Release Date: Dec 20, 2005
Genre(s): R&B
Record label: J Records
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When Jamie Foxx released his first album in 1994, he was a star on In Living Color with a decent-sized following who declared, "No, really, he can sing -- he's alright!" A decade later, Foxx was a major movie star who had impressed Clive Davis enough to be offered a new recording deal. Though he didn't release any albums during the intervening years, Foxx was determined to stay active in music and collaborated with Adina Howard, Gladys Knight, and Melvin Riley. He appeared on the Any Given Sunday soundtrack, made a minor breakthrough on Twista and Kanye West's "Slow Jamz," and then became a superstar with his portrayal of Ray Charles in Ray.
You could never accuse Jamie Foxx of hiding his light under a bushel. Lesser men might have attempted a low-key transition from Oscar-winning actor to R&B vocalist. After all, you don't want to join those would-be polymaths who suffered ignominious failure in the charts - there were few takers for Minnie Driver's singer-songwritery album Everything I've Got in My Pocket, Russell Crowe's pub-rock band 30 Odd Foot of Grunts or, indeed, Foxx's debut album, 1994's Peep This.