Update: R&B Divas

MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO
The World Has Made Me the Man of My Dreams
Emarcy

Though her deep voice is mixed down a little, most of Meshell Ndegeocello's seventh album -- five of its tracks reprised from last year's Article 3 EP recalls 2002's Cookie. Call it Sade unlite: jazzy atmospherics meant to evoke spiritual fundamentals rather than zoned-out surfaces. But this changes. The last five tracks include abrasive funk, animist gospel, child-rearing reggae and the prayerful near-metal closer, "Relief: A Stripper Classic."

Rolling Stone, Oct. 4, 2007