Jon B.: Pleasures U Like : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Incorporating even more of a hip-hop feel on his third album, Pleasures U Like, twenty-something R&B balladeer Jon B. slides more comfortably from between the sheets to the streets. Recruiting the likes of Nas, Faith Evans and AZ, B. saves his best moves for his mid tempo grooves, especially on such highlights as AZ duet "Layaway" and "All I Want Is You" (featuring rapper Cuban Link). Determined not to ignore his core audience, however, B. spends plenty of time professing deep love and related feelings, showing his sensitivity on "Inside" and "Boy Is Not a Man." But his interests seem to lie elsewhere. His first single, the tempting "Don't Talk," isn't the usual come-on but a call to spend quality time at the hopping bar around the way before the sweet-nothings really start flowing. (MARIE ELSIE ST. LÉGER)