| Bitter | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 24, 1999 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 47:36 | |||
| Label | Maverick [1] | |||
| Producer | Craig Street [2] | |||
| Meshell Ndegéocello chronology | ||||
| ||||
Bitter is the third album by Meshell Ndegeocello. [3] It was released on August 24, 1999, on Maverick Records. The album peaked at #105 on the Billboard Top 200 in 1999. [4] The album also peaked at number 13 on Billboard's Top Internet Albums chart and number 40 on Billboard's R&B Albums chart.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
| Entertainment Weekly | A [6] |
| Pitchfork | 9.2/10 [7] |
| Robert Christgau |  [8] |
| Rolling Stone |  [9] |
| Spin | 5/10 [10] |
Billboard called the album "a modern masterpiece," writing that it "shines for its sonic presence as well as its inherent musical quality." [2] The New York Times wrote that "its rhythms flow in circulatory patterns guided by Ms. Ndegeocello's bass playing; guitars, strings and her guarded vocals intertwine like brain waves." [11] The Chicago Tribune called it "one long bittersweet downer." [1] Vibe called Bitter the "Album of the Year." [12] The Hartford Courant wrote that "though Bitter attempts to explore ambitious life themes about loyalty, faith, love and beauty, it instead commits the mortal sin of dullness." [13]
(instruments are not stated in the booklet)
Meshell Ndegeocello is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, and bassist. She has gone by the name Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur which is used as a writing credit on some of her mid-career work. Her music incorporates a wide variety of influences, including funk, soul, jazz, hip hop, reggae and rock. She has received significant critical acclaim throughout her career, being nominated for eleven Grammy Awards, and winning two. She also has been credited for helping to "spark the neo-soul movement".
Doyle Bramhall II is an American guitarist, producer and songwriter best known for his work with Eric Clapton and Roger Waters. He is the son of the songwriter and drummer Doyle Bramhall.
Dance Naked is the thirteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter John Mellencamp released on June 21, 1994. The album was released in response to the record company's accusations that Mellencamp's previous album, Human Wheels, didn't "fit the format." Mellencamp was irritated with this remark, feeling that none of his albums ever fit the format. As a result, he wrote several purposely radio-friendly songs and recorded them within the span of 14 days at his Belmont Mall recording studio in Belmont, Indiana, intending to show the lack of effort required to produce the type of album they were asking for. It is also the shortest of Mellencamp's albums, clocking in at just 29 minutes.
Plantation Lullabies is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter and bassist Me'shell NdegéOcello. It was released by Maverick Records on October 19, 1993, to widespread critical acclaim and has since been viewed as a landmark neo soul record.
"Freedom" is a 1995 song released on Mercury Records featuring a chorus of over 60 African-American female artists and groups of note in hip-hop, pop and R&B music including En Vogue, Xscape, Aaliyah, Vanessa L. Williams, Mary J. Blige, MC Lyte, SWV, TLC, and Monica. It is a cover of Joi's song of the same name from her 1994 album The Pendulum Vibe. Both versions were produced by Dallas Austin and Diamond D.
Tales is an album by the American musician Marcus Miller, released in 1995. He supported it with a North American tour.
The Spirit Music Jamia: Dance of the Infidel is the sixth album by the American multi-instrumentalist Me'shell Ndegeocello, initially released in France on Universal France on February 14, 2005, and then subsequently on the Shanachie label in the United States on June 21 of the same year.
"Wild Night" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and is the opening track on his fifth studio album Tupelo Honey. It was released as a single in 1971 and reached number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In 2022, the song peaked at #1 on the radio airplay chart in Canada.
Peace Beyond Passion is the second studio album by American musician Me'shell Ndegeocello, released on June 25, 1996, on Maverick Records. The album peaked at No. 63 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and No. 15 on the Top R&B Albums chart in 1996. It went on to become Ndegeocello's most commercially successful album. Widely acclaimed at the time of its release, the album received numerous awards and accolades including a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album at the 39th Grammy Awards in 1997.
Cookie: The Anthropological Mixtape is the fourth studio album by American soul singer and rapper Meshell Ndegeocello, released on June 4, 2002 by Maverick Records. Following the commercial underperformance of her third studio album, Bitter (1999), her label encouraged her to return to her earlier sound and record an album that sounded more "black". Ndegeocello collaborated with a number of prominent Black musicians, including Talib Kweli, Missy Elliott, and Tweet, as well as her backing band, the Conscientious Objectors, and recorded the album during the summer of 2001. The record, which Ndegeocello modeled on the mixtapes of her childhood, adopted a hip-hop and R&B-influenced sound and political lyrics similar to that of her debut album, Plantation Lullabies (1993), focusing on themes such as consumerism, revolution, religion, and same-sex attraction. Throughout the album, Ndegeocello also features samples of recorded speeches by Black activists, poets, and musicians, such as Angela Davis, Gil Scott-Heron, Countee Cullen, and Etheridge Knight.
Comfort Woman is the fifth solo album by Me'shell Ndegeocello. It was released on October 14, 2003, on Maverick Records. The album peaked at #150 on the Billboard Top 200 list that year. The album also peaked at #43 on Billboard's R&B Album chart. The LP was the final record released by Maverick, ending her ten-year contract.
The World Has Made Me the Man of My Dreams is the seventh studio album by the American musician Meshell Ndegeocello. The album was released in August 2007. Five of the tracks were previously released on Meshell's 2006 EP, The Article 3.
Epiphany: The Best of Chaka Khan, Vol. 1 is a compilation album of recordings by American R&B/funk singer Chaka Khan, first released on the Warner Bros. Records label in 1996. Although the compilation, which reached #22 on Billboard's R&B chart and #84 on Pop, was given the "Vol. 1" tag, it remains without a sequel to date.
"If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)" is a single by American recording artist Meshell Ndegeocello. It was released in 1993 on Maverick Records. It also appears on her debut album Plantation Lullabies, that was released on October 19, 1993. The single reached number 73 on the US Billboard Hot 100, number 74 in the UK, and number 79 in Australia. Colin Larkin called it a "provocative post-feminist statement" in his Encyclopedia of Popular Music. The single earned Ndegeocello nominations for both Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the 37th Grammy Awards.
Already Free is the sixth studio album by The Derek Trucks Band. It was released in the United States on January 13, 2009 by Legacy Recordings. A European release followed on February 20, 2009. The album has received very positive reviews, and debuted at #19 on the Billboard Top 200 reached #1 on the blues chart, #1 on the Internet chart, and #4 on the Rock chart. This marks the band's highest debut on the Billboard Top 200 chart to date. The album won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album, marking the band's first Grammy award.
David Gamson is an American keyboardist/musician. Originally hailing from New York, he has worked with, among others, Kesha, Kelly Clarkson, Jessie J, Adam Lambert, Chaka Khan, Charli XCX, Meshell Ndegeocello, Green Gartside, Sheila E., George Benson, Luther Vandross, Donny Osmond, Miles Davis, Al Jarreau, Tony LeMans, Roger Troutman, Eden xo, Quinn XCII and Hannah Diamond.
Devil's Halo is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter and bassist Me'Shell Ndegéocello. It was released by Downtown Records on October 6, 2009.
Fellowship is the fourth studio album by an American singer Lizz Wright, which was released on 28 September 2010 on Verve Forecast. Guest performances on the album include Meshell Ndegeocello, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Joan as Policewoman and Angélique Kidjo. The album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Jazz Album chart, and has sold 17,000 copies in the United States as of August 2015.
Comet, Come to Me is the 11th studio album by U.S. singer Meshell Ndegeocello, released 2 June 2014, on Naïve Records.
"Leviticus: Faggot" is a song written and performed by Meshell Ndegeocello, issued as the second single from her second studio album Peace Beyond Passion. The song peaked at number 15 on the Billboard dance chart.
