Point of No Return

by Andy Kellman"I'll Be Around," from Ludacris' second Disturbing tha Peace compilation, showcased Shareefa as a scrappy, rough-and-tumble version of Mary J. Blige: "Prissy chicks don't want me in the place," "I might punch a silly chick in the face," etc. One of the highlights from a disc that had two sizable hits, that song -- as well as an appearance on Shawnna's Block Music -- effectively set up Shareefa's first album, also released on Ludacris' Def Jam-affiliated boutique label. DTP has already dubbed Point of No Return a soul classic, and though that's a longshot marketing gimmick to say the least, the album is certainly good enough to ping the radars of open-minded R&B fans who might otherwise ignore anything cosigned by a popular rapper. Shareefa's clearly under the influence of Blige, from the balance of laid-back seducers and shirt-clutching dramatics, to the choice of producers -- Chucky Thompson (My Life, Mary, No More Drama) and Rodney Jerkins (Share My World, The Breakthrough) combine for eight tracks, and they're both in rare form. Shareefa's a bit rough around the edges; she strains when she reaches all the way back, but she possesses a genuine gutsiness that's in short supply in modern R&B. At a couple points, you might even wince and think she has nothing on Blige, but the woman has a lot of fight and determination, and she's emotive whether her backdrops thump or float. Seven or eight of these songs should never hit anyone's recycle bin. If there's one track that stands above them all, it's the Adida and KQ-produced "Phony," a glistening takedown of a backstabbing and ungrateful friend: "Shoulda left her then, learned my lesson now/Shoulda known your ass was kinda foul/Can't believe my ears, can't believe my eyes/The whole friendship was a goddamn lie."