Listeners may not hear traces of Bob Dylan when they listen to “Tru,” but the album leaves no doubt that Lloyd is starting to evolve his style. Lloyd also explained that he has recently taken to listening to older music on vinyl, picking up influences from outside of contemporary-style R&B including names like Marvin Gaye, Bob Dylan and Bill Withers. In an interview with the Technique, Lloyd emphasized that during his hiatus from making music, he took the time to “reflect on own self.” He explained that his time away from music taught him to recognize and embrace “the beauty in imperfection,” leading him to channel a more natural, analogue sound into his new music. Beyond being good to listen to, the album achieves the artistic goals which Lloyd set out to accomplish. Most of the songs on the album are enjoyable and catchy, even if they can sometimes fade into the background if the listener does not focus enough on what he is listening to. That the song was originally released so far in advance of the LP is most likely the only reason that this track is not the first or second on the album. “Tru” is the most radio-friendly of the tracks on the album, with a fast pace and catchy beat making it an enjoyable song to listen to. Lloyd’s first release since 2011, the track served as an announcement of Lloyd’s return to the music scene after taking a break to deal with the emotional trauma of losing an unborn child. Lloyd saves his best work for the last track of the album, the titular “Tru.” Lloyd originally released the song as a single in 2016, and the lyrics of the track explain the reasons behind Lloyd’s extended hiatus from making music. Thanks to the choir, “Lil Sis” does the best job of blending different sounds of any other track on “Tru.” The members of the choir feature on the second to last track of the album, titled “Lil Sis,” and their presence brings a gospel sound to the song and makes it stand out from and break up the stylistic uniformity of the rest of the album. The overall style of the record is still very much defined by Lloyd’s smooth vocals.ĭespite the preponderance of high-profile features on the album, the members of the Spellman Women’s Choir actually deliver the most outstanding and complementary performance on the album. Rather than defining the sound of the LP, the features support Lloyd’s singing and complement his sound. Lloyd does not let his guests hijack the album. While the album may seem heavy on features, this is not necessarily a knock against the quality of Lloyd’s musical abilities as it might be for a true hip-hop artist it is not uncommon for R&B singers to bring in a large number of features, as they typically do not do very much rapping themselves. Seven of the 11 tracks on the album have features, with the list of guest artists including Lil Wayne and Rick Ross. He shies away from vocal aids like autotune, opting for a more natural vocal style which is refreshing in a genre saturated with similar sounding autotuned voices.
With the album, Lloyd embraces an analogue sound which is relatively uncommon in the world of contemporary R&B, bringing a new raw feeling to his music. How that will affect his live shows remains to be seen they’ve generally been mellow affairs, as was the case when he appeared at 2012’s Wireless Festival he performed a slew of his laid-back classics, in a dubious leather jacket/bare chest combo, to a packed tent, and it’s difficult to imagine rap tracks fitting in with that particular vibe - time will tell.Atlanta-based R&B singer-songwriter Lloyd recently celebrated the release his first full-length studio album in seven years, a feature-heavy LP called “Tru.” The record expands upon the material Lloyd released as “Tru-EP” in 2016. Today, he has revealed the official tracklist for the album which. He’s released one new track to date - the considerably heavier ‘Get Dat Doe’ - and looks set to make a serious tilt at the genre on his as-yet-unconfirmed fifth solo album. Last month, Lloyd released his new single 'Caramel' and announced that he will drop his long awaited album Tru on August 31st. More recently, he’s decided to veer away from the smooth R&B sound with which he made his name, swapping crooning for rapping and signing with G-Unit Records last year. down the years and seeing two of his albums go top ten in his native U.S., thanks in no small part to chart smashes like ‘Southside’ and ‘Get It Shawty’. Since then, he’s released a slew of solo records, signing with the likes of Def Jam and Murder Inc. is one of those R&B singers who has a lifelong grounding int he music industry, having come up through a boy band in the form of N-Toon he started out with the group at the age of just ten. Lloyd - who, for my money, should really be going by his fabulous birth name, Lloyd Polite Jr.
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