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K'Jon - I Get Around (2009)
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Make no mistake: this is all about "On the Ocean." Detroit artist K'Jon was knocking around the indie circuit for nearly a decade when frustration in a Los Angeles hotel room turned to artistic inspiration. The result was one of the best songs of the past year, a moving combination of desperation and optimism from an artist whose career appeared to be stuck in neutral for too long. The immediate, universal appeal of the message of "On The Ocean"' took the song from an obscure indie track in Summer of '08 to the top of the R&B charts in Spring of '09. It also gained for K'Jon a major label contract with Universal Republic to release an album around the smash song (which had previously been included in his now-deleted independent CD Ballroom Xplosion).
While "On The Ocean" connected most with thirty-somethings and dominated the urban adult contemporary charts, on I Get Around K'Jon shows himself to have more urban/hip-hop sensibilities (complete with the requisite guest rappers and boastful introductions) than adult soul leanings. This may be a surprise to those expecting a second Kem; K'Jon is a younger oriented artist, closer to Akon but with more urban focus.
"On The Ocean" is clearly the album's highlight and is a career song -- K'Jon's vocals literally ache over his disappointments even as he looks forward hopefully -- and it overwhelms everything else on I Get Around. While the album has its moments, on no other track does artist, material and production come together so perfectly. K'Jon shows that he is an extremely insightful lyricist, whether it is declaring his love for a woman in "This Time," or his determination to rise above "haters" in "Fly Away." But neither the melodies nor the sequencing of the album hit the mark nearly as often as the lyrics. I Get Around screams for a few club bangers and slow jams, but nearly the entire album hovers over tempos in between, giving a feel of sameness to much of the disc that K'Jon's tunes aren't strong enough to regularly overcome.
K'Jon is certainly still developing, both as a singer and a songwriter. With on "On the Ocean" he shows that he is capable of transcendant music, and on the title track and the ballad "I'll Never Forget" he demonstrates that even his second tier music is solid. But there just isn't enough uniformly high quality stuff on I Get Around to support its length (16 songs) or its braggadocio. Whether through increased songwriting collaborations or simply through sharpening his skills over time, the challenge for K'Jon will be to take his already strong lyricism and consistently marry it to tunes and production that will catapult him to the next level as an artist. In the meantime, the "On the Ocean" is nearly essential and I Get Around is Mildly Recommended.
By Chris Rizik
Comments
I heard this artist on the
reallove319 - August 10th, 2009
I heard this artist on the radio back in may and fell in love the first time I heard on the ocean. I live under a rock so I havent't heard it that much or anything else from him. but this past weekend my cousin had his cd on her ipod and I listened to a couple of songs on it. I did research on the internet to see what others thought of it. I have read nothing but great reviews from people who are fans of music and all i have read was good things about this artist and his music. Some even states that he is bringing real R&B back and I must say I agree with them all. But what is sad is that I have read a couple of bad reviews and to be honest they have come from the critic and music reviewers such as yourself (people who gets the cd from the labels and not spend hard earned money or listen more than once to the cd.) I had $12.56 left on a prepaid debit card and decided that I would spend $7.99 to support a great new artist and I must say that it is the best $7.99 that I have ever spent and I would like to say that you are so wrong Kem sounds the same on every song he sings and you get tired of his voice after a while and I listened to K'jon CD over and over again without getting tired of it and Akon is the one that sounds like Kem little brother. K'jon has a soulful calm relaxing voice something like Marvin Gaye so I don;t understand why you would even have Kem and Akon in your review. This Time made me cry when I first heard it and I have read where alot of people have cried on On The Ocean and if a artist can touch a person's soul then you cannot hate on that artist. You may Mildly Recommend this album but I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you listen to Fly Away on a personal level because I know that this artist will rise above all and land at #1 on everybody playlist.
Dear Chris, This is the one
kjon2009 - August 11th, 2009
Dear Chris,
This is the one and only K'Jon (the creator of the #1 song "On The Ocean". I have to say, I'm a little taken back from your review. I never respond to music critics, so this will be the first. I had the pleasure of supporting your Soul Tracks Music Awards show here in Detroit this past winter (in support of independent artist) and the fact that it was being held in Detroit; I was very excited being an independent artist myself at the time. I wanted to meet this great guy named Chris Rizik who I thought was doing independent artist a favor and promoting them like no other.
And I really appreciated the fact that you have named me artist of the month/CD of the month, which is very confusing with the review you wrote. I was also the #1 selling independent album for the last 4 months according to your reports; with the Ballroom Xplosion CD. Again, I find myself confused as to why you would go out your way to discouraged others from making their own opinions about my new album while you promote me as the artist of the month/CD of the month. Question: Would someone really promote an artist/cd of the month and bash it at the same time? Very confusing!
Here is what I have to realize; being that eveyone can be a critic Mr. Rizik, I leave you with this: Thanks for the promotions. You still go all out to promote independent/former independent artists and I THANK YOU for that.
You see Chris, I reserve my right to criticize anyone. I just put on track #4 off my new album and "fly away".
Sincerely,
K'Jon
CEO
Up&Up Records, LLC
K'Jon, This is L. Michael
L.MichaelGipson - August 11th, 2009
K'Jon,
This is L. Michael Gipson, editor at SoulTracks. Chris Rizik recently asked my opinion of your project, trusting my famously "discerning" ear. I had not listened to the project at the time of Rizik's review (we get pretty backed up over here with all of these artists' submissions), and so I couldn't respond to his question until now. I actually like the project more than Chris, which will come as a surprise to many who know how particular I can be, but I'm a major late 90s R&B fan--a tradition I hear your music nicely fitting into. However, that's the beautiful thing about music, it's highly subjective. Chris and I can disagree. You and I can disagree. Readers disagree with us regularly and still support the artist and SoulTracks simultaneously. There is a myth out there that must be addressed, one propagated by your response: that readers make decisions about who and what to buy exclusively based on a critic's review. It simply is not true. A review is a brand extension and a conversation starter that benefits the artist; the worse thing is to have no one talking about you if you're an artist. Readers check out your opinion because they respect it and listen to the music with your consideration in mind, often shouting "that reviewer was crazy, I love this joint!" when they listen to what you panned. For example, I straight slammed Algebra's debut "Purpose," which is the #1 most read review on our site two years running. Algebra still did extremely well with our readers (we helped earn her about 50K easily), who went on to vote her Female Artist of the Year. There is no disparity between us wanting to support and promote artist who further the R&B and soul traditions we love and publicly disagreeing with some of those artists' musical choices. People ask us to give an unvarnished, honest review because they know we come from a place of loving the music, not because they're automatons who follow our every word. The Internet has killed the authoritative voice, we are all authorities, all are critics and marketers now. Still, in contrast to the readers who get this truth, we get the exact opposite pressure from artists, labels, and PR agents who believe our job here is to rubber stamp every album and artist as "hot," arguing that's our role if we REALLY are committed to supporting artists and the continuation of soul music. To lie and say everything is hot if that isn't what we believe or see soul die on the vine is a false dichotomy. To believe that Chris is still not a "good guy" who spends money out of pocket to support artists, sometimes at a loss, because he only "mildly recommended" an album that has several placements on our site is reductionist, illogical, and blatantly unfair. Is someone who mildly criticizes a meal you prepare suddenly a villainous fiend because the person didn't appreciate the time and creativity it took to make that meal? Of course not. Chris didn't ask me to respond, but I suspect that you are a fairer person than your letter reveals. Consider this: your posting a critical SoulTracks review along with all the glowing one's you've undoubtedly received only lets your readers know how small your ego is, how much you trust their independent thinking, and keeps the conversation about you flowing. I can hear your fans calling Chris "crazy" as we speak.
Brother to Brother,
L. Michael Gipson
Editor
SoulTracks.com
Thank God that that bad
patholbert - October 25th, 2009
Thank God that that bad apple did not spoil K'Jon's new album, "I GET AROUND" for me! Chris, did you catch him on Monique last evening? What a sexy guy. What a fabulous song. Love is in the air. Make love not war Chris. What you need to do is grab your girl, if you like girls, and put K'Jon on YOUR CD PLAYER, PLAYER. And when your woman hears that music from his cd, Your woman will change your mind about K'Jon sweetie. At my home, we play K'Jon so much that even the little 4-6 year old babies in our house are going around singing "out there on the ocean". The man, and his music is simply unforgetable! What his whole album did for my love life is nothing short of a miracle. Me and my man, who really don't know how to express himself romantically, simply turns me on with words from K'Jon songs. TO MY HUSBAND: Thanks HONEY, last night was off the chain baby. And from my husbands snoring afterwards, I knew it was for him.
And thank you K'Jon for all those love songs. I know your woman appreciates you. If she doesnt, she is CRAZY. And there is probably 1 million women out there praying to take her place. Keep em, THE ALBUMS coming. ALL HATERS WILL BURN IN HELL ONE DAY. ONLY PEOPLE WHO KNOW HOW TO LOVE WILL SURVIVE.
Looking forward to seeing and most important hearing you and your wonderful band at Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi on November 6, 2009 at the Walter Peyton Athletic Center.
I LOVE ME SOME K'JON AND FROM THE LOOKS OF IT I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE.
SO, HATER, GET OVER YOURSELF AND PUT SOME K'JON ON, HIS MUSIC IS LIKE A LOVE FEELING YO'LL NEVER FORGET.
Pat in Mississippi
