Special Occasion (CD - 2007)

Personnel: Bobby Valentino (background vocals); Bill Jabr (guitar); Bob Robinson (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, keyboards, mini-Moog synthesizer); Tim Kelley (acoustic guitar, keyboards, mini-Moog synthesizer, percussion, drum programming); Kendrick "Wyldcard" Dean (strings, keyboards); Bryan-Michael Cox (piano, keyboards, drums, programming); Darrell "Delite" Allamby (programming, background vocals); Anesha Birchett, Link, Bobby Wilson (background vocals).

Audio Mixers: Vincent Dilorenzo; Marcella Araica; Dave Russell ; Ben Arrindell; Jean-Marie Horvat; Rodney Jerkins; Sam Thomas ; Tim Kelley; Leslie Brathwaite.

Recording information: 2nd Floor Studios, Longport, NJ; Audio Dallas, Dallas, TX; Brandon's Way Recording, Los Angeles, CA; Doppler Studios, Atlanta, GA; Ghettopop Music Studios, Dallas, TX; Hit Factory Criteria, Miami, FL; Quad Recording Studios, New York, NY; Silent Sound Studios, Atlanta, GA; Studio 609 Recordings, Philadelphia, PA; Studio At The Palms, Las Vegas, NV; The Black Room, Atlanta, GA; The Boom Boom Room, Los Angeles, CA; The Ludaplex, Atlanta, GA.

Photographers: Kwaku Alston; Nichell Delvaille.

After conquering the airwaves in 2005 with his smash hit "Slow Down," Disturbing Tha Peace-affiliated R&B singer Bobby Valentino returns with his sophomore album for the revamped Motown imprint, SPECIAL OCCASION. Featuring production work from a cast of hitmakers that includes Timbaland, Dre & Vidal, Don Vito, Tim & Bob, Sean Garrett, and Rodney Jerkins, SPECIAL OCCASION has its share of both sultry slow-jams and catchy club bangers. Ludacris and Fabolous drop guest verses as well.

After releasing his debut solo album in the spring of 2005 and then a stint as part of the collaboration Disturbing the Peace Presents Bobby Valentino, Valentino released another solo album, Special Occasion, in the middle of 2007, a slice of modern urban R&B with enough confidence to credit it simply to his first name, Bobby (assuming that everybody would know who it was). The opening track, "Anonymous," featured the talents of Timberland, who appeared to pop up on just about every R&B album from the mid-2000s, but this set the scene for the whole album, which was a series of 16 songs with Bobby making love to the microphone over a sensual beat and even more sexual strings. Especially indicative of this was the title track, which was a live get together with Valentino and one of his female fans. It was just as well the song was only two minutes long for the erotica (and hero worship) was building nicely into a crescendo. Coming from very different worlds, one could be fairly sure that Bobby Valentino had not listened or deliberately copied the vocal style of Craig David, but in some of the vocals, there was more than a passing similarity, although he strayed into Stevie Wonder territory on the track "I Was Wrong." ~ Sharon Mawer minimize