There's nothing worse than resigning yourself to test drive a song you expect to dislike. You get that look on your face; like you just bit into a lemon. But there's nothing better than feeling that way and then being pleasantly surprised. It only took a few seconds for me to frown as I heard the opening few bars of City Rules, because, slightly shocked, I instantly thought: 'the MC isn't bad, the beats are nice and solid, the sounds are sweet'. It was MC Saigon (New York) laying down an understated rhyme, then Daniel Merriweather's turn, and after hearing people rave and say he was a 'real R&B; singer' (whatever that means), I expected the opposite. Daniel was up against a long-term R&B; lover in me, so it was a pleasant surprise when I could tick all boxes to arrive at the conclusion: this kid can cut it. In fact, Merriweather seems to rise to the challenge of being surrounded by a group of proven musicians (from acts like The Roots and Black Eyed Peas) and actually shines brighter. If you believe in R&B;, you've got to like the possibility that we may have our first international R&B; star in Daniel Merriweather.

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Tracklisting
1 CITY RULES (MAIN MIX)
2 CITY RULES (MAIN MIX - CLEAN)
3 CITY RULES (ORGANIX)
4 CITY RULES (RADIO EDIT)
5 CITY RULES (RADIO EDIT - CLEAN)

Full listing of DANIEL MERRIWEATHER releases