Code Red

GRAMMY®-winning R&B vet Monica has seen plenty of change but always manages to keep up, injecting the expressiveness of classic soul into distinctly modern contexts. Opening with a Missy Elliott collaboration slamming the conventions of modern radio (“Code Red”), her eighth album walks the line between playing the game and reinventing it, anchored by '90s-style ballads (the Akon-assisted “Hustler’s Ambition”) and collaborations with Lil Wayne (“Just Right for Me”) and Timbaland (“All Men Lie”) that sound current without pandering—and classic without feeling nostalgic.