Stone Love

Personnel include: Angie Stone (vocals); Floetry, Anthony Hamilton, T.H.C, Betty Wright (vocals); Snoop Dogg (rap vocals); Andreo Heard (various instruments, programming); Jon Rych (various instruments); Eric Walls (guitar); Jazze Pha (background vocals).

Recording information: Sho'Nuff, Atlanta, Georgia; Jammin Downtown, New York, New York; Majestic, North Hollywood, California; Quad, New York, New York; Westlake, Los Angeles, California.

Angie Stone doesn't dabble in anything, but immerses herself deeply in the most soulful musical waters. Stone's songs are as assertive as Mary J. Blige, as directly catchy as anything by Beyonce, and as unpredictable and poetic as Jill Scott. On her third record, STONE LOVE, Stone has truly settled into her groove with a consistently engaging funk-pop collection.

STONE LOVE opens in low-key fashion with a simple, light Jazze Pha production called "I Wanna Thank Ya," which slides into a Snoop Dogg guest rap, before Stone announces the record as truly her own with the unforgettable and smoothly infectious "My Man." The wronged woman showing the door to a cheating man is one of the most thoroughly explored soul themes, but the sly "U-Haul" is one of the finest songs of the sort. On "Stay for a While," Anthony Hamilton's dark, ductile tenor provides the perfect foil, combining with Stone's vocals in the sexiest of duets. With the sweetest and strongest of passions flowing throughout, STONE LOVE furthers Stone's reputation as an assured soul voice.

What the critics say...

Rolling Stone (p.113) - 3 stars out of 5 - "Soulstress Angie Stone makes well-meaning adult-geared R&B, but unlike most of her peers, she injects her music with bawdy bravado."
Entertainment Weekly (pp.85-6) - "[I]t sways pleasurably from start to finish, buoyed by floaty old-school R&B..." - Grade: B
Mojo (Publisher) (p.102) - 4 stars out of 5 - "With each album Stone has grown in confidence, and though this is her most subtle, it's also her most assured."