Jennifer Hudson - JHUD

enters the Billboard chart this week at #10

Spotify online listen

4.0 of 5.0 from allmusic

the 80's live on

only 1 slow track on here

four featured artists including Iggy

plus some Pharrel Williams tunes

she's looking for the big one

I liked about half of this for the flashbacks

Bio - from allmusic

Best known for her role as Effie White in the 2006 film version of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls, vocalist/actress Jennifer Hudson was first

brought to the public's attention while a contestant on the third season of American Idol. Born in 1981 in Chicago, Illinois, Hudson sang from a

young age, first performing in her church. Various talent shows and school musical productions followed until she eventually secured a role in a

local Chicago production of the musical Big River. Prior to auditioning for American Idol, Hudson also sang professionally while working on the

Disney Wonder cruise ship.

In 2004, she auditioned for and won a spot on the third season of American Idol along with eventual winner Fantasia Barrino. Though a strong

contender and fan favorite from the start, Hudson would eventually become the sixth of the 12 finalists to get voted off the show. Ironically,

after the show ended, there was speculation that Barrino would get the coveted role of Effie in the film version of Dreamgirls. However, Hudson

won the role and went on to receive not only critical acclaim for her performance, but also both a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Supporting

Role and an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Her debut album, Jennifer Hudson, was delayed after the shocking murders of her mother, brother,

and nephew by her brother-in-law, but finally materialized on Arista in September 2008, led by the Top Ten R&B/Hip-Hop single "Spotlight." The

album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and eventually went gold.

In March 2011, Hudson delivered her second studio album I Remember Me, a relatively upbeat release featuring the R. Kelly-penned single "Where

You At." It debuted at number two as well, but didn't sell nearly as well as the debut. Unlike the many pop artists who churned out an album a

year, Hudson continued to focus as much on her acting career as on music, appearing in a number of big-budget feature films including Sex & the

City, The Secret Life of Bees, Winnie Mandela, The Three Stooges, and Lullaby. As a result, another three years passed between Hudson albums.

Her third full-length, the groove-heavy JHUD, was released in September 2014 with contributions from the likes of R. Kelly, Iggy Azalea,

Timbaland, Pharrell, and Danja.

Album Review - from allmusic

At the 2013 Soul Train Awards, Jennifer Hudson sang "I Can't Describe," the first single from her third album, which was ten months away from

being released. Produced and written by Pharrell Williams, the song could pass for a synthesizer-less cover of a bounding early-'80s post-disco

jam created by Kashif and his associates for Melba Moore or Evelyn King. For the Soul Train performance, Hudson was joined by King and Chaka

Khan (as well as guest rapper T.I.), and the backing band easily slipped into King's Kashif collaboration "I'm in Love" and Rufus & Chaka's "Do

You Love What You Feel." It was a bold way to honor those who came before Hudson, who previously drew from '70s and early-'80s styles in the

likes of "Spotlight" and "Everybody Needs Love." That spirit fills JHUD, a predominantly uptempo affair with a big chunk of material that

recalls the disco and more electronic post-disco eras. Williams provides two other songs in a similar mode, both of which are uncomplicated but

stimulating, built on rumbling/throbbing basslines. One of them, unfortunately, is spiked by Iggy Azalea. For "It's Your World," Hudson turns to

fellow Chicagoans Terry Hunter and R. Kelly. The drum intro is almost identical to that of Roy Ayers Ubiquity's "Running Away," while what

follows is closer to the 1978 version of the vibraphonist's "Sweet Tears," graced with soft electronic piano and made harder with house-strength

kick drums. Hudson, however, is in full-on diva mode, promising to make her duet partner's dreams come true. Some of the songs could have been

fronted by anybody. Hudson occasionally sounds disconnected from the material, but the singer, as powerful as ever, still leaves her indelible

mark on everything -- even "Walk It Out," a pattering Timbaland/J-Roc production that one can imagine being fronted by Justin Timberlake. Fans

of Hudson's gospel-fied ballads get one treat at the very end -- a stirring but incomplete/unedited-sounding Mali Music collaboration that lasts

seven minutes and quickly fades out.

nice groove on this one:

youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fY2PXJHsXno

Track Listing

1. Dangerous

2. It's Your World

3. He Ain't Going Nowhere

4. Walk It Out

5. I Can't Describe

6. I Still Love You

7. Just That Type of Girl

8. Bring Back the Music

9. Say It

10. Moan