Craig David
Slicker than Your Average

Romeo
Solid Love

MICHAEL JACKSON MAY be all but written off, so there’s a vacancy for a King of Pop. Having once been betrothed to Britney Spears, the Queen of Pop, Justin Timberlake knows the pressure of the job, but given half a chance, he’d still step into Jacko’s shoes.

Six months ago the Nsync singer looked an unlikely candidate for the crown. But since going solo, 21-year-old Timberlake has had a Jackson-style overhaul so slick that even Eminem has taken to calling him Lil’ Michael. He has cut off his curls, dumped Britney, duetted with the rapper Nelly and started hanging out with his new hip-hop mates.

His music has had a Michael makeover too. That means vocals that veer from copycat Jacko to Bobby Brown and a poor Prince impression, set to urban R&B beats courtesy of top pop producers Timbaland and the Neptunes. Unfortunately, the result is more Invincible than Off the Wall.

Of the 14 tracks on Justified (Jive) only a handful feel right. On the rest Timberlake’s thin, high-pitched vocals just don’t blend with the bouncy beats, no matter how hard he tries or how many guest rappers he gets in to toughen him up.

Like I Love You does a decent job, thanks to a looped acoustic guitar that gives it a summery, Spanish feel. Rock Your Body is a fun, funky track that sounds like Nelly doing Jacko doing 1980s disco; (And She Said) Take Me Now is an electro-tinged song about sex; and Still on My Brain is a lovely Stevie Wonder-style ballad.

Elsewhere, Justified is a slapdash mish-mash that sounds as if it was made in six weeks, which it was. Senorita could be Nsync with a salsa flavour, while Take It from Here is an old-fashioned ballad with the worst lyrics since Geri Halliwell last put pen to paper.

Eight out of ten for effort then, but the next King of Pop? No chance.

A year or so ago it looked as if Craig David could be the new Jacko. He didn’t do the moonwalk but it didn’t matter. David had the sort of mass appeal that meant everyone from little kids to grannies loved him. Then he took his British R&B to America, started going to Puffy’s parties and believing his hype. He could be King of Pop, he thought, but he’d have to sound more American first.

So Slicker than Your Average (Widstar), the follow-up to the seven-million-seller Born to Do It, still has David’s steppy, soulful, garage Mc-influenced vocals, but now they come backed with regulation American R&B beats.

David has the rapper attitude down pat too. On Fast Cars he pretends to be Puffy; and on the first single, What’s Your Flava?, he could be Usher doing Daft Punk.

There is a handful of songs that sound like the old Craig David (plus a Sting collaboration that just makes him sound old) and there are no real stinkers, but Slicker than Your Average is still a disappointment. The next King of Pop? Probably not.

The So Solid Crew Mc Romeo is the least likely of the lot to follow in Jacko’s footsteps, if only because of the controversy surrounding his South London garage group. The 22-year-old Romeo, however, has the street smarts to keep out of trouble and is polite enough to win over anyone’s Mum. It helps, of course, that he’s a cute-looking lad.

On Solid Love (Relentless), Romeo doesn’t tone down So Solid’s gritty garage beats: he just blends them with pop melodies, gets some soulful backing vocals and chats about his tough upbringing. The result is an irresistible mix that’s much more fun than it sounds.

There are lightweight moments such as the current single It’s All Gravy, a catchy, piano-backed duet with Christina Milian. There are also darker tracks for garage fans, including Deeper Pt 2, which delves into drum’n’bass. Romeo pulls off a credible garage ballad with Full Confusion and sets an ode to his family to R&B on the title track. Probably not the new King of Pop, but he might just be a male Ms Dynamite.