…..A Blackstreet alumnus, Cali-based pastor and now performing in touring stage play adaptation of the 1990s film Love Jones, Dave Hollister’s gospel-edged croon is one that we’ve kept in steady rotation since his unforgettable cameo on Tupac Shakur’s 1988 smash, “Brenda’s Got a Baby.” Always one to keep his catalog authentic enough for his peers but tender enough for the ladies, who else could put together an aural guide on relationships? That’s the tone MANuscript has set forth and has enjoyable ditties for all: executive produced and co-written by Hollister’s longtime ace, Walter Milsap III, the top half is ladies first and the second half is for the fellas (and of course women get an extra shout-out number at the end).

Dave is all about bowing to the power of a woman in the piano-drenched, silken ballad “Definition Of A Woman” (“she’ll make you bleed, she’ll bring you to your knees…..take you from a boy and turn you into a man”); “Creation (H. E. R.)” describes the God-made perfection that he cherishes when he sees his lady (“He took a jar, caught two stars and those would be your eyes/then he took a little slice of heaven and his it between your thighs”); and “Shortage” goes to bat for the single ladies by calling on real men to show up and show out: “He’s expecting submission, playing games he needs to play his position….F. U.’s flying everywhere, [muted expletive] done hit the fan, ‘I wish I never met you’ is how she ends up here again.”

Remember how the ladies kept Jazmine Sullivan’s “Bust Your Windows” on repeat? Well brace yourselves….(CLICK HERE for the full-length review at soultracks.com)