Director

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Avant has been trying to climb out from under comparisons with R. Kelly--his brother in bettering the average guy's chance at a booty call--since he arrived on the R&B scene nearly a decade ago. Director, his fourth disc, is his shot at shifting the effort into overdrive: The title refers not only to his executive-producer turn here, but to the overall reigning in of career disillusionment. Prior management was ditched in favor of the current team, which brought with it the top-tier production of Jermaine Dupri and Rodney Jerkins. And on came the collaborators: Lil' Wayne, the Pussycat Dolls, Lloyd Banks, and Dupri himself turn in memorable tokens of support. Hard to ignore, though, is the fact that Avant still sounds like R. Kelly, whether it's when he's cramming too many syllables into a single line (the future ladies' man anthem "This Is Your Night") or, more often, when he's just doing his Avant thing, which is spinning a smooth-soul vocal into pure velvet ("Lie About Us," "Now You Got Someone"). So the campaign for distinction is a bust, but a little stylistic copycatting can go a long way: "Exclusive," the Lloyd Banks number, bumps along to a flashy-cool beat that urban radio ought not to ignore, and "You Know What" is a dirty-sweet knee-weakener. The rest rolls along like a carriage ride before a romantic dinner, which is another way of saying that R&B fans will want to linger over Director's every last cut. --Tammy La Gorce