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Back of My Lac

by J. Holiday

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J Holiday has some pimp in him, no doubt, and the late-disc track "Pimp In Me" isn't the only reason to think so: When this suavest of 2007's break-out crop of smooth R&B crooners isn't causing the ladies to swoon (check out "Bed," the radio hit that rides a vibe similar to Rihanna's echo-y "Umbrella" all the way behind closed doors and under the covers), he's establishing himself as a tough guy with a tender streak. It's a stroke-of-brilliance approach for a new artist--instead of becoming a standard-issue sweetie who ladles on the charm but can't do battle with urban music's big boys, he deftly straddles two styles on this debut. Silky, classic-sounding slow jams ("Suffocate," "Without You") suit him, but so do street cred-raising reminiscences of his gritty Washington, D.C., youth ("Ghetto," "Thug Commandments"). Holiday goes for broke, circling the broad R&B landscape, but he doesn't dilly-dally: Back of My 'Lac delivers pimp-worthy yet pretty songs that get straight to the point, the point being that this is an artist worth raising your modern-music hopes over. --Tammy La Gorce