He poses like
LL Cool J, spins a love rhyme like
D'Angelo, and croons in the same keening falsetto as
Michael Jackson. Although
Latif isn't the most original of R&B singers, his Motown debut,
Love in the First, features a fair trailer single ("I Don't Wanna Hurt You"). The lyrics or set-ups for many of the other songs reveal a quest for all manner of variations on the basic this-love-won't-work theme ("Without U," "My Sister's Girlfriend," "My Man's Girl"), and
Latif proves to be no different than his contemporary R&B predecessors. ~ John Bush