Heather Headley - This Is Who I Am

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Free Music Notes for This Is Who I Am

Free Music Review: Here to Stay
Hit: 5 Stars

Heather's voice is a thing of beauty. Obviously, to project your voice to a couple thousand people on a stage every night, you have to have pretty powerful pipes. Heather has a big voice in the vein of formula R&B Broadway crossovers like Stephanie Mills, but while her voice is big, it's not diva-esque. Her lungs are powerful without being showy, and they add a bit of depth to the songs on her album, which can kinda lean towards the formulaic.

Most of the songs on this album, as expected, are ballads with a few mid-tempo songs. There's nothing too aggressive or musically daring. Musically, Heather reminds me a bit of Toni Braxton in the Another Sad Love Song days. Vocally, however, Heather reminds me of former Dreamgirls actress and Moesha co-star Sheryl Lee Ralph, probably because both actresses share a Trinidadian upbringing and still have a West Indian lilt in their voices.

Lead single and first track He Is has a hand-clappy, gospelly feel to it. It's a midtempo, feel-good jam about the good things Heather's man does for her. The verses are almost whispered, then the chorus comes in and Heather's voice booms. She sings this song with complete conviction, making the lyrics totally believable. Falling for You is the most upbeat song on the album. Produced by British funksters D-Influence, the song has a light, summery feel and is not even ruined by the anonymous reggae chatter who appears throughout the song.

This is Who I Am manages to maintain a cohesion of sound despite the many songwriters & producers appearing on the album. The list of guests include Jam & Lewis, Dallas Austin, the aforementioned D-Influence, plus two special guest songwriters, each of whom gives Heather a taste of their own sound.. Shanice Wilson wrote Nature of a Man, a mid-tempo ballad in which Heather asks women to understand that men do certain things that tick them off just because they're men. Shanice contributes noticeable background vocals on this track and makes you wonder whatever happened to her recording career. Deborah Cox brings her flair for the dramatic on the album's standout ballad Always Been Your Girl, a song on which Heather questions a cheating lover. The song is reminiscent of some of Deborah's biggest hits ("Nobody's Supposed to Be Here" and "Same Script, Different Cast"), as is the pretty piano ballad Four Words From a Heartbreak, which has a classic pop chorus and a lovelorn lyric.

Heather also delivers a message track with Sista Girl. This midtempo song finds Heather playing "big sister" to a misguided 14-year old girl. It comes across as serious without being histrionic or hamhanded. "Hold on if you can," Heather sings. "Cross your legs. Forget that man...Sister girl you're only 14". She closes the album with a beautiful piano ballad, If it Wasn't for Your Love.

This album is "classier" than most contemporary R&B albums are nowadays. While there are nods to contemporary hip-hop culture in the occasional lyric, this album is a soul record. There are no guest rappers (aside from the aforementioned anonymous reggae dude), and there's no strained attempt to keep up with the young generation. Heather simply takes some well-written songs and sings them with no diva flash and no unnecessary attitude. As a Broadway actress, Heather has excellent interpretive skills, and her feelings for the songs take This is Who I Am to the next level.

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