin Timberlake recipe for success, which seems to work for Jennifer as well. If you want to Walk it Out with JHud on this one just know, “She be on that good s**t, she be on that ‘hood s**t.”(Photos from left: Cindy Ord/Getty Images for Gilt City, Danny Clifford/Hottwire.net/WENN.com)
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“I Can’t Describe (The Way That I Feel)” Featuring T.I. - Jennifer is vulnerable on the first single off the album, which she premiered at the 2013 Soul Train Awards. On the Pharell-produced track she admits on the chorus she can’t put it into words how she feels, but immediately takes off on the verse describing the tingles she gets everywhere at the mere thought of her flame. The ever versatile T.I. jumps on the track offering a brief couple bars further sparking the excitement JHud described earlier. (Photo: Ethan Miller/BET/Getty Images for BET)
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“I Still Love You” - Inspired by the U.K. dance scene, JHud teams up with British duo Gorgon City for this bass-heavy track. While Jennifer professes her love on the chorus reciting the title of the song with such vigor and power, the track serves as an affirmation that you can love and hate at the same time.(Photo: Mark Sullivan/BET/Getty Images for BET)
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“Just That Type of Girl” - This song creeps back to the beginning, with the first sound of a keyboard-infused beat on the entire album. Jennifer paints her own canvas with lyrics that describe just who she is on this Pharrell production.(Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for BET)
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“Bring the Music Back” - Yes, classic Jennifer is back! The voice and sound the world fell in love with on 2006’s “And I Am Telling You” resurfaces with Jenny shifting into her ballad zone. The blast to the past allows her to get literal and nostalgic singing, "Somewhere along the line we lost sight/ And it made the music go away."(Photo: Maury Phillips/BET/Getty Images for BET)
Photo By Photo: Earl Gibson/BET/Getty Images for BET
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“Say It” - Producers Afro-funk helps the Grammy Award-winning singer tap into her inner Michael Jackson. Giving off a “The Way You Make Feel,” vibe (complete with the ad-libs “Go on Girl”), she sings for affirmation. “If you need me say it. If you want me say it,” she belts.(Photo: Chance Yeh/Getty Images)