The latest in an unfortunately long line of actors turned musicians is Terrence Howard, star of Hustle & Flow and Jacksons: An American Dream. But Howard's music bears little to no resemblance to either that of the Jackson family or the pimp angst hip-hop at the center of Hustle & Flow. Here's how he described it to the NY Times:
Most of the songs are cinematic; [producer] Mosley referred to them as "scripts." That is how Mr. Howard's worlds of music and acting come together. Drama, "storytelling" as he puts it, lies at the heart of both…
"There's a place in the Cayman Islands called Hell," he said, when asked to compare his two worlds. "It's just all this sulfuric rock. It's arid. That's what acting is to me. I haven't made it to the green valleys yet. The characters I've had to play have been in these harsh places. I haven't been able to play the spring yet. I'm stuck in the middle of a desert with regard to acting.
"But with music, there's a thawing out. There's a spring in the music. So hopefully it will get me to summer, and I'll sit up in the meadows someday." He paused, then looked directly across the table. "I'm sorry, but this is how I talk," he said. "It's my pictures."
At least he apologized. See, his music is like spring that carries him to the summer meadows. It's the warmth of a smile of a newborn baby, or the feeling of rolling in the dew-covered grass of late May, or strolling hand in hand with a loved one through the softly sloping hillsides of Heaven Park. Basically, it's a douche commercial.
Another good way to describe it would be "Ego Explosion". Click if you dare:
Howard also produced the album, which probably explains how we're able to hear flute, children's choir background vocals, and sing-screaming of "Love makes you beautiful", all over an orchestra for five solid minutes. It's not overkill if it's true to Terrence Howard's mind pictures.