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by
21 February, 2006@12:00 am
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   The name Sergio Mendes might not be all that familiar to the average hip-hop head, but he’s no stranger to music lovers worldwide. The Brazilian born musician helped popularize the jazzy, bossa-nova sound of samba in the 60′s, and is the highest selling artist of his country. However, while very influential to the scene, when his popularity waned in the seventies, he looked to outsource vocalist duties to popular artists such as Stevie Wonder to keep his name in the spotlight, and it worked. Looking to reinvent himself once again with today’s generation, Mendes taps Black Eyed Peas frontman, Will.I.Am, to produce his new record, Timeless, enlisting today’s top talent to join them.

      While longtime followers of the Black Eyed Peas have felt betrayed by the group’s last two albums’ relentless crossover sound, Timeless allows Will to flex his muscles as a producer and take things back to an artistic level. The album’s opener, “Mas Que Nada” finds the Peas in their element, blending their brand of breezy hip-hop with Mendes’ bossa nova rhythms with natural fusion. While Fergie’s “la-la” back-up vocals grate like nails on a chalkboard, thankfully this is her only appearance on the record. “That Heat” and “Let Me” instead tap Erykah Badu and Jill Scott, respectively, to back-up Will’s playful verses, with much better results. “The Frog” wields natural results, as Will teams up with one of his obviously most prominent influences, Q-Tip, recreating the classic Native Tounge sound, simultaneously paying tribute to the sound of Sergio as well. The climax of it all, at least on the hip-hop tip, is “Yes, Yes Ya’ll”, an excellent posse cut that teams up Will with Black Thought of The Roots and Chali 2na of Jurassic 5.

     But while the hip-hop collaborations of this record will sell you, some of its most charming selections are the ones that stay within Sergio’s original boundaries. As far as collaborators go, John Legend is the ultimate show-stealer of the record, with his thoughtful “Please Baby Don’t”, which is sure to have the females melting - and sambaing. While soundbwoy Mr. Vegas plays host to “Banaeria”, its reggae overtones are no match for Sergio’s heavy Brazilian bounce. The lovely “E Menina” finds Sergio by himself, far away on some tropical island, sipping martinis with the James Bond girls, proving that perhaps his other stuff is worth checking out, even without high profile guest artists.

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