Tekitha, the in-house vocalist for imperial East Coast rap group Wu-Tang Clan and the occasional voice fronting club jams by UK electronica wizard Armand Van Helden, is prepping the release of her debut album. Until then, she’s delivered The Prelude, a seven-track introductory EP showcasing Tekitha’s taste buds for an unusually wide range of genres including pop, rap, rock and soul. This diverse floral arrangement gives the brief collection a distinctive bird’s-eye view of what you may expect from a full-length Tekitha project, and not all of the flowers are fresh.
"Ridin’," an escapist’s glimpse of ‘70s psychedelic soul, rumbles through a repetitive chorus touched with moderately high-pitch background vocals and twangy guitar plucks. It’s a good opener for the disc, but stalls a bit too early because of the redundancies of its never-ending loop. "Ridin’" is not the only one having car trouble. After taking The Prelude for a spin, one wonders where‘s the sizzling single? Not that all the tracks are uninteresting, they’re just second best samples. Some songs present Tekitha as an avant-garde rock fusion of Khia and Keri Hilson ("On It," "Alone"). On others, the heavy Dirty South beats leave Tekitha at the mercy of dark, grungy production chipping away at her pop-friendly voice. "Ghetto Serenade" is probably the disc’s most promising event. With this interesting overture to Jill Scott’s peaceful vibes, a more compelling synergy between artist and music emerges. It probably would be more fitting if Tekitha painted a little more from this palette on the forthcoming album. Certainly EPs are designed to be simple introductions, artistic teasers and the modern demo. In the end, Tekitha’s The Prelude gives us that, but leaves listeners starving for more substance and less of the genre showcase filler.
Vocals: 2.0 stars
Music: 2.0 stars
Lyrics: 1.5 stars
Production: 2.0 stars
SoulTracks Call: Mildly Recommended
By J. Matthew Cobb
