Album Review: The Dream - IV Play

Being a decision maker at a major music label can't be easy. The market was friendly for 40 years, feisty for a decade and is uncertain now. But none of that explains why The-Dream is not getting a physical release in this country. The-Dream, aka Terius Nash, has songwriting credits on the following: Rihanna's Umbrella, Justin Beiber's Baby, Kanye's All Of The Lights and Beyonce's Single Ladies, not to mention 'Ye and Jay's No Church In The Wild. An argument could be made that no songwriter has had as much of an impact on the sounds we've had pumping out of our speakers in the last five years. And yet… No physical release. Hmm.

For those few listening, IV Play is about one song: Slow It Down. It's a critique of DJs unwilling to play a slow jam. It's a barb thrown at Nash's competitors kept on a short leash by their labels. They haven't earned the freedom our host enjoys. Instead they have “to do a dance record or the label wouldn't put 'em out”. It is perfect – a fine introduction to the man who weaved magic for so many others and now waits patiently for recognition in his own right. Sadly, the remainder of the album does nothing to further that aim. On title track IV Play, The-Dream hardly has the ladies swooning with his suggestion that any woman who refuses to sleep with him is “procrastinating”. High Art featuring Jay-Z is a scatty, confusing number. Turnt is understated to the point of pedestrian, a waste of Beyonce and the dynamism of 2Chainz.

Slow It Down aside, those major label kids might have made the right call this time. Surprising – and disappointing.