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<p>Fulfilling the title, Monica proves she&rsquo;s still standing fifteen years after &ldquo;Miss Thang&rdquo; on this album, her sixth studio effort. More than anything however, the &ldquo;Everything To Me&rdquo; singer seems to have honed in on her strengths and left the tricks to youngsters unlike the 2006 effort &ldquo;The Makings Of Me&rdquo;.</p><p>Filled with songs about getting to love, appreciating a significant other, being at a crossroads in a relationship and even getting out of a bad one, Monica leaves no stone unturned when it comes to relationships on &ldquo;Still Standing&rdquo;.</p><p>Kicked off with the title track &ldquo;Still Standing,&rdquo; Monica taps Ludacris for the album&rsquo;s lone collaboration, leaving listeners with an empowering and truthful account of her past, singing &ldquo;see this is more than just a song to me &lsquo;cause I been up against the ropes, everything you&rsquo;re going through I been there before&rdquo;. While the record was first heard early 2009, it is still one of the album&rsquo;s stand out songs, catching Monica near her best as a strong songstress telling an empowering story. That theme, which fits Monica well, can be heard on another standout track titled &ldquo;Believing In Me&rdquo;.</p><p>The final track on the album, &ldquo;Believing In Me&rdquo; features Monica finding the strength to leave a one way relationship, meaning the man she fell in love with does not love her the same way. Produced by Stargate, &ldquo;Believing In Me&rdquo; is both relatable yet fitting for Monica who sings &ldquo;didn’t know that I was selling my soul to someone who didn’t care at all,&rdquo; before delivering the words &ldquo;I’ve moved on and I’m strong. I’m going back to the place where I know I belong.. cause I’m right and you’re wrong, this time I’m believing in me&hellip;. I&rsquo;m never letting go of my dreams.&rdquo;</p><p>While Monica spends time taking a stance on songs like &ldquo;Still Standing&rdquo; and &ldquo;Believing In Me,&rdquo; the majority of the album is spent adoring the love of her life. Before we get there however, she takes a detour with Ne-Yo and Polow Da Don on &ldquo;Here I Am&rdquo; and &ldquo;Stay or Go&rdquo;. Unfortunately, both songs should &ldquo;GO&rdquo;! The latter of the two especially, &ldquo;Stay or Go&rdquo; is surprisingly the least attractive song on the album, which is even more surprising with Ne-Yo credited. On the song, Monica sings &ldquo;You either wanna be with me or you don&rsquo;t. Let me know what you&rsquo;re going to do cause I&rsquo;m not waiting&rdquo;. &ldquo;Here I Am,&rdquo; as seen on the reality series &ldquo;Monica: Still Standing&rdquo; is credited to Polow Da Don. While the song, like &ldquo;Stay or Go,&rdquo; starts out well and is more &lsquo;contemporary&rsquo; than others, it fails as the seconds roll on with lyrics like &ldquo;Why don&rsquo;t you come and pick me up and take me to the crib and do the things that I have told you he won&rsquo;t,&rdquo; followed by &ldquo;boy stop tripping cause it&rsquo;s just me and you&rdquo;. Neither are horrible songs however, just not the best. These songs, along with the Missy Elliott produced 80s like track &ldquo;If You Were My Man (Betcha),&rdquo; are simply okay, not thrilling or songs you would run and share with a friend.</p>