Why Not More? by Coco Jones | Album Review

the Nashville, TN artist’s studio debut

If you’re around my age, you’ve probably seen Coco Jones in a couple of Nickelodeon or Disney Channel related material. The “Let It Shine” and “Bel-Air” star was raised just outside Nashville, to an NFL father and musician mother, so it’s only right that I review the debut album from Coco Jones, who has been around longer than you might think. After a series of record deals that have been dropped, Jones has finally released her debut album, Why Not More?, under Def Jam and looks to add to her expansive repertoire with the first full project.

You might’ve heard her featured alongside R&B’s powerhouses, particularly Brent Faiyez, Leon Thomas, Latto, and even Teddy Swims, as of late. Jones’ voice is distinctive, reminiscent of Jennifer Hudson and Jazmin Sullivan, slightly deeper, yet housing this air of elegance that would fit nicely alongside a jazz ensemble. Hit single “ICU,” perhaps her breakout moment from her debut EP, What I Didn’t Tell You, has been her shining moment up to this point, capitalizing with a melodramatic 90’s style R&B, which felt largely designated for male singers (especially those in groups of four).

Why Not More? starts off with a quicker first step, “Keep It Quiet,” donning the braggadocio exuding from the bass as it coincides with “I got a big ego.” This matter of fact delivery plays well in between the threats of violence and closure, those higher notes meld masterfully and open the album with a bang I wasn’t quite expecting. Every occurrence of Coco Jones, up to this point, has come in the form of an additional chorus or verse that didn’t exacerbate or strengthen the product. But if this intro is any indication, Jones may be a force to be reckoned with. The throwback nature of her voice, the strength that is unheralded in modern R&B, is incredible.

Combine this with the influence — early 2000’s R&B and pop — and the end product, in this case a quick flip of Britney Spears’, “Toxic,” “Taste,” combines all the music I grew up listening and repackages it in an approachable modern format. Jones effortlessly rides the higher ends of that Spears’ chorus, redelivering the revelation of toxicity of a scorned lover unto a new generation of teens that don’t quite understand what they’re hearing just yet. This bit of nostalgia hit is housed perfectly in the front end of the album, particularly for a first attempt, to draw the listener in as she unravels the nooks and crannies of her sound.

As surprising as the “Toxic” interpolation/sample was, the pitfalls of modern R&b become quickly apparent. The weakly produced “On Sight” feels like the bastard child of early 2010’s R&B — a dark era in my opinion, as it shifted to this hip-hop sub-genre with exceptionally weak beats and a decent vocalist. Again, Jones strengths as a singer really shine here, but damn is this a pretty boring track outside of the chorus.

“AEOMG,” follows a lot of the same recipe with an exceptionally repetitive and boring chorus leading the way. Jones lightly touches the breadth of her vocal range, but in sore timing. No amount of power ballads or riffing would’ve saved the unimaginative writing of this song. But the way this album quickly bounces between unimginative and takign deep cuts from the 2000’s is mind-blowing.

Combining interpolation from Trina and Keyshia Cole’s, “I Got A Thang For You,” and the cadence with the simplistic and cheesy delivery of Ella Mai’s, “Boo’d Up,” feels a bit uncanny. The Frankenstein culmination of 2000’s R&B thus far takes me to the deep recesses of my memory. Even those tracks that aren’t directly interpolated have this feeling of familiarity that I can’t quite put a tongue on. For example, the “I tried, I tried,” on “Here We Go (Uh Oh)” remind me of Beyonce’s, “Listen,” and Mark Morrison’s,” Return of the Mack.”

The album’s titular track is spectacularly predictable given the course of the album up this point with additionaly cheese added on for the reggae flair added on top of the same sort of melodies seen in multitudes so far. Marley’s verse is nothing spectacular and seeks to cater to an audience that likely doesn’t co-mingle with Jones’. Again, this is one of many examples where Coco Jones’ voice saves the track from being completely mundane.

There are a few shining moments, particularly “Hit You Where It Hurts,” which plays on the dramatism of her voice. It finally leaves me with the impression that Jones is convincingly damn right. But these moments are fleeting. In the same breath, followed loosely with the Future song with a Coco feature, we return to status quo. It isn’t even true that Jones’ best material comes in support of someone else, but this album isn’t very compelling evidence.

I feel Coco Jones spends much of this album emulating the sounds of her youth, which is an incredible basis to conform to. But, I find it largely uninteresting. I’m all for unique sound, but Jones hasn’t quite found hers yet, nor did it feel like she tries to on this album. “You,” perhaps the best song of the selection, sounds like a carbon copy of early SZA, which is definitely someone you want to sound like. But we’ve heard it before.

The grittiness of the first verse “Nobody Exists,” finally woke me from the stupor of 2009-era daydreaming and highlighted the ease in which Jones can operate in those difficult deeper vocal ranges. The agony of this selection comes from wishing it was just a tad longer, wishing those guttural notes were just a tad longer, held captive just a few seconds longer.

With a voice of this caliber, you would expect emotional turmoil to unravel from every single track that turns over in your ears. Instead, most of Why Not More? leaves me asking that exact question. Why rehash sounds that have been heard and replicated a dozen times over in the past decade? The production here does Jones absolutely no favors as it is extremely plain and fails to allow her to explore the intricacies of her voice.

The choruses on half the songs are all structured the same way and provide little enjoyment in the listening process. I shouldn’t have to check over again to make sure I’m not listening the same song again. I have a lot of questions about the structure of this album. A lot of them revolve around its redundancies. No way should a singer of Jones’ quality being dropping late year B-sides in a debut. I didn’t hate this project, but man am I disappointed in what I heard.

I truly believe a few tweaks in production style would really elevate Jones’ music. We’re a few BPM from seeing soul-changing music and not just another run of the mill R&B performance that has been seen by a dozen other artist in the past decade and half. Why Not More? is written to be a soul-crushing album, but it’s hard to feel sad when it isn’t shown that way. Slow it down. Devastate me. Only then will I be truly appreciative of the full range of the product on display.

Rating: 5.9/10
Favorite Tracks: Taste, Nobody Exists