This came out in 2003 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
I have been on vacation, so maybe I missed something. When did it become a law that hip-hop divas can only have one name? Aaliyah, Beyoncé, Brandy, Monica, Tweet … enough already. And while I’m venting, enough with albums like Ashanti’s Chapter II and Thalia’s Thalia, two discs whose appeal is as non-existent as their creators’ second names.
All producer Irv Gotti’s protege Ashanti has to offer on her 65-minute sophomore disc is the usual batch of booty-bounce beats and ooh-baby-baby balladry, padded out by two introductory tracks — including snippets of her previous singles in case you forgot — along with unnecessary skits and even an outro track. Sure, the sultry Rock Wit U fills the bill as a decent summer single, but there’s little else on Chapter II that’s going to make Beyoncé lose any beauty sleep.
Mexican star Thalia, meanwhile, seems unsure whether she wants to be a hip-hop thrush, a soul stirrer, a rocker, a Latin-pop queen or a dance-floor goddess. Her commercially minded and eponymously titled CD — which also happens to be her debut English release — plays all sides against the middle, throwing every style against the wall in the hope that something will stick. Sadly, nothing really does. Like Ashanti, Thalia would be better off trying to craft a more individual and memorable persona. Perhaps they both should start by adding another word to their names.
