Few can coo a love song as convincingly as Monica, but The Makings of Me confirms what many have suspected since the ATL-based firebrand lit up the charts with Brandy in 1998: it's when she's digging through the wreckage of a busted-up relationship that she dishes up her best work. Makings, luckily, is littered with liars, cheats, and assorted degenerates--when Monica's not wagging her finger in the face of a "Sideline Ho" ("Ain't you tired of spending all the holidays alone?" she wants to know), she's dismissing the fiancé who dissed her with a brisk, silk-voiced "Hell No." Appealing brassiness aside, Makings benefits from excellent production (Missy Elliot slinks up "Gotta Move On" with Far East flavor and lets flecks of Curtis Mayfield fly on "A Dozen Roses") and a handful of hip-hop luminaries. While the Twista-boasting "Hell No" gives off heat courtesy of the sheer speed of its rap exchange, it's Dem Franchize Boys who rule this particular guest list: The Jermaine Dupri-produced "Everytime Tha Beat Drop" doesn't play--it demands a dance floor. Instantly. Every time. --Tammy La Gorce