Kenna: Make Sure They See My Face : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

You can't mention Ethiopia-born Kenna Zemedkun without mentioning his producer (and high school classmate) Chad Hugo, the Neptunes dude you don't see every other minute on BET. On Kenna's second album, as on his first, Hugo's production and his buddy's New Wave croon add up to a sound that's almost unique -- twenty-first-century romance that touches on hip-hop, synth-pop and neosoul. The songs aren't terribly memorable, but several cuts offer imaginative mash-ups: On “Sun Red Sky Blue,” Kenna belts out a first-rate chorus over a beat built on syncopated scratch guitar, evoking classic U2, only funkier. “Say Goodbye to Love” -- one of two songs produced by Hugo's partner Pharrell Williams -- finds Kenna moaning like an Eighties Brit boy over wonky, hooky electro bounce. Who knows whether this'll be the hit the first album wasn't. For now, call it one to grow on.