Yo Tyrese, put some clothes on!

I can’t remember the first time I heard Chingy’s “Pullin’ Me Back”, but I was hooked. Tyrese’s chorus bolsters Chingy in a way that he wasn’t able to do on his own choruses, resulting in a 2000s pop/R&B classic. Recently rediscovering that and 2Pac’s “Neva Call U Bitch Again” made me feel like Tyrese must be some kind of unsung genius, so I dug into his third album, I Wanna Go There, on the strength of its single “How You Gonna Act Like That”. This track was produced by The Underdogs, who later made some of my personal favorite 2000s R&B tracks, such as Marques Houston’s “Sex Wit You” and Omarion’s “O”. Like the aforementioned tracks, the magic in this one lies in the chorus, which with its double-tracked vocals sounds wonderfully harmonious. I Wanna Go There as a whole is imperfect, but it’s still a worthy album.

In his music and public life, Tyrese puts it all out there. He has a strong vocal range and successfully employs a formula of restrained singing in his verses followed by bellowing choruses and impressive vocal runs toward the end of his songs. In late-album highlights like “All Ghetto Girl” and “Kinna Right”, his vocals really seal the deal over the music’s smooth production.

There are some lesser tracks here, like the redo of 2Pac’s “How Do You Want It” featuring the less-than-Pac-ish Mr. Tan. The Jermaine Dupri featuring “Girl I Can’t Help It” is surprisingly one of the weaker songs here as well. Still, most of the album sticks to a formula that is really solid R&B. The Poke & Tone produced closer, which samples the same Aretha Franklin song sampled on Mos Def’s “Ms. Fat Booty” is different, but it’s fun to see Tyrese explore his origin story on record. The guy may be mostly known for the Fast & Furious franchise, but he’s got some serious gems.

Listen to I Wanna Go There here.