Album Review: Theophilus London – Vibes (Score: 5/10)

theophilusReleases like this put writers like myself in quite a quandary. Theophilus London, one of Warner’s up-and-coming hip-hop/pop phenoms, hit a home run in 2011 with Timez Are Weird These Dayz. Attempting to build on that success, he involved Motown-legend Leon Ware (Diana Ross, Quincy Jones) to serve as creative producer on his newest release, Vibes. Listeners are left with a soupy sorry attempt of high-brow art—I can picture executive producer Kanye West dipping some cheese sticks in his boxed wine now. Trust me, begin the album at track four, “Can’t Stop (feat. Kanye West),” when TL finally arrives. Other standouts include “Heartbreaker,” “Do Girls” and “Tribe.”
– Andy Mesecher