Review: 'IV Play' by The-Dream

IV Play
By The-Dream (Def Jam Recordings), $14.99

The-Dream isn’t an underdog, but he plays one on his solo albums. It isn’t his likeliest role: A critically adored songwriter, he’s helped to pen galvanizing, era-defining hits for Justin Bieber (Baby, more than 3 million copies sold in the U.S.), Rihanna (Umbrella, north of 4 million), and Beyoncé (Single Ladies, 5 million-plus). Beyond that, his résumé is heavy on performers too huge to require surnames—Madonna, Britney, Usher, Mariah. He’s told interviewers that his earnings from co-writing Umbrella alone were $15 million: a staggering haul that starts to resemble a bargain when you consider that the song single-handedly enabled Rihanna’s transformation in 2007 from a semi-anonymous pop trifle into a bona fide arena-filling icon.