The revealing side of Smack That is the way that Akon continues R & B’s descent into the sort of raunchy and vulgar themes more readily typified by rap music. His album is curse-laden and does not shy away from crime or sex. While Akon’s status as a former criminal himself legitimizes his role in conveying this material, it takes some adjustment to listen to R & B with the ear of a rap listener.

When rapped, sex and crime can be ignored more readily, passed off as a factor of the genre, a means to express masculinity, or merely lost under the guise of a loud beat and an emcee’s flow. With R & B, and particularly Akon, the words are slower, and the beats are less bass heavy. Consequently, each syllable is heard, and when one hears the unedited version of I Wanna Love You (“I wanna fuck you, you already know”) for the first time, it is hard not to be a bit surprised. This is not so much a criticism as it is an observation of a new path being carved for R & B by Akon.

What Smack That keeps hidden about Konvicted, is that there are some highly topical songs on the album. For example, Mama Africa is a song that celebrates a love for Africa in a sincere manner backed by a Reggae influenced beat whose guitar riff casually paces the song. Elsewhere, Akon is more affectionate towards woman. I Can’t Wait finds Akon crooning to a love interest over a gently rolling piano loop. Akon alternates his voice through a vocoder, alongside his natural delivery while a sampled “I can’t wait” is interspersed throughout the track. The result is a bit dated and cheesy, but Akon’s whole affectionate schtick is a bit goofy so it works.

Other points of the album see Akon playing up his gangster side. Gangsta Bop is the most glaring example of this. While not a terrible song, the track – with its drumbeat and pseudo-Dre sound effects – is a good example of why the whole emcee-thug-as-R-&-B-singer works better for crude sex tracks. That is probably why the two leading singles are the best tracks on the album. Don’t Matter, the most recent single, is another catchy track, albeit with decidedly less club appeal.

So, Akon’s newest is a mixed bag. It features some surprisingly sincere material, alongside some half-hearted thuggish-ness. It is an easy listen and whether people like it or not, this more gratuitous lyrical style is the future of mainstream R & B.