Toni Braxton More Than A Woman

This is a Hyper CD, which contains regular audio tracks and also provides a link to the artist's website with the help of a web browser.
Personnel includes: Toni Braxton (vocals); Pharrell Williams (vocals, various instruments); Loon, The Big Tymers, Baby, Manny Fresh (rap vocals); Stokely (acoustic guitar, background vocals); Blake English, Tomi Martin (guitar); Keri Lewis (keyboards, programming); Ricky Kinchen (bass); Chris Dave (drums); Tamar Braxton (background vocals).
Producers include: The Neptunes, Chink Santana, Irv Gotti, Rodney Jenkins, Keri.
Those who might have pegged quintessential R&B balladeer Toni Braxton as a monochromatic artist in the past will be taken up short by the variety of sonic colors on offer throughout MORE THAN A WOMAN. The moody, mid-tempo "Give it Back" boasts a bit of hip-hop flavor by virtue of a contribution from the Big Tymers. Loon lends a rap to "Hit the Freeway" as well, but the tune is set apart by its strikingly funky, urgent production. "Me and My Boyfriend" boasts some Spanish guitar amid its slinky grooves.
All this eclecticism aside, it's obviously the ballad form in which Braxton excels, and she certainly gets a chance to strut her stuff here in that regard. However, even on these cuts, the production--incorporating everything from odd, strident electronic effects to distorted rock guitar--is so consistently inventive that there's no possibility of coming off with anything like a generic tune.

• Format: CD
• Genre: R&B