Rahsaan Patterson has emerged out of a new breed of R&B artists, from a genre that has been coined "neo-soul." This new breed of pure soul, is more true to it's R&B roots than that of today's diluted mainstream R&B. Rahsaan has previously penned songs for Tevin Campbell, Ray J, Chico DeBarge, Christopher Williams, Brandy, and Jody Watley. He falls somewhere between the smoothness of Maxwell, the southern twang of Raphael Saadiq, the voice of Stevie Wonder, and the pure musical talent of D'Angelo. This, his second LP, "Love In Stereo" is appropriately named due to the warmth of his lyrics and the meticulous care taken in his production.

Some tracks to check for on the LP include...

The lead cut "Treat You Like A Queen" is a soulful track dedicated to women caught in dead end, and potentially abusive relationships. Rahsaan places women on a "silver platter" as every woman should be...treated as a Queen. "Sure Boy" has a southern funk feel to it, with very uplifting lyrics, all about living with confidence and pride and not necessarily with lavishness. "It's All Right Now" has that Maxwell vibe to it, where his delivery and voice is reminiscent of Stevie Wonder. With a nice layering of strings over keys and bass this cut makes you just want to sit back and smile, even with it's topic of love lost. "Friend Of Mine" takes you back about 20 years, when soul had SOUL, especially on the chorus and breakdown to this cut. "It Ain't Love" speeds things up to a disco speed, but still maintaining that smooth feel that the entire album projects. This is definitely the dance floor cut of the album.

Other highlights include "The Moment" and the nice use of "The Message" in "Get Here."

Production on "Love In Stereo" has Rahsaan himself co-producing on all tracks. Jamey Jaz contributes to "It's Alright Now," "The Day," "It Ain't Love," "So Right" and "Any Other Love," Colour Club's Les Pierce laces "Treat You Like A Queen", Van Hunt adds to "The Moment," "Humor," "Friend Of Mine" and "Sure Boy", while Soulshock & Karlin bring "Do You Feel The Way I Do" and Steve "Silk" Hurley blesses us on "Get Here."

Final Verdict: Overall, this LP is not one to be slept on. A definite necessity in everyone's collection, and a breath of something old, but new.