005075448_500It’s been almost two years since I reviewed a sex album! So pardon me we are back at French. Tank’s new and seventh solo album: Sex, Love & Pain II has given me so much life, I just forgot about any other album he ever produced.

It’s always a beautiful surprise when I discover such good music because we always think we’ve heard it all. It always get better. Remember when Donell Jones put out his 2013 album? Well, it’s still R&B season; there has been a rise of great R&B records. Kings and queens include Usher, TGT, Kenny Lattimore, Jodeci, Jagged Edge, Chris Brown, Babyface, Tyrese, Janet Jackson, Tinashe and Tiffany Evans.

You might like my reviews of some dope R&B albums:

Love, Marriage and Divorce – Toni Braxton and Babyface (Album Review)

Tyrese x Ginuwine x Tank – Three Kings (Album Review)

Forever: Donell Jones (Album Review)

Nostalgia, Ultra – Frank Ocean (EP Review)

Miguel– All I Want Is You- Kaleidoscope Dream (Album Review)

This post however is about Tank’s 11-track album (released January 2016 and soon after reaching No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B/Hip hop charts). Sex, Love and Pain II is literally a sex and love record. About the pain, I honestly feel like this album has the power to take away any pain you’ve felt in your love life – if at all. It’s so empowering when a man is open about love, sex and well, pain. That’s all a woman needs.

My no. 1 song in the album is F***** With Me. This will be the soundtrack of my bedroom when the time is right. He is saying that when you are the one he’s fucking with – it’s going to be more than fucking. He will please you in other ways, like cook for you and pick you up from work etc. I love it too much because it’s true that when a man loves you he will do more than just fuck you.

My immediate favourites after the first listen were the trap-esque She Wit The S***, #BDAY, Relationship Goals and I Love Ya. Most of these songs could be overtaken by the hands of time, but Him, Her, Them and Better For You are classics that I can only compare to the perfection of Boyz II Men. These two are deep down the real Tank we knew from Day 1. I am sure he will be singing these for a very long time. Song 10: Already in Love Feat. Boyz II Men’s Shawn Stockman is so dope. So freaky how Shawn’s voice still sounds as young as when we heard Boyz II Men and Mariah on One Sweet Day.

  1. You Don’t Know Feat. Wale 04:06

This is a beautiful song. When your man has been tripping, it’s hard to regain trust. In this song, Tank wishes that his lady knew how much he loves her. I like this song because Wale is one of my best rappers ever, and the message here is like a timeless broken record. When will men learn that to show a woman love you have to act right and do more than just talking.

  1. She Wit The S*** Feat. Rich Homie Quan 03:37

This is Trap Tank, he’s even chanting like how rappers prepare before they get into a verse 🙂 Perfect show for how R&B and hip hop are close cousins. I really love how Tank isn’t about that ‘I am cleanass R&B dude’ life here. These are some explicit and raw lyrics. I love the rap feature, and beat too – dope producer whoever you are. Track 7. I Love Ya Feat. Yo Gotti is another Trap Tank – so sexy and badass!

  1. #BDAY Feat. Chris Brown, Sage the Gemini and Siya 05:12

It’s never too long and there are never too many people on a dope track (Kanye West can also attest to this). Who are the last two people featured on this track though? I am starting to discover new or unknown kids on this record like I did on Dre’s Compton. I love the semantic pun of this song – even though it’s not your birthday, it will be yours just tonight and you can wear your birthday suit 🙂 Harmonies are tight!

  1. Relationship Goals 04:41

Dear Tank – this could be us. Like for real. There is nothing I would change about you if you were were my bae. There is absolutely nothing Tank would change about this song, even if he was given 100 more years to record it. It’s another one of those tracks that cuts across R&B and hip hop – through delivery style and not beats. This is inimitable brilliance – congrats Tank! Tank flaunts his vocal range while in between verses he rap-sings, chanting and echoing lines just like trap rappers do. So cool! It’s everyone’s relationship goal to have someone who you totally trust, respect and gives you all you need – from the streets to the sheets. No offence to Tyrese and Usher but this is the kind of song that makes you both wish you produced this gem.

Screen Shot 2016-03-08 at 00.17.33As much as this is the era of rejuvenated R&B, very few artistes are taking the risk of not having a rap feature or heavy hip hop influences in R&B albums, like Jagged Edge did in their last. Tank went some type of risqué and explicit on this one and I love it! He is extremely smart. This record is for R&B fans just as much as the mass market.