By Brian Jurilla

By Brian Jurilla

A new teen heartthrob has just released his debut album.

O’Ryan brings his self-titled debut following in the footsteps of his older brother Omarion (former member of B2K.) This 16-year old’s goal is to put a new spin on a familiar story.

The CD reflects the life of a teenage man from beginning to end with his intro – “Introducing” to the final song “Smellz Like A Party” which is featured on the “You Got Served” soundtrack.

O’Ryan’s first single, “Take It Slow,” shows his maturity both as a singer and as a young man who refuses to rush into an intimate relationship with a female. There is also bass heavy “Bad Situation,” the flirtatious “45 Minutes” and the club-banger “Shorty.”

O’Ryan’s debut is well crafted and will appeal to those who like music similar to this. The problem is that although O’Ryan tried to get a unique sound out of his album by working with newer producers the album still sounds like any other album you pick up within the genre. When listening to the album you can easily make comparisons of this album to artists like B2K, IMx and other pop R&B stars.

The album material is just too much by the book and not enough to make him stand out among similar artists. Even the guests that appear on the album now seem standard within the genre. With so many different artists constantly collaborating with each other, you expect hip-hop and R&B artists to work with each other on almost every single song they release.

The album is enjoyable to listen to and shows that there is room to improve, grow and hopefully innovate to stand out among his peers in the genre .

O’Ryan looks to become a staple for a younger audience and a performer that will more than likely be seen on Nickelodeon than on a music cable network like Fuse.

Fans of artists like B2K or Usher will find this enjoyable and should pick this one up, but for those looking for something different should continue to look elsewhere or just keep waiting for someone to shake-up the genre.