He directly addresses a lover - potential, long-term, departing - convincing her to take it to the next level on the gliding "Benefits" (like a more aggressive "Just Friends"), pressing reset on the early-'70s throwback "Start Over," and praising her generosity on "Fact of Love." Marsha Ambrosius contributes the opening title song, a coasting/bobbing highlight. Johnson's lyrical approach is likewise focused. A couple booming trap-styled diversions and a flashy band-oriented section in "Sooner or Later" aside, Feel the Real isn't particularly indulgent, tending to stay in the Musiq Soulchild comfort zone. Though that might seem like more stitch-work than what's displayed on the cover, Feel the Real is uncommonly steady for a double album, consisting mostly of midtempo hip-hop soul productions with Johnson's dependably easygoing yet heartfelt vocal technique. This combines fresh material created following the 2016 release with a touched-up backlog of tracks written during the previous few years. Increased song quantity and credits length aren't the only details that differentiate Feel the Real from the preceding album. Just a year and a half after Taalib Johnson released the Warryn Campbell collaboration Life on Earth, he delivered 24 songs - nearly 100 minutes' worth of material - this time recorded with almost a dozen mostly new production associates.
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