First off, lemme tell you something, this man, this cd, oh man...one of my top 20 fav. cds of all time. Alright, the man the myth, the One-day legend known as Musiq Soulchild comes from the rough rugged and raw streets of Philly. He first grabbed my attention in an old copy of a Vibe mag where they spotlighted cats who were on the up and coming. I read the article and then got the Nutty Professor II sdtk. I didn't buy it for that, I got it for the Thong Song remix at the time but ended up playing "Just Friends" maybe 1048 times..no joke! So I jumped on the bandwagon of this neo-soul/R&B cat and when his cd dropped. It moved units somewhat slow at first but picked up. I loved it, his whole image, his sound, his message, all of it engulfed me! I loved it, I went out and bought a jean jacket and some ragged yet stylish clothes, got some big ol glasses and ya know...tried to rock it like mah man. Have you heard the cd by the way? OMG? "Love" is an incredible track that is from the heart and nowhere else. "143" is awesome! "Girl Next Door" is a real track too that will make you relate even if u didn't have that girl next door, "Speechless" is awesome, very original song. "You & me" is a kinda "Against the world" track involving him and his lady. My fav. on it is Poparatzi, song about his girl and him fightin and bout to break up. I remember listening to it and thinking if I could convey this to MY girl, maybe we'd be aight? **I know I always have some kind of personal story for each cd, sorry it is how I relate to the cd** She never heard it, we broke up, end of story, good song tho. The Interlude in the middle is awesome, the wholw cd is awesome, and he continued to get better too, I read somewhere he said this cd shoulda never came out cause he thought it was not good enough. Well, lemme tell you, from one cat to another, thank you for releasing it, it is better than u think. I'm just happy when REAL artists come out and don't try and sell something they are not. Musiq Soulchild who would later drop the Soulchild and just be plain ol Musiq is the man, and if u get a chance to go to one of his shows....GO, it is NUTS! It's diff. than just R&B if u are looking for that go cop yourself something like a Jagged Edge cd or whatever, this is for the reeeeal cats that wanna hear some truth. If you were alseep when this was out, without a doubt, wake up and find it!

PS...it is where half of my name on here comes from, "Bark4Soul"

Overall this is a good cd. I especially like the songs Girl next door Mary-go-round and love. There is a lot of emotion put into this cd. Musiq is very talented.

Excellent debut from an artist who got lumped in that "neo soul" category when in fact, he's putting out good old fashioned r&b. Musiq is one of the artists who gets criticized (along with Donnie & Alicia Keys) because they are inspired by music from another era - I don't think any of them are copying that music and feel it's refreshing to hear artists talk about how a particular type of music moved them creatively.

I too, became aware of Musiq when I heard Just Friends (Sunny) and could not wait to buy his debut album. Of course, Girl Next Door became my jam of that summer and I could not stop listening to this song for some reason. The beats/his voice/Ayana's voice/the subject matter just created one of those must listen songs for me.

Then there is the excellent "alphabet song", Mary Go Round: M-A-R-Y H-O-W C-O-U-L-D Y-O-U B-E S-O C-R-U-E-L T-O M-E M-Y LOVE.....I was instantly hooked on this song

Love - what can I say about this instant midnight love track? WHen he hit that high note non-singing fools like me actually thought I could sing along with him

The interlude Settle For My Love is beautiful, loved his voice combined with the sisters of Aaries.

Overall if you're looking for good r&b music and like D'Angelo/Maxwell, then you will definitely enjoy this album!

I have had this cd since the day it came out and I know I enjoyed it, otherwise I'd have sold it. But I hadn't listened to it in a long time and today, I put it in my car and was surprised that I went all the way through each and every song. It's such a relief to find an artist who doesn't oversing a song, has the right amount of harmony, and the ability to make every song sound like a single. I love the way Musiq incorporates hip hop and soul inside of R&B and I believe he has a huge talent. Now I miss him. Musiq, where are you?

This is the best debut album that I have heard in a long time. His sound is just so real and soothing. I started to feel musiq when I fist heard him on the nutty professor 2 soundtrack. Each song sounds like as if it was telling you a story and brings you down memory lane. Each song has a meaning behind it and you can find atleast one song on the album you can relate too about your personal life. Musiq will be around for a long time if he keep this quality of music going.