After a monster reunion on the 2014 Soul Train Awards, there was talk of the members of Jodeci coming together to record a new album, something fans had been wanting them to do since they broke up.  Well, it didn’t take long before we had Nobody Wins, a surprisingly socially-conscience track that purports to be about domestic violence.  The men of Jodeci sound good and rapper B.o.B puts in two of the most energetic verses he’s done in a while.  There is an issue about how disconnected the production sounds in respect to the voices, making both sound flat at times; but that’s not the biggest problem.

While the attempt is admirable, there is something off about the lyrics in relationship to the message that the video is putting forward.  It sounds like the track is just a regular “I cheat ’cause I can’t help it song” with the lyrics alluding to the fact that the woman being sung about found out and is pissed off, throwing things in the general direction of K-Ci (who takes lead vocals).  Now, we’re not saying that men can’t be victims of domestic abuse; in fact, as underreported a crime as DV is, the abuse of men by their significant other is probably the most underreported.  The problem is that isn’t what’s going on in this song.  Only the first verse by B.o.B seems to have anything to do with the subject matter of the video; the rest sounds like a guy trying to talk his way out of trouble.  This is an admirable attempt, and if it calls some attention to the subject, that’s great.  But a hard listen to the lyrics might have the effect of confusing the message.