Omarion
21

SonyBMG

Despite Justin Timberlake’s remarkable career, it’s not easy to graduate from boy band to solo success. But former B2K singer Omarion nailed a number one album last time out and is trying again with his sophomore CD 21.

The corn-rowed R&B crooner may not have the same falsetto or charisma, but he did hire JT’s producer Timbaland for his heartbroken single “Ice Box”, and the lover-man dance track “Beg For It”. The Neptunes also provide some beats (“Obsession”) and O gave new producer Eric Hudson a shot on his first single “Entourage”.

But the album, named after Omarion’s years on this earth, never transcends typical R&B topics — looking for love, losing love, winning love back — and there’s too many slow jams, not enough party tracks.

Unlike Justin, who kept our minds open and butts shaking by being experimentally ambitious, Omarion’s merely-passable stab at maturity feels far too safe to really matter much.