Marsha Ambrosius’ Friends & Lovers is for Both Her Friends and Lovers

Fans of Marsha Ambrosius rejoice! The R&B songstress is back with Friends & Lovers, which is the follow-up to her 2011 solo debut, Late Nights & Early Mornings. This release certainly contains Ambrosius’ signature sound, but is more carefully crafted and has the mark of an artist who has learned from her first foray into the spotlight. Not that she had many mistakes to learn from — Late Nights was a grammy nominated, charted success — but Ambrosius’ growth on Friends & Lovers is apparent, especially with tracks like “So Good” and “Night Time,” which reprise her best moments from Late Nights and add a blatant dose of blush-inducing sexuality.

That said, this isn’t Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda” we’re talking about here. While Ambrosius does get a bit heavy-handed with the erotic lyrics (an example from “So Good” – “You’re pulling on my hair / You’re right between my legs…Go hard I said / Go ahead”), the album as a whole has moments of vulnerability woven throughout, which makes for a nice balance between naughty and nice. There’s also the welcome collaboration from contemporaries, including Dr. Dre and the J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League (whom also has some guest production credits).

With chart success, peaking at #2 on Billboards Top 15 R&B albums, as well as #12 on the Top 200, it seems Ambrosius is primed for a lengthy and respectable career. She sings about grown-up things for grown-up people, and it would appear with each new release, we’re going to see a more mature artist. Fans should be happy, as the years seem to only add to this musician’s talent.