Sarah MK

Sarah MK’s debut album, Worth It, finds the Canadian songstress contemplating if life’s challenges are worth all the static. She treads the familiar ground of ignoring naysayers and trying to find meaningful relationships amidst people who only pursue music for big paychecks. It’s all very noble, idealistic and yawn-inducing. She doesn’t bring much new light to these topics, but thankfully doesn’t hurt your ears while doing it.

"It's Here" happily revels in the joys of achieving your dreams, but sounds more like a speech given to troubled teens at the local Y. The ‘M’ in MK occasionally stands for MC as Sarah trades in her smooth vocals for equally laidback, Ladybug Mecca-style rhymes. She interrupts the tongue-in-cheek "Just Friends" about the too-friendly activities between buds to rap about coded Facebook messages and “Ain’t Hearing It” is all rhymes with just a little singing on the hook. The switch in styles is a needed change of pace on a short album that still manages to bore with its earnest R&B conventions. “Forces” finds Sarah MK again pulling equal singing/rapping weight, but an appreciative nod goes to Jordan Peters’ dizzying loops that threaten to throw you off-balance if not for MK’s steady flow keeping you on track. And there’s a flute solo, so you know, magic by default.

While she doesn’t have the flash or charisma of other singer-rappers like Missy Elliott or Lauryn Hill, Sarah MK might consider making rhyming a permanent part of her arsenal if it isn’t already. With it she’s mildly interesting, but without it, she’s just another forgettable R&B chick, and being a Tia Mowry lookalike isn’t enough to make a timid album ‘worth it.’

-Candace L.