Don't Be Cruel was to
Bobby Brown what
Control was to
Janet Jackson -- a tougher, more aggressive project that shed his "bubblegum" image altogether and brought him to a new artistic and commercial plateau. With "My Prerogative" and the title song,
Brown became a leader of new jack swing -- a forceful, high-tech blend of traditional soul singing and rap/hip-hop that's also associated with
Guy and
Brown's
New Edition colleagues,
Bell Biv DeVoe.
Brown had been a strong advocate of rap since his days with
New Edition, and on
Cruel, he did even more rapping than before. But for all the tough-mindedness he exhibited on his new jack hits, the charismatic Bostonian hadn't lost his love of sentimental, old-fashioned R&B romanticism -- and he definitely excels in that area on his hits "Every Little Step," "Roni," and "Rock Wit'cha." Much of
Cruel was produced by the ubiquitous production/songwriting duo L.A. Reid and
Babyface, who've often been accused (and rightly so) of taking a formulaic, cookie-cutter approach to R&B. But here, their work is never less than inspired. ~ Alex Henderson, Rovi
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