Keri Hilson

Keri Hilson's much-anticipated debut has been much-anticipated for a few reasons. First, due to multiple push-backs, audiences have had to wait out its release for two years. Another reason is the company Hilson keeps: producers Timbaland and Danja, plus guests Kanye, Keyshia Cole and Lil Wayne. Hilson deserves such a reputation because she's a serious songwriter and a diva of the fiercest proportions, all which is very apparent on World, whether she's giving you the kiss-off ("How Does It Feel") or elegantly moping on a retro waltz of a slow song ("Where Did He Go").

"I got a lil' bit of thug in me," boasts Timbaland protégée Keri Hilson in the intro on her
long-awaited debut. Lil' is the operative term: Hilson works up a sweat trying to come on
like a hardboiled diva — promising to "get on my worst behavior" in the blippy single "Return
the Favor" — but her precise, nimble R&B singing is a generic sound, carrying little menace or
other stamp of individuality. Hilson has other skills, though. She's a member of th... More >