THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

Lately I've been disappointed and thrilled in equal parts—as mentioned in previous columns—with Kylie's phoned in Kiss Me Once following two decades of great albums. I've truly enjoyed the last three Britney Spears albums despite that fact that she's not even pretended to be a real singer/songwriter/musician. Lady Gaga and Katy Perry also suffered recently from a case of fans expecting the world and getting mostly a lateral move. Both albums were good, but soon faded from memory. If you start with the expectation of someone always bringing forth genius, at some point they'll let you down. If you come from a place of "what is this steaming pile gonna sound like?," an open mind could lead you to appreciate someone who was underappreciated for more than you thought.

Pharrell Williams and Jason Derulo have been bumping around the R&B and hip-hop world for years now with varying degrees of success behind and in front of the mic without that level of stardom contemporaries like JT and Bruno Mars have achieved. This month, both have released well-rounded, thought out LPs that could change all that. GIRL by Pharrell even out dafts Daft Punk's Grammy-award-winning R.A.M. album, from which Pharrell leapt off with this recording. Derulo, who's mostly been a poppier Usher rip-off has embraced his dirty side with the fun Talk Dirty collection. While you shouldn't expect a full booty album, it does have other hot moments for the clubs, and a variety that will still work for his pop fans too.

This tactic scares me with upcoming projects by Mariah Carey, Kesha, and Adele supposedly happening. Right now, all three should be on high alert that we expect the world after the wait and the false starts. My advice, keep tossing out those dud singles and playing the glam over-sexed cougar, Mariah, and when you do drop your LP in 2023, we'll all be happily shocked that you've still got it in you to make a well-crafted set. See Beyoncé for some thoughts on that.