In 2005, Jamie Foxx’s album Unpredictable debuted at # 2 and rose to # 1 in its second week. Now, after four years of waiting, he has released his third studio album, the highly anticipated Intuition. Although his career has been successful, he did not blossom overnight.
Jamie Foxx has been acting, singing, and performing comedy since the early ’90s, but it wasn’t until his portrayal of Ray Charles at the 2004 release of the movie Ray that people stood up and took notice. In the same year, while buzz for the film was still fresh, he sang the hook from Kanye West’s chart-topping single Gold Digger, which was inspired by the Ray Charles hit I Got A Woman. If you add all these factors together, you become a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a host of awards, including an Oscar, and respect not only in the movie industry but in the music industry as well.
The first single from Intuition is Just Like Me and features the rapper who keeps rap on the map, TI. The song is happy and pleasant. It’s the first track on the album, followed by five other fun songs. Then we have the Intuition Interlude and after this point it’s all slow jams, covering two topics: loss and pain, as in Why and Overdose, or getting R. Kelly’s level freaky, as in Freak’in Me and Slow.
The first half of the record is the most impressive. There are some solid tracks in the second half, Overdose being the highlight, however the slower songs don’t bring as much wow factor, even if they show off Foxx’s vocals and vocal range.
The best song on the album is Number One, and half the credit is due to its unhooked beat that comes with any Lil Wayne track, probably to make up for the fact that its lyrics are mostly jibberish. I Don’t Need It also stands out and is probably the best example of Foxx’s versatile voice. Digital Girl features The Dream, one of the greatest R&B artists of the 21st century, so it’s a bit confusing why his stream completely bites into Kanye West’s.
Blame It is also a winner and the second single from the album, featuring everyone’s trendy man of the moment, T-Pain. She Got Her Own is the remix of Ne-Yo’s hit single, Miss Independent, and it’s a worthy follow-up.
Foxx does not disappoint at Intuition. He offers some big names, hasn’t lost his touch, and is involved in the writing of many of the songs. He shines on his upbeat tracks and the album is worth buying for just these first six songs, even if you don’t like slower things.
A dignified return after a four-year break.