Eric Bellinger - Eric B for President: Term 2 (Acoustic) (2017) Lossless

Contemporary R&B songwriter and singer Eric Bellinger is the grandson of Bobby Day -- a musician known most for the 1958 number two hit "Rockin' Robin." A Compton, California native, Bellinger starred as a running back on his high school football team and was offered a scholarship to play for and attend the University of Southern California. Around the same time, the Epic label presented him with a recording contract. Bellinger opted to go with music, but his career advanced as a songwriter rather than as an artist. From 2009 through 2013, he co-wrote dozens of songs for high-profile artists, including two cuts on Chris Brown's Grammy-winning F.A.M.E., Brandy's "Without You," and Justin Bieber's "Right Here." Two of his biggest hits came with Usher's "Lemme See," which reached number two on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, and Brown's "Fine China," a number ten R&B/Hip-Hop hit. Meanwhile, Bellinger worked on solo material, such as In the Meantime and the three-volume Born II Sing series of mixtapes. In 2014, he released The ReBirth with appearances from past collaborator Sevyn Streeter, Kid Ink, and Sage the Gemini. Among its several singles were the Kriss Kross/Ohio Players-sampling "I Don't Want Her" (featuring Problem) and "9 Lives" (featuring Too Short and Ty Dolla Sign). In the run-up to the release of his anticipated follow-up, Bellinger dropped the pre-album teaser mixtape Choose Up Season, before announcing the release of Cuffing Season in 2015. A second part was issued just a few months later. Bellinger returned in 2016 with the mainly acoustic-sounding EP Eric B for President: Term 1. The more varied sounding follow-up Term 2 appeared at the beginning of 2017. ~ Andy Kellman.