Urban Mystic is certainly a talented singer, but is somewhat schizophrenic on his newest release, Ghetto Revelations II. He's at his best singing Jaheim-like modern R&B pieces like "Your Portrait" and "It's You," but unfortunately wastes too much of the disc on tired hip-hop songs about "shorties" and cars that really take away from the overall effect of his more powerful stuff. Oddest is his one-two punch of a cover of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" and the trite rap number "Back It Up." Revelations II is half a good album, and the other half is virtually indistinguishable from the wearying stuff that fills urban radio playlists these days.
By Chris Rizik
