Who knew that one of the youngest winners of American Idol in 2004, would be releasing one of the best albums of the year in 2016. Fantasia Barrino, better known as Fantasia, continues to grow, inspire and rise above her personal and career challenges. Her resilience shows throughout her entire career and illuminates on the singer’s latest album The Definition Of . . . with an underlining joyful spirit of progression.
On this album, Fantasia takes more creative control over the direction and it appears to pay off. She does get a writing credit on the song “Roller Coaster” Featuring Aloe Blacc. Every other song on the album was written and arranged by someone else. A consistent partner, contributing on every song, with vocal arrangements, is Ron Fair who has produced and guided the careers of Christina Aguilera, Keyshia Cole, The Black Eyed Peas and more. The pairs collaboration has resulted in a pop, rock, and soul album that tip-toes away from the typical “R&B” record.
The Definition Of . . . Fantasia, Full Track-Listing (read more)
1. “Crazy”
The first Track on the album is literally crazy. The song is reminiscent of a Brittany Spears track that Fantasia should not have stolen. This track is not terrible, it just seems forced into keeping up with the general theme of the album; and it only exists because it is upbeat. “Crazy” is a logical opener, but I’m not sure if it should be on the album. Don’t get me wrong, you should listen to this one it could be a good live performance song, especially if you plan to see Fantasia live. I do like the Jazz horns on the outro though.
2. “No Time For It”
This song is a mid-tempo head-bobber and has a nice pop feel. I would have voted to have this song open the album. This is the independent woman’s anthem (particularly baller-ettes) and has the crossover pop appeal that may reintroduce Fantasia to the Ryan Seacrest, pop radio crowd. The song talks about getting money and having no time to deal with any haters or drama. I feel like this song was suppose to throw shade at the people who refuse to celebrate who you are and constantly remind you of who you were.
3. “So Blue”
This track has a lot of feeling and lyrically tells the story of a woman who finds her man cheating; She decides to take two wrongs to make it right, by sleeping with another man in their house. The man arrives home to find them and never returns – and now she is “So Blue” because she wants him back. I repeated this track a few times and I have a feeling you will too.
4. “When I Met You”
The album goes deeper and continues with the “rebuilding myself/relationships” theme. After breaking up with an ex-boyfriend on “So Blue”. We move on to a better relationship and discover ourselves and the true meaning of love. Fantasia sings, “That without him, there would be no you, So yes, I thanked my ex, a little still, cause without him, how would we know our love is really real”. This is a great song with a nice overall groove.
5. “Sleeping With The One I Love”
R. Kelly wrote this song and it fits Fantasia’s incredible voice perfectly. I get the feeling that Mr. Kelly specifically wrote this one for her and she absolutely rips it up. The song reminds me of the play Chicago, with the throwback style and big band horn section – all while staying contemporary. This record is about being with a good man and loving another. Do you do what’s practical? or do you listen to your heart?
6. “Stay Up” (feat. Stacy Barthe)
At this point, we get back into the sway of the album. The groove in this song has a pinch of the Caribbean island sound. I like this one, it reminds everyone to “stay up, no matter what’s going down”. Stacy Barthe has nice ambient sounding voice and reminds me of Sade. Miss Barthe is someone you should definitley follow if you like what you heard here.
7. “Ugly”
The country sounding “Ugly” is a slow song about how things can be ugly and get better – it is very inspirational lyrically as she talks about the various situations including neglect, alcoholism and loneliness on the road. This is arguably the best song on the entire album and might be the one track, next to “Sleeping With The One I Love”, that should be nominated for a Grammy Award. It is a very strong song and is a fit for mainstream radio.
8. “Wait For You”
This track opens up with a skit of Fantasia calling home, to whom I assume, is her sleeping husband. The skit seems genuine since I can’t understand a word the man is saying. His responses to Fantasia are real as he mumbles “yeah, I’ll wait for you”. This song is average but not one I would skip while riding in the car. The vibe of the record does go into the Electronic Dance Music arena with its thumping synthetic drums.
9. “Roller Coaster” (feat. Aloe Blacc)
Aloe Blacc does a rap at the beginning saying “come one, come all – it’s the ride of your life, it’s the rise and the fall” carnival speech about life being a roller coaster with ups and downs. In the lyrics you get a sense of how personal the song is to Fantasia, since she contributed lyrics that fall in line with her real life story. I was hoping to hear more from Aloe Blacc (since he also has a great voice) but nonetheless this is a good song, especially if you can releate to Fantasia in general. I hope Aloe Blacc and Fantasia link up again to work off of each others voices on another song.
10. “Lonely Legend”
Apparenlty Fantasia was inspired by Tina Turner, because if you didn’t know any better, you would think it was Tina Turner. This is a track I would skip almost everytime. It is like Tina Turner turned this one down because she rightflully thought she would be an older person doing their interpretation of what’s hot today. I do appreciate the Rock feel but this one does not do it for me. Might work for you though.
11. “I Made It” (feat. Tye Tribbett)
Tye Tribbett throws it down with the songwriting and his signature gospel sound. I love how Fantasia sings on the verses – and the chorus is so joyous, it will be hard to sit when she sings it live. This was the perfect song to close the album; as it signifies perserverance and coming out stronger on the other side because of God’s grace. The sound of the horns created a Superbowl feel. If she continues to make albums like The Definition Of . . . she could make it there one day. At the very end of the song you can hear them worshipping loudly in the studio, you can tell they were feeling the spirit.
