The-Dream earned his respect as a songwriter who co-wrote larger-than-life pop anthems, penning "Umbrella" for Rihanna and "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" for Beyoncé, as well as less-known but evocative tracks for everyone from Usher ("Trading Places") to Rick Ross ("All I Really Want"). His solo debut, 2007's Love/Hate, broke through with minor hits "Shawty Is Da Shit" and "Falsetto", whose wildly addictive hooks papered over his slight persona. The rest of that record created a constellation of characteristics that laid out his aesthetic-- the lush production courtesy of beatmakers L.O.S. and Tricky Stewart, songs that wash into each other in the mode of a DJ mix to create a miniature suite with precision sequencing.
On Love vs. Money, The-Dream's second LP, he tried to replicate this effect. Although the epic sweep of the second album's final third was The-Dream at a songwriting peak, the front-loaded pop songs-- particularly "Walking on the Moon"'s thin attempt at literal transcendence-- felt like shadows of past achievements. Even so, it was another vital chapter in an unusual career, as The-Dream has balanced the mercenary hit-making obsessions of his peers with the tender loving care of an auteur working out a unified statement.
Love King, the alleged final chapter in his Love Trilogy, is the thrilling conclusion to his three-album arc. If you've been charmed by The-Dream's strengths-- Tin Pan Alley song concepts and an unceasing sense of musical craft-- then you'll be immensely satisfied with the music here. The record argues for The-Dream's identity as an album artist whose tics and stylistic effects have created a self-sustaining world of distinctive R&B, and in a style that proudly wears its influences on its sleeve.
As a debut single, "Love King" felt like a cobbled-together collection of these attributes: the expected "radio killa" ad-libs, self-mythologizing, and hooks with familiar insistence. But it turned out to be a pump fake, because here it makes for a great table-setting opener. Love King builds on Love/Hate and Love vs. Money by indulging in emotional and melodic excess. The-Dream knows where to find the sweet spot, and he has an uncanny knack for how pieces of music fit together. When a song would be best served by space, he gives it plenty. Every piano chord and finger snap and bass hit is in its right place. He sweats every detail but never loses sight of how the album works as a whole.
"Yamaha", the most immediately powerful track on the record, is one example of what he does so well. It pushes The-Dream's earlier Prince nod "Fast Car" even further in the direction of outright imitation, with searing hooks, nakedly lustful appeals, and an arrangement and instrumentation that pay homage to the R&B of the early 1980s. As the song unwinds, you feel like you're sharing the songwriter's love of this music, and marveling at the way that he absorbs it into his own aesthetic. The following "Nikki Part 2", emerging from the twinkling synths of "Yamaha", keeps the run going, the melancholy of the verses ultimately finding transcendent emotional recognition when the song opens on the chorus. And then the urgent drama of "Abyss", a perfect title for a song that feels like an emotional freefall, completes the mid-album triptych, its epic chorus evoking a cold-water plunge of claustrophobic betrayal. These highly charged moments are balanced by more understated tracks. "Turnt Out" is The-Dream at his easiest and most likable, and it's one of the album's few moments of restraint. Meanwhile, "February Love" turns Love vs. Money fan favorite "Fancy" from a grandiose statement to a more intimate memory.
The-Dream's debut had the advantage of appearing in a vacuum, enabling him to balance his traditional songwriting impulses with a unique creative approach. Once it became apparent that the latter direction had garnered him a loyal following, the pressure to give more generously to that audience led to an imbalance on Love vs. Money. With Love King, it no longer feels as if he's splitting the difference between his pop star ambition and a large cult of admirers. By breaking down the detachment that made him such a popular songwriter to follow his personal musical vision, and it's taken him to a place only he could find.
