★★★★★
Critics are already claiming that rap has run out ofsteam, but they're forgetting that the genre sprouted from roots deepin black pop, and can survive quite nicely by blending with othermusical styles. Multiracial outfits Color Me Badd and Rythm Syndicateswing their rap sound in previously unexplored directions: C.M.B.look back to smooth doo-wop, the Syndicate take on sax-skronkingjazz. (Both also dominate this summer's good-time radio withirresistible singles, "I Wanna Sex You Up" and "P.A.S.S...
- ew.com
2010-08-27
★★★★★
With their second album, Time and Chance (Giant), Color Me Baddoffers more doo-wop in hip-hop clothing. But if you can skip past theethnically correct, just-stepped-out-of-a-Levi's-ad look (Sam Wattersis white, Kevin Thornton is black, Bryan Abrams is Native American,and Mark Calderon is Hispanic), you just might notice that since "IWanna Sex You Up" ? their delicately titled 1991 debut ? these slick,bubblegum crooners have polished their dapper, harmony-rich popballads to a spit shine...
- ew.com
2010-08-27
★★★★★
Young, Gifted and Badd: The Remixes is an example of theold remix-album scam, guaranteed to generate a little fast cash for Color Me Badd andkeep the rabid fans happy until the next studio album. Of course, howmuch you love this depends on how desperate you are for alternateversions of "I Wanna Sex You Up." C+
- ew.com
2009-06-12
★★★★★
Whatever annoyinglyinfectious quality this male quartet once possessed is gone.Color Me Badd's latest sex-you-up songs are plagued by incongruously sweetcrooning and sassless rap, and their attempts at lovelornballadry convey no real pain or anguish. Not even thebump-'n'-grind groove work of Babyface, Boyz II Men, Jon B., andothers can rescue these soul-challenged pretty boys fromimpotence on Now & Forever.
- ew.com
2009-06-12
★★★★★
It speaks volumes that, at this historical moment, viable cred can come the title "Original Boy Band". Throughout The Best of Color Me Badd, you can almost hear the cashing-in ca-chings the people at Giant, who, with careful marketing, maybe could wheedle CMB into a breathing, or at least nostalgic, popularity. But perhaps even more astonishing is that, lame moniker aside, what's here is actually a pretty entertaining and telling romp through early '90s R&B...
- www.popmatters.com
2009-03-21
★★★★★
"We just stick to what you want to hear" ("I Wanna Sex You Up," "All 4 Love")
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-02-27
★★★★★
On their second album Color Me Badd still sounds superb, but they could have used a couple of songs half as strong as "I Wanna Sex U Up" to make Time and Chance memorable.
- music.aol.com
2008-08-28
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