K-Ci & Jo-Jo: X : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

The first two lines of brothers Cedric "K-Ci" and Joel "JoJo" Hailey's latest sex-you-up-by-numbers disc say it all: "Let's make love tonight/I'm in the mood to make love." And they hope you are, too. Backed by throbbing R&B beats, finger snaps and a mix of Spanish and wah-wah porn guitar, the bad boys of balladeering spend a majority of X on their knees. Among others, "Wanna Do You Right," "Crazy" and "If It's Going to Work" beg for you to come back, baby, while "Suicide" contemplates ending it all if you won't. By giving up production duties to a diverse group -- including Babyface and Timbaland -- the disc benefits from the classier spin of "I Can't Find the Words," the simplified "All the Things I Should Have Known," and an upbeat Tupac Shakur appearance on "Thug N U Thug N Me." Still, the guys too often shoot straight for the high-end of their R&B wail. And that can make X redundant, even for the satin sheet set. But if used correctly, you should be too busy to notice.

(J.R. GRIFFIN)