2.5/5
Two tracks into In a Perfect World, ‘Get Your Money Up’ sums up Keri Hilson’s entire repertoire. The catchy collab showcases all the subdued, synthesized quirks of Keyshia Cole and Trina, setting themselves against an electro-lite club beat (a la Polow da Don and Danja Handz) and defending their God-given right to mack.
In case you couldn’t spot her in the crowd, Hilson’s the one that sounds like a missing member of 3LW: when she’s not waxing saccharine with an R’amp;B 2.0 trill on slower, pseudo-soul ballads like ‘Make Love’ or ‘Slow Dance,’ she’s channeling her inner Timbaland with a real femcee’s come-hither allure and a get-your-hands-off-my-ass sass (‘Do It’).
After getting her start as a songwriter for the likes of Ludacris and Ms. Spears, Hilson’s waited around to make the Santogold transition for quite a while. And now that her solo’s finally dropped, it’s clear that the interim was spent pulling industry strings. Aside from the album’s lyrics, which are all Hilson’s own (though with credit owed to a masterful production crew), hired help includes upstaging BET celebrities like’ Akon and Kanye.
Per usual, a ubiquitous Lil Wayne pulls the gravity from a thumping bass line on the album’s first single, ‘Turnin’ Me On’ ‘mdash; a patter-heavy hit bookended by Hilson’s vocal hijinks. Like other keynote tracks, it rings in the same clipped, ringtone-ready choruses that repeat no more than 10 words no less than four times over (you guessed it ‘mdash; ‘You’re turnin’ me on’).
The most lasting facet of Hilson’s solo debut is without a doubt her more talented godparents. With tracks crafted by dance mogul Timbaland, World ‘mdash; with its honeyed vocals over warbling synths, spaceship chimes tangled up in strings ‘mdash; does right by any down-and-dirty dance party.