Danity Kane - Danity Kane - Music & Performance - CD

Making the Band is back for Season 3, and you better believe the drama runs deep. This album is the music hard work of five girls handpicked by Sean "Diddy" Combs for his all-new pop group which was recorded while they were living together in a luxury Soho loft and prepared to go on tour.

With Danity Kane as the third Bad Boy release of the summer following Young Joc's Young Joc City and Cassie's self-titled debut, it appears that Diddy saved the biggest and best for last. Expectations for Danity Kane's debut album were sky high, and for good reason. The quintet was formed on Making The Band, MTV's musical reality show and competition.

Although Diddy had successfully resuscitated Making The Band to become a modest hit, the previous season's winner, Da Band, did not live up to the hype. Furthermore, unlike American Idol, neither the show nor its artists garnered the big success or critical approval that were expected. But the glamorous all-girl band known as Danity Kane -- consisting of D. Woods, Aubrey, Shannon, Dawn and Aundrea -- gained a very big audience, making Diddy look like the genius of old.

Diddy's success as a pop guru is not unprecedented. Remember Dream, the wholesome pop quartet of Holly, Diane, Melissa and Ashley that he signed in 2001 to capitalize on the burgeoning teen-pop trend of the time? Danity Kane is sort of like Dream's wicked sister. They're more hip-hop and R&B than bubblegum pop, more Gucci and Versace than Baby Phat, and certainly more glitzy and sexy than cutesy.

The best thing about Danity Kane is the way their image and music perfectly correspond. Much like how The Pussycat Dolls sell teasing and seduction, Danity Kane sells chic femininity and independence at every opportunity. The trunk-thumping opener "One Shot" sets the tempo, where the ladies claim that all it takes is one shot to have any guy sprung and begging for more. "Heartbreaker" follows, where they cockily and convincingly sing: "Don't even try to start/ 'Cause I will break your heart/ I'm a heartbreaker."

Diddy brought in a veritable army of writers, producers and engineers for the album, so every lyric is precise, every beat thumps in a major way, and every vocal and sound is where it should be. Danity Kane is an uptempo, club-oriented affair that rarely bothers slowing down the mood, so the emphasis is clearly placed on hard-hitting, stereo-pumping sounds. The lead single, "Show Stopper," produced by Jim Jonsin, has the kind of heavy rolling bass that riders love; yet it's mixed just right, so the vocals are always at the forefront. Timbaland expands his impressive catalog of beats on his productions, "Want It" and "Right Now." Darkchild comes with his best on "Hold Me Down," and Mario Winans produces a pair of interludes with beats strong enough that they could have easily been expanded to full songs. Superstar studio wizard Scott Storch produces "Sleep On It," a laid-back, unlisted bonus track that concludes the album.

Although it is often difficult to distinguish one singer from another -- which was never a problem on the show -- this is hardly a flaw considering that they are all equally strong. Furthermore, with gorgeous faces and complementary styles, picking who is the best is somewhat a pointless exercise.

Diddy may have detractors, but he very clearly knew what he was doing when he assembled this group of women. By sex appeal and popularity alone, he had a hit on his hands. But place those factors aside and the fact remains: Danity Kane is a hot album.

By Aaron Ellis