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Fergie makes solid solo debut
09/18/2006 1:35 PM, AP
Fergie, "The Dutchess" (A&M Records)
Fergie, the source of eye candy and soaring vocals for the hip-hop group The Black Eyed Peas, shows stand-alone versatility and style on her genre-hopping solo debut, "The Dutchess."
She's a rapper on the party track "London Bridge" and the "Supersonic"-flavored "Fergalicious." She's a jazz-lounge crooner on "Velvet," an R&B songbird on "All That I Got" and as radio-ready as any American Idol on the guitar-driven ballad "Big Girls Don't Cry."
Fergie had ample help from Peas producer and frontman will.i.am, who helmed the record and made it the first release from his new label. Still, she had a hand in writing all but one of the album's 13 songs.
Ludacris lends writing and rhyming to "Glamorous," a song about the bling lifestyle. "I still go to Taco Bell," Fergie sings. "I'm still real."
"Mary Jane Shoes," featuring Rita Marley, is a reggae jam to the tune of Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry."
Fergie postures about her skills and sings along with The Temptations on "Here I Come," while "Fergalicious" is all about how hot she is. But she sounds sincere on the reflective, John Legend-produced "Finally."
Some of the lyrics are slightly inane ("Would you love me if I didn't work out?"). But with "The Dutchess," Fergie proves to be a multitalented singer worthy of solo status.
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