And so It Is...

Jontez, a former member of both the gospel group God's Property and the Christian hip-hop crew Mankynd, steps out as a solo artist on this mature and self-assured debut album. If you don't listen too carefully to the words, there's not much here to set him far apart from the mainstream of pop-R&B artists — he's got the bumping beats, the silky (and maybe synthesized) vocal harmonies, and the brightly percolating production sound, as well as a tasteful array of multicultural rhythmic variations, from the flamenco-tinted "Can't Get Enough" to the cool and funky "Don't Walk Away." But listen to the words and what strikes you immediately is the unabashed proselytizing that characterizes just about every song. On "I Am" he riffs repeatedly on the I Am That I Am theme from the Old Testament; on "I'm Not Alone" he wrings every drop of emotion from a rather generic quiet storm groove and goes maybe just a tad over the top lyrically (sample line: "In time of storm you made a smile come right out of my frown"), and that's pretty much par for the course on this enjoyable, but sometimes overly preachy, album. Jontez's singing voice is rich and attractive, though at times his inflections owe just a little bit too much to Gart Greenside ("First Love," in particular, sounds like an outtake from Scritti Politti's Cupid & Psyche album). But Christian R&B fans will find much to enjoy here.