Blu Cantrell

Cantrell hit it big with the neo-Swing (and we don't mean like Brian Setzer) track "Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops)," but the rest of her debut is in the upper echelon of "you done me wrong" anthems: Cantrell's seriously elastic voice elevates the run-of-the-mill sentiments. The swing elements make the album stand out, but it'd be a winner even without 'em.

Judging from the bland pastels of the cover art and the superstar producers in the credits,
Blu Cantrell's debut seems like just another platform for the latest-model diva. But So Blu is
one scary breakup blowout, tailor-made for locking yourself in the bedroom, building
candlelit shrines to lost love and bawling your miserable eyes out. That smash Dallas
Austin-penned revenge fantasy, "Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!)," is just the tip of an ice... More >