Senior

Personnel: Ginuwine (vocals); Jose Cenquentez, Snoop Dogg, The Rock, Baby, Sole, Method Man, R. Kelly, Baby, Clipse (vocals); Aaron Fishbein (guitar); Harvey Hester (background vocals).
Producers include: Troy Oliver, Jerry "Juke" Vines, CASINO Joe, Troy Taylor, Scott Storch.
Recorded at The Hit Factory Criteria, Miami, Florida; Noontime Studios, Atlanta, Georgia.
Ever since he first captured the music-buying public's attention, Ginuwine has been the personification of lady-killing hip-hop cool. A kind of smooth R&B-crooning gangsta Billy Dee Williams, the singer (originally with the aid of producer Timbaland) developed a unique combination of dynamic East Coast beats, G-funk-influenced keyboards, and highly rhythmic modern soul belting. Though his uniquely urban style found him somewhat at odds artistically with the more down-home approach of retro soul artists such as Macy Gray and Maxwell, THE SENIOR finds Ginuwine continuing to push the envelope.
Oddly, enough, however, this disc is also one of his most overtly commercial-sounding albums, at once filled with hit-you-over-the-head hooks and over-the-top lyrics worthy of Barry White himself. Highlights include "In Those Jeans," which is as blatant and direct a sexual come-on as has ever been recorded, and "Chedda Brings," a surprisingly thoughtful examination of the problems that accompany newfound financial independence.