Un-Review: 'Sketches of A Man'

I've been jamming to Dwele's Sketches of a Man for the last couple of hours. Like most other people, I came to him through 'Ye's "Flashing Lights" (my first favorite cut offa Graduation, and one of my favorite songs of the last year). Sketches is really, really good. Mellow, cool, and jazzy, it's reminiscent of the good part of the (gag) neo-soul movement; you know, Baduizm, Voodoo, and 1st Born Second. Sketches is something of a companion piece to New Amerykah. Though it isn't as funky, it has the same feel to it: warm, revealing, a little funny, and groove-tastic. Dwele even has a Dilla-inspired track, much like Erykah's "The Healer" and "Telephone." He covers Jay Dee's "Workinonit" from the posthumously released Donuts. Dwele's version caught me by surprise; he took Dilla's sliced-up, sped-up, sampled, mash-up (which is featured on my workout playlist) and turned it into a very smooth, very sexy, (and very short, sadly) cut. Dwele: Dilla: I highly recommend Dwele's Sketches of A Man. The best part about it is the lack of corniness which tends to plague R&B albums these days. Even my previous R&B favorite, Raheem Devaughn's Love Behind the Melody suffers from a wee bit of lameness. Go forth and purchase! Previous un-reviews: New Amerykah Rising Down