In 2007, Tacoma emergency room nurse
Crystal Aikin won on the American Idol-style TV talent show Sunday Best, broadcast by BET and searching for amateur gospel singers to turn into professionals. Her reward is this self-titled album, which certainly demonstrates that she has a good voice. It also finds her being used as the mouthpiece for a variety of producers who create contemporary R&B and hip-hop tracks that often don't give her very much to do. An exception is "Even Me," which has a more traditional gospel sound and gives a better sense of
Aikin's abilities. It may be that this talented singer will develop into a gospel artist; on the evidence of her debut album, her voice is not in question, but she has not been allowed to express herself in a way that would allow her to make an individual mark.