Chico DeBarge Addiction *

Part of a Motown family line that included his older siblings, the popular family R&B act DeBarge, Chico DeBarge launched a promising career in the late-'80s, only to be sidelined a few years later by a drug-related prison sentence. Rebounding and building from that personal misstep with a run of strong, deeply autobiographical releases, starting with 1997's LONG TIME NO SEE, DeBarge has adapted with the times, bringing a sultry, neo-soul flavor to mid-tempo urban beats on his sixth album, ADDICTION (2009). As a modern day soul man, DeBarge is pitched somewhere between Maxwell's sensitive delivery and the more earthy, bump-and-groove of Joe, but tracks like "I Forgot Ur Name," which rides a vocal melody hijacked from Luther Vandross's "Never Too Much," and the Hammond organ-driven "Hey U," bear obviously more classicist influences.