by Stewart Mason
Latino rapper Mr. Sancho shifts gears on Foreplay, coming up with an interesting hybrid that's like the gangsta version of old quiet storm soul and lover's rock reggae albums. The beats on Foreplay are built on vintage slow jams, with acoustic guitars and strings playing a major role throughout and tempos rarely rising above a Barry White purr. Similarly, Mr. Sancho sings as much as he raps here, with surprising effectiveness, and the lyrical preoccupations are neatly encapsulated by the album's blunt but descriptive title. There are some blatantly derivative lifts on Foreplay -- "You" flat-out steals that whole sped-up soul diva sample idea from Kanye West, and the hook on "What's on Your Mind" owes much to late Roger Troutman's trademark Vocoder -- but this is a smart, appealing change of pace.