- reviewed by Marsha Castello

In short Teairra is a young songstress with a lot of vocal ability and a lot of heart for a 17-year-old and gets extra points for reaching this level at such a young age in my book. However that vocal ability needs further training and development, which will come with further coaching, age and experience, but the raw talent is definitely there.

If I were 17, or younger, I'd love this album without exception for its beats and sassy attitude, but a few years on I'm wanting and expecting more from my albums. Teairra needs to stick with and hold on tight to writers and producers that can truly tune into her as an artist and write and produce songs, which truly compliment her vocals rather than distract from them or hinder their flow. more..

- reviewed by Marsha Castello

In short Teairra is a young songstress with a lot of vocal ability and a lot of heart for a 17-year-old and gets extra points for reaching this level at such a young age in my book. However that vocal ability needs further training and development, which will come with further coaching, age and experience, but the raw talent is definitely there.

If I were 17, or younger, I'd love this album without exception for its beats and sassy attitude, but a few years on I'm wanting and expecting more from my albums. Teairra needs to stick with and hold on tight to writers and producers that can truly tune into her as an artist and write and produce songs, which truly compliment her vocals rather than distract from them or hinder their flow.

While Sean Garret and Teairra musically, are not a match made in heaven, the singer Teairra Mari and songwriter/producer P. Poli are certainly a divine duo and further collaborations would be sure to put this girl on the map…for good!

The Main Course
"We Get Busy " is the title of Teairra Mari's debut, and upon hearing the title one is tempted to say, but ya didn't get busy enough honey!

Don't misinterpret me, the album packs a few firm punches with "Stay In Ya Lane," "Act Right" and the two gems, "Phone Booth" and "Get Up on Ya Gangsta." Yet on first listen this album is bland in the extreme, with only 2-4 standout tracks, the aforementioned cuts.

However all is not lost, because this is the type of album that really grows on you. I love the ambition, drive and commitment which clearly went into the making of this album, which is essentially a plethora of tight and heavy Hip Hop beats, iced with young, sweet, street and sexy R&B vocals.

Where this album falls down is perhaps the lack of direction of the album, and the weak and meager lyrics on most of the tracks. Teairra has a good voice, that can evidently be heard and witnessed on tracks such as "Phone Booth" and "Get Up On Ya Gangsta," but I feel she is not used to her full potential on tracks such as "No Daddy" and "La La." You really get a sense that she is struggling with the weak a*s lyrics that has been served to her.

She does the best she can but flows of track on these cuts, in as much the same way as Naomi Campbell fell of her platform heels at that  catwalk fashion show, it's an embarrassing fall from grace.

No Daddy
This song has a jarringly high pitched and immature hook, and sounds like a little toddler whining and throwing a tantrum in a supermarket, rather than a girl from the hood relaying her hard-knock life story.

This track handles the tender topic of growing up without a father and having to fend for yourself in many a close call. Yet the lyrics handle the topic with all the sensitivity of a prehistoric Neanderthal, which unfortunately, is often the effect you get when a mediocre male songwriter tries to tune into his feminine side and write from a female point of view and fails miserably.

I almost feel sorry for Teairra on this track. She has gone to the songwriters, Sean Garret and Co. with some real issues to translate that were obviously personal to her, and to which many can relate, and they have come back with this childish nursery school chant which is dangerously verges on patronising in its lack of complexity and pure lack of sensitivity.

As someone who can truly relate to the issues highlighted in this song I was hugely insulted. The remix of this track by K. Holland, adds some extra bass, which thankfully distracts from and drowns out some of the anorexic-thin lyrics, and bring this closer to a mindless club banger.

La La
is a prime example of how not to make an R&B, or any other record for that matter. Written by Sean Garrett, J.Kent, and M. Williams, this track is a disaster. You can hear Teairra painstakingly struggling with the flow of this track with its off-key lyrics. The same writers who gave us Destiny Child's mediocre "Soldier" has provided an alternative but similar track to "Soldier." Instead of crooning that she needs a soldier, someone who is gangsta and able to carry a heavy load, Teairra croons "You may be gangsta, but gangsta ain't enough."

She's telling the players with nothing but weak game to step off, because she already has her man, to whom she intends to stay loyal. I have no problem with the content matter, all ladies have faced a similar situation or two in their lifetime, it's just that I know my girls from around the way would come up with far superior lyrics than these, which would kick the attitude grasped at, but clearly missed here.

This track becomes embarrassingly transparent for what it is, a girl trying to write, an ode from a girl to the perfect guy, but failing miserably, it's so narcissistic it hurts.

Make her Feel Good
This is the single from the album and begs the questions:

"Do I have to tell a n*gga how to touch me? /Do I have to tell a n*gga how to hold me?
Do I have to tell a n*gga when to call me? /Do I have to tell a n*gga I'm lonely
Do I have to feel wrong, /when it ain't strong
Keep my mouth closed? /(huh huh huh)
Can't a girl from tha hood find a homie, /that ain't just tryna hang around me?"

Questions which I'm sure all us ladies have asked over the course of our lives. The beat is blazing - originally used by Eric B. and Rakim on their hip-hop classic "My Melody" - Teairra rides the rhythm expertly well, yet the vocal range on the hook is bland and uninspiring and does not really give Teairra a chance to showcase the full range of her skills.

New Sh*t
This is one of those tracks which grows on you with each play. It handles the topic of telling your Ex that you're way past over him and are thankfully moving on, and does it well. The best verse, is undoubtedly the first, unfortunately this standard is not quite maintained throughout the track:

"I got plans for you and me
We both need to move on
Cuz you aint what I need
It took some time for me to find out
I didn't sign up for misery
And no we can't work it out
Things ain't the same way that they used to be
Cuz you don't feel for me no more"

This is not a bad track, but if the vocals had been just a little more earnest and the lyrics a little more tighter, and consistent in standard, this could be a surefire hit, as that bass pounding hip-hop beat is certainly there.

Stay In Ya LaneThis song depicts the horror of when some guy is all up in your face, invading your personal space talking weak game that you don't want to hear. You don't mind the attention, but wish he would just get his game right, slow down and give you some space.

"I see you baby (Ohhhh) /But stay in your lane
Take it easy (Take it easy yeah) /Keep getting at me
But stay in your lane /I ain't easy
My frame is crazy (So crazy)"

The lyrics of "Stay In Ya Lane" are tight in parts but barely passable in others, which hinders the flow ever so slightly.

Act Right
Depicts the scenario of falling head over heels for a guy after just one date and losing full control of your emotions and senses. The lyrics achieve simultaneous balance of subtlety and intensity, yet this time it's Teairra's delivery, which is verging on bland in some parts of the track. She needs to crank it up just a notch on both these tracks, which expose Teairra's young vocals of being in need of further coaching and development in order to deliver the range and power that such tracks demand.
However she is not far of the mark, perhaps just an iota or two, and bearing in mind that this little lady is only 17, and this is only her debut, she does pretty da*n well.

M.V.P.
This song has a delivery that grabs the attention initially, but has a weak hook. Similarly with "Get Down Tonight," it's an all out party track, which starts off by pleasing your ear drums, waistline and hips with its thunderous intro, but then the beat degenerates into a diluted and poppy tune, that is not up to par with tracks such as "Phone Booth" and "Get Up on Ya Gangsta."

"M.V.P," is a chance for Teairra to posture and state claim of being the prototype female. Teairra Mari also sounds increasingly and eerily like a young Beyonce' with street edge on this track, which is unfortunate, because what you are truly looking for in a new artist is originality.

Phone Booth
This is one of the rare times that Sean Garrett has actually managed to deliver on this album, and I can't help but to think that it is because he is teamed up with B. Cox, also responsible for "Act Right." The two obviously work well together, and it's more partnerships like these that Teairra will need to maintain longevity in the game.

The imagery evoked by the lyrics and earnest delivery is vivid and real. A picture is painted of a young girl who has just had a life changing argument with her mother who strongly disapproves of her daughter's choice of boyfriend.

Her mother looks through eyes that have been there before and warns her daughter that he'll only hurt her in the end, but Teairra is torn between the love for her man and that for her Mum and in a phone box, (a metaphorical crossroads) in tears on a wet and bleak night she makes an earnest phone call to her man asking her to pick her up, take her away from all of this and prove her mother wrong:

"If I leave (If I leave)
Where will I go (will I go)
Will you take me in like you told me before (me before)
Prove that she was just being hysterical (hysterical)
Show that what she thinks ain't reality, no
I love her (I do)
Same time (I love you)
But you both are making me choose (See what I go through for you)
Boy you better hope the future that you're promising me
Is as real as the 45 up under your seat."

The song is laden with subtle details, such as a young girl making a collect call, as she is probably to young to afford her own phone, and the .45 that her man rides with under his car seat. Such subtle details evoke powerful imagery and add realism to the track. Teairra Mari delivers the lyrics with such maturity and sobriety for someone her age that she leaves you hanging on every word.

Confidential
Replays the situation of a young belle caught in the conundrum of whether to give up her virginity to a guy she thinks she loves, but is unsure she can trust to keep this moment private and "Confidential". The lyrics are on par, delivery flawless, and the subject matter real. It's just that P. Poli does it better on "Get up On Ya Gangsta."

Get up On Ya Gangsta
written by Paul Poli aka Poli Paul is easily one of if not the best cut on the album; it just puts all the other cuts to shame. As if by bizarre coincidence it provides the perfect answer to that other newcomer, Trey Songz' track "Gotta Go." If Teairra really wants to make it she needs to get P. Poli (the creative genius behind Teedra Moses' highly successful debut; "Complex Simplicity," "Still In Love" by Nivea and Christina Milan's "Dip It Low") to write and produce most if not all her songs in the future.

The subject matter here is the only point where this album gets really real and deep. It has Teairra Mari issuing a bleak warning to a girlfriend who is obviously being misused by a no good player, but is too blind and in love to see it.

The raw emotion in the lyrics translate the pain of watching your friend being continuously hurt and there being nothing you can do to stop it, and portrays the loyalty and empathy felt for that friend even though she won't listen.

"Oh so you think that he loves you (Loves you)
So how come he only calls you (Calls you)
At 3 am in the morning (Morning)
Tipsy off Hennessey (Girl he's just trying to beat it)

[Hook:]
And you be oh so happy (Happy ohh)
Telling me you're getting closer (Closer)
Soon as he gets just what he needs
He's pulling up his jeans
And he's right back in the streets
Not giving a damn about you"

The beat is tight and a perfect compliment to the lyrics and Teairra's heart rendering vocals. This is truly an anthem for all females everywhere who find themselves in or have ever been in such a situation. The production is also flawless and with the slight exception of "Phone Booth," sparkles like a diamond amongst zirconias when placed up against all the other tracks on this album.