Any expectations that you had for the ladies of Electrik Red, slide them two spaces to the left and all the way to the back of your brain – they’re not who you think they are. They don’t have the soul of SWV, lack the mass appeal of TLC, and don’t yet have the power to dominate like Destiny’s Child. In fact, they’re not the ladies you’d anticipate. But they do have potential. With their debut album How To Be A Lady Vol. 1 Electrik Red seeks to redefine and revolutionize the definition of a lady, leaving behind the Stepford stereotypes for a more lewd, rude, and raunchy model. With Tricky and The Dream taking the reigns behind the beats and hooks, this album has a nearly equal share of hits and misses.

How To Be A Lady (even it’s good tracks) may take some time to grow on you like it did for this writer. Muah starts the album with some kick, representing for the independent females with a track that proudly proclaims "Im the shit". Beneath the excessive profanity, there’s a wildly infectious summer beat behind their lead single So Good, but I think the attempt at shock value ruins the unedited version of the song. Freaky Freaky is a breathy club-type song, powered mostly by the hook over a signature Tricky and Dream beat. Friend Lover is a really hot record, with an upbeat instrumental very reminiscent of Michael Jackson’s work (circa Off The Wall era) and serves as a blueprint for the friends-with-benefits arrangements - I dig the realness, especially the breakdown of the rules! As far as ballads, 9-to-5 is smooth and Go Shawty is sexy, but Devotion is this album’s best offering, serving up a nice mix of sensuality and smooth vocals. WFY is a bit of a toss-up – the production on the track is very heavy and brings a hot beat, and the ladies bring a dominating feel to it but it’s still a bit gratuitous in the raunchiness and vulgarity.

On the flipside, Electrik Red tried a little too hard to be hard with this debut album. P Is for Power sounds as if it was meant to be an empowerment anthem for women but comes off insanely annoying, like more of a gold digger’s anthem. And while we’re on the subject of gold diggers, On Point gives that mooch-heavy demographic their very own theme song, focusing more on a man’s power and possessions more than the more lasting attributes. Drink In My Cup really just sounds like everything else on the radio, and Kill Bill is just an overall bad song – bad instrumental, bad lyrics and bad presentation of concept.

To keep it real, I had written this album off as a major flop after my first listen. Then I gave it another shot and some of the tracks grew on me. It’s a decent album, but it definitely has its flaws. The best thing about this group is that they can fit into different styles and sounds. The bad thing is that they take some of their content to the extreme, which doesn’t always work in their favor. The group’s origins as video vixens really shows throughout this album but whether they have a future beyond that career path remains to be seen. For now they’ve captured my attention, not sure if they’ll maintain it…

Sound-Savvy officially rates How To Be A Lady Vol. 1 with 3.5 out of 5 platinum headphones.

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