Mario - D.N.A. (J Records)

Mario's last album Go! from a couple years back was a really good record, but it didn't really spin off any big singles like his first two albums, so I was wondering where his career was headed and whether Baltimore still had a R&B star really representing in the mainstream. As I mentioned in a Splice Today piece I wrote recently about musicians in reality shows, I thought dude going on "Dancing With The Stars" was maybe signaling the end of his music career. But then he came back big over the summer with "Break Up," which really I think was annoying as fuck, one of the worst hits of the year, but good for him that it got him back on the charts, and the follow-up single "Thinkin' About You" is really good. This definitely isn't his best album, but it's got some good tracks on it and really I think he's easily one of the best R&B singers in his age bracket out there, still.

Mario - "I Miss My Friend" (mp3)
This is one of my favorite tracks and damn, it was written by Babyface, that's big.

Labels: Mario, mixtape/album review, mp3, Splice Today