Mario Winans: Hurt No More

Mario Winans may be a part of the highly popular Winans family known for their sweet gospel singing, but he's a Bad Boy with some serious women issues. The vocalist/writer/producer has spent a lot of time behind the board for other artists but he steps out prominently here with a lot of help (not all of it good) from members of P. Diddy's Bad Boy stable. He's got a supple voice that can be extremely expressive but a lot of the material on this disc comes across as much too familiar. The breakout single, "I Don't Wanna Know," features a recycled Enya sample that the Fugees put to better use nearly 10 years ago. Slow jams like "Should've Known" and "I Got You Babe" are serviceable soul but not much more. Winans is a troubled guy when it comes to relationships, but he's trying to learn from past mistakes. But sentiments don't get any deeper than "I gave my love, my time, my life/In return you gave me pain, what a shame." Straight out of the Hallmark rack of bitterness. And Winans needs to reconsider what rappers he works with as Foxy Brown does her usual trashy work on "Pretty Girl [expletive]" while he hauls out Loon and Black Rob elsewhere and they offer pedestrian turns. Winans is a confident singer conflicted by love and you can't help thinking that the combination may produce a great record. This isn't it.