Fooled Ya Baby

#7: Nikka Costa - Can'tneverdidnothin'. Ms. Costa has been releasing music since she was a wee youth. She has a strong, soulful voice, she has charisma out the wazoo, her material can be funky and rocking, and (from what I understand) she puts on a helluva live show. So chances are pretty good you've never heard of her.

This album, her second on a major here in the U.S., goes from strength to strength. There are a few slow-burning ballads, a few cuts that bring out the funk, and a number of white-hot cuts (the title track, for instance) that sound not unlike a certain Led Zeppelin (one review I read made a comparison with Lenny Kravitz--who guests on a few songs--but that's selling the material rather short, IMHO).

Lyrically I don't think there are any great revelations here, some songs about love and sex and believing in yourself and blah blah blah; truth be told, I can't recall a lot that jumps out aside from the title track (which is sung in the same one-word rush as it appears). But that's not really the vibe here. All in all, the disc's main goals would appear to be to get you to either shake your ass, wave your lighter or bang your head. And this it accomplishes quite well.