In Brief:

Teena Marie, “Ivory,” Epic. Teena Marie has long been something of a pop music oddity: a white vocalist trafficking heavily in black musical styles and selling a fair number of records to black audiences while rarely receiving pop airplay. This album is being touted by her record label as the one that will cross her over, but if pop radio wasn’t seduced by earlier classic singles like “Square Biz” or the recent “Ooh La La La,” this album may be a tough sell as well. Longtime fans should find the title cut inviting--it resembles one of those I-am-womanhood-personified poems that Nikki Giovanni used to write back in the early ‘70s. Actually, the best song here is the “whitest”-sounding tune that Marie has ever composed: “How Can You Resist It?” With her heart on her sleeve, Marie delivers it with the unashamed persuasiveness that’s become her stock in trade.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to five (a classic).