Album Review: Coco Jones, ‘What I Didn’t Tell You’

Coco Jones has always been a star. From her Disney days to her latest turn on Peacock’s Bulletin Award-nominated Bel-Air, Coco has consistently been a magnetic performer whether she’s in front of a camera or in a recording booth. That magnetism is on full display throughout What I Didn’t Tell You, her first project on Def Jam. The EP finds Coco wielding every shade and nuance of her voice to lift even the tritest lyrics and most predictable melodies to unimaginable heights.

Coco’s voice is steeped in the Black church and honeyed with the sweetness of the warmest tones in 90s R&B —two formative influences that help ground Coco’s forays into trap&b. “Crazy for Me” is a smart introduction to 2022 Coco Jones. Outside of a self-released EP three years ago, Coco has been laying the groundwork for another stab at music through acting gigs and stops along the YouTube circuit. The first track on What I Didn’t Tell You centers her weighty voice. Coco’s tone is as lush as it is full; she effortlessly glides down to the sultriest depths of her range and flutters up to the airiest bits of her falsetto. Written and produced by Coco, Sebastian Kole, Jaasu & Jonnywood, the song is a fairly run-of-the-mill track about men going crazy over Coco’s body and energy, but the difference here is that Coco isn’t simply reciting these lyrics over a beat. At the hands of a number of other artists, “Crazy for Me” would have felt especially vapid or uninteresting. Coco, however, is performing and interpreting these lyrics as she’s singing them. Obviously, her talents as an actress are her secret weapon, but, the fact of the matter is, she’s truly selling this song. Her tone shifts from whiny and airy to flirty and seductive at the hit of each kick drum. Coco’s commitment to delivering vocal performances over mere recitations adds another layer of nuance to her rap-sung cadence.

Musically, most of What I Didn’t Tell You resides in the same pocket as “Crazy for Me.” “Caliber,” the set’s lead single, proves itself to be one of the project’s weaker tracks, and “Headlines” and “Spend It” escape unimaginative songwriting through catchy melodies and crisp production. The triumvirate of tracks in the middle of the EP, however, is where Coco truly shows out.

“Double Back” ups the tempo of SWV’s “Rain” and flips the song into a rumination on returning to situations or people that are not always the best for you. “I was impulsive, try to compare but you got it / I know where my home and my heart is,” she croons. The song concludes with SWV’s voices cooing the “Rain” chorus, but without a proper bridge, “Double Back” leaves you slightly unfulfilled. “No Chaser” also looks to 90s R&B to inform its sultry sweet nothings. This time, Coco interpolates Ginuwine’s “Pony” for a song that doesn’t stray too far from the themes of Ginuwine’s bump-and-grind classic. Both “Double Back” and “No Chaser” offer slick updates to some of the most recognizable 90s R&B hits, but Coco has the musical and vocal ability to dig deeper than these songs — both of which have, admittedly, been done to death via samples and interpolations in recent years.

It is “ICU,” however, that demands we truly pay attention to — and genuinely root for — Coco. “ICU” is anchored by Coco’s luscious tone; she floats through a churchy ascending melody in the pre-chorus before delivering one of the most moving vocal performances of the year in the song’s second verse. This is open-throated, from-the-stomach, church-indebted soul singing; the kind of singing that many try to emulate, but only few can truly do justice. It’s the kind of singing that makes R&B what it is. After spending much of What I Didn’t Tell You on the rhythmic side of R&B, “ICU” finds Coco giving us some good ole blues to boot.

Coco Jones is poised to blow in 2023 and What I Didn’t Tell You is both a worthy prelude to the next stage of her career and a smart reintroduction for an artist who is at once familiar and enigmatic.

Vote for Coco Jones at the 2023 Bulletin Awards.

Key Tracks: “ICU” | “Double Back” | “No Chaser”

Score: 70