The last time we heard from Tristan Wilds (outside of starring on The CW's reboot of 90210, of course), he was showing us his vocal prowess with a cover of Frank Ocean's "Thinkin Bout You." Now, a couple of years and a name change later, Mack Wilds is signed to Salaam Remi's Louder Than Life imprint and has dropped his latest single and video, "Own It." While this is clearly aimed at the teenybopper market (i.e. not my demographic), I can't help but say that I'm a bit underwhelmed. As far as the song goes, the throwback groove is nice, but Mack's vocals, which are decent enough, lack any real depth. As well, the video, with its tagging theme and NYC-centric visuals, lacks any real wow factor. While his contemporaries like Trey Songz or Chris Brown can cover up a lackluster song with sex appeal or dance moves, Mack's boy-next-door charm isn't enough to make him stand out among the crowd. Hopefully, with his debut New York: A Love Story out next month, the R&B newcomer has a bit more up his sleeve.
