Picking up where 2004's
Kamikaze left off,
The Day After is heavy with R&B, slickness, and hooks. In other words, it's the kind of album the hardcore lovers of
Adrenaline Rush are going to sneer at while the radio heads and clubbers go nuts for it. You could be cynical and say the album is
Kamikaze all over again with
Pharrell and
the Neptunes replacing
Kanye West for the singles, but if
The Day After is a contrived attempt at going platinum again, it's an inspired one. With its smoother-than-smooth chorus courtesy of
Trey Songz, "Girl Tonite" could melt the paint off the walls twice as fast as
Kamikaze's "So Sexy." "When I Get You Home" with
Jamie Foxx and
Pharrell could be "Slow Jamz"'s little brother, but "I'm a Winner" tries a shade too hard to recapture "Overnight Celebrity"'s fire. The opening "The Day After" is the only other time the album sounds forced, as it tries to push and shove the listener into believing
Twista is the same old thug he's always been. He's not, and winning tracks with
Mariah Carey and
Snoop, plus a successful nod to the reggaeton phenomenon with
Pitbull, are arguments that he shouldn't be and that superstar collaborations are what he does best, at least for now. The thumping "Heartbeat" and the easy rolling "Chocolate Fe's and Redbones" are where the meat of the album lies, both marrying old-school
Twista with new-school, platinum
Twista. An album of those kind of tracks and he'd have a classic, but for now, you'll just have to settle for great singles, worthy filler, and a couple missteps. ~ David Jeffries