Lady Love | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | August 24, 2009 | |||
Studio | ||||
Length | 58:58 | |||
Label | Capitol | |||
Producer |
| |||
LeToya chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Lady Love | ||||
|
Lady Love is the second studio album by American R&B recording artist LeToya Luckett. It was released in Europe on August 24, 2009, and in the United States by Capitol Records on August 25, 2009. Originally scheduled for release several times in 2008, the album was released after corporate restructuring at the record company. [2] As with her solo debut, the singer worked with a wide variety of collaborators for the album, including Ne-Yo, Chris Brown, Blac Elvis, Ryan Leslie, Harold Lilly, Bei Maejor, Oak, Soundz, T-Minus, and Tank.
The album earned generally positive reviews from music critics who praised its versatility, though some found that the project was uneven. Lady Love debuted and peaked at number twelve on the US Billboard 200 chart and at number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, beocoming Luckett's second album to claim the top spot. It produced four singles, including lead single "Not Anymore" and "Regret" with rapper Ludacris, the latter of which became a top ten hit on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
Production for Lady Love originally began in 2007, with a release scheduled several times in 2008. However, due to the fusing of Capitol Records and Virgin Records, funding for many artists was frozen until the completion of the merger, affecting not only the release of Lady Love but also the release of "Obvious", the third single from Luckett's self-titled debut album. [3] In early 2009, the release date for Lady Love was announced to be May 19, 2009, however it was later pushed back to June 16, 2009, before finally being set to August 24, 2009. [4] [5]
Luckett worked with a wide variety of collaborators for the album, including R&B singer-songwriters Ne-Yo, Chris Brown and Tank. Featured guests include Ludacris, Estelle and Mims whilst some versions of the album feature bonus track "Swagger" which features rappers Bun B, Killa Kyleon, and Slim Thug. Described as "showcasing a more laid back and comfortable LeToya," [6] Lady Love differs stylistically from its predecessor in that it incorporates less elements of hip-hop and hip-hop soul music, instead adopting a more polished, electronic sound. [6]
Lady Love is a contemporary R&B album, which Andy Kellman of AllMusic described as '"directed toward the pop market [...] heavier on gleaming synthesizers and in-your-face production." [7] The album begins with the "conceited but confident up-tempo" song "Lady Love," [6] which is followed by the startingly brash," [7] "electronically soaked" [8] track "She Ain't Got..." on which Luckett displays a "fierce personality," [8] through her vocals and the lyrics, one line reading "bout to put my foot down on homegirl's neck, to make her see that, she ain't got s*** on me." [1] From this point on, the album slows into more mid-tempos and ballads, such as the Ne-Yo composition "Not Anymore," which "tells a story about a young lady who decides enough is enough and tells her no good womanizing partner to leave" and the "break-up anthem" "Over." [6] "Regret", featuring rapper Ludacris, has been repeatedly likened to the Mary Mary hit single "God in Me," with its "rat-a-tat snare" and "alternately gliding and prodding vocal attack," [7] while Luckett's "breathy" vocal performance on the "steamy" and "sensual" [6] song "I Need a U" – complete with a "burning" electric guitar solo – has been likened to the style of Janet Jackson. [9]
On the "supremely smooth" song "Take Away Love" featuring British singer Estelle, Luckett plays the part of a lover who is having difficulty getting her lover to realise that she "doesn't want a relationship with him" because she is "still in love" with her "ex" and he "doesn't understand that." While on the "sensely layered" song "Good to Me" which has been described as "serious and sexy at the same time" and likened to some of the material on R&B singer Usher's 2004 album Confessions album, [8] Luckett names and describes the qualities she wants in her ideal man, emphasising that he must be "good to [her]." [1] The tempo of the album "slows down towards the end" with the songs "Drained", "Tears" and the Marsha Ambrosius-penned "Matter." [6] Shortly before closing the album, Luckett "shows off her upper vocal register" on "Don't Need You" which has been herladed as her "best recording to-date" by Timothy Michael Carson of About.com. [9]
Amidst anticipation for the album release, Luckett released a five-track sampler on May 19, 2009. [10] The sampler features first single "Not Anymore" and 1 minute 30 second snippets of "Regret", "She Ain't Got...", "Lady Love" and "Matter". [11] The album was released on physically and digitally on August 25, 2009 in the United States and worldwide a day earlier. An explicit version of the album is also available and bears a Parental Advisory label. To celebrate the album's release, Luckett hosted an album release party at Cain in New York City on August 27, 2009. [12]
"Not Anymore", the lead single, was produced by Bei Maejor and co-produced and written by Ne-Yo. Released in February 2009, [13] it became the most added song at urban radio, debuting at number ninety-eight on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart before peaking at number eighteen and just missing the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, peaking at number one-hundred-and-seven. A music video for the single was shot on February 13, 2009. Directed by Bryan Barber, the music video is set in the 1960s and is split into 3 sections/time periods – 1961, 1964 and 1968. The sets, costumes and props change accordingly in each section to show the trends, fashions and styles of those particular years. [14] The video was released on March 10, 2009 and peaked at number three on the 106 & Park video countdown.
"She Ain't Got..." the album's second single, was produced by Cory Bold and written by LeToya, Andre Merritt, Chris Brown and Bold. Chosen by fans, [15] it became the first LeToya single to carry a Parental Advisory label, though a "clean" version was also released. It became the most added song on rhythmic radio, thus peaking at number thirty-nine on the Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 chart, while peaking at number seventy-five on the Billboard Pop 100 Airplay chart and number twenty on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play. However, the single was most successful in Japan where it peaked at number forty-nine on the Japan Hot 100. A music video, directed by Bryan Barber was shot on June 3, 2009 and premiered on Yahoo Music on June 30, 2009, featuring guest star Major League Baseball players Orlando Hudson and Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers as well as Baseball Hall of Fame member Dave Winfield. [16] [17]
"Regret", featuring rapper Ludacris, was produced by Tank and Jerry "Texx" Franklin and written by Tank, LeToya, Franklin, K. Stephens, J. Valentine, R. Newt and C. Bridges. Released as the third single – based only on downloads and airplay – "Regret" peaked at number eight on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and debuted at number one-hundred on the Billboard Hot 100, making it LeToya's first single since her debut; "Torn", to enter the US Hot 100, peaking at number seventy-eight. It also peaked at number forty-two on the Billboard Radio Songs chart and was listed at number six on AOL Music's "Top R&B Songs of 2009" list. [18] The music video for "Regret" was premiered on BET's 106 & Park on November 11, 2009 before being ranked at number twenty-three on BET: Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2009 countdown.
"Good To Me", produced by Tank and Jerry "Texx" Franklin and written by Tank, Franklin, K. Stephens, R. Newt and J. Valentine, was released as the album's fourth and final single. Though the song failed to chart, a music video directed by makeup artist AJ Crimson and co-starring model-actor Keston Karter was released on February 11, 2010. [19] [20] [21]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
About.com | [9] |
AllMusic | [7] |
Lady Love received generally positive reviews from critics. Samantha Greaves of Examiner.com described the album as "very diverse," listing "Take Away Love" as "one of the gems on Lady Love" and praised "LeToya's ability to think out the box and to bring to R&B music something different than the vast majority." [22] Meanwhile, Timothy Michael Carson from About.com praised Luckett's "versatility" and "soft soprano vocals," but wrote that "many of the songs tend to sound alike" and so "Lady Love can quickly become a tiresome listen." Carson commented that "LeToya's vocals are what kept [him] replaying the album over", lending particularly praise to the tracks "I Need a U" and "Don't Need U" − which he named "LeToya's best recording to-date" − before describing the album as a "great listen." [9]
Nathan S. of DJBooth.net also gave a particularly favorable review of "I Need a U", which he described as a "breathy and burning track that should set the sheets on fire". However, he also noted that Lady Love "isn't a perfect album" and "at times it feels uninspired and overly deliberate" but wrote that "it's clearly the work of a woman coming into her own as an artist" and so promised that he is "not going to attach a “formerly of Destiny's Child” onto LeToya Luckett's name. She will finally be, simply, LeToya. She's earned it." [8] AllMusic editor Andy Kellman gave a more mixed review however, describing the album as being "just as scattered and uneven as LeToya's self-titled debut," but noted that there are no "shortage of high points," listing; "Regret", the "pummeling, startlingly brash" "She Ain't Got..." and "the melancholy" "Take Away Love" as particular stand-outs. [7] On the contrary, Diana Ayok of SoulCulture rated the album 3.5 out of 5, noting it as "better and stronger than [LeToya's] first self titled album" and heralded it as "a genuinely impressive album" that she "would recommend" to "any R&B lover." [6]
In the United States, Lady Love opened with first week sales of 32,900 copies, debuting at the top of the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart on September 12, 2009, replacing Ledisi's Turn Me Loose . It spent a total of thirty-two weeks on the chart. Lady Love also reached number twelve on the US Billboard 200, where it remained a total of twelve weeks within the top 200. [23] [24]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Lady Love" |
| Feemster | 3:38 |
2. | "She Ain't Got..." |
| 3:40 | |
3. | "Not Anymore" | 3:53 | ||
4. | "Lazy" | 4:11 | ||
5. | "Good to Me" |
|
| 3:53 |
6. | "Over" |
| Tank | 3:48 |
7. | "Regret" (featuring Ludacris) |
|
| 4:05 |
8. | "I Need a U" |
|
| 4:15 |
9. | "Take Away Love" (featuring Estelle) |
| 4:16 | |
10. | "After Party" |
| 3:25 | |
11. | "Drained" |
| 3:21 | |
12. | "Tears" |
|
| 4:03 |
13. | "Matter" |
|
| 4:10 |
14. | "Love Rollercoaster" (featuring Mims) |
| Da Internz | 3:55 |
15. | "Don't Need U" |
| Terry "MaddScientist" Thomas | 4:19 |
Total length: | 58:58 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
16. | "Swagger" (featuring Bun B, Killa Kyleon & Slim Thug) | 3:57 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
16. | "Don't Let Me Get Away" |
| Feemster | 4:18 |
Notes
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes and Allmusic.com [1] [26]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Date | Format | Label |
---|---|---|---|
Europe | August 24, 2009 | Capitol Records | |
United States | August 25, 2009 | ||
LeToya Nicole Luckett-Coles is an American R&B singer and actress. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a founding member of the R&B girl group Destiny's Child, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. As a member of Destiny's Child, she achieved four US Top 10 hit singles, "No, No, No", "Bills, Bills, Bills", "Jumpin', Jumpin'", and "Say My Name", sold over 25 million records, and won two Grammy Awards. In the 2000s, she began her solo career after leaving the group and signing a record deal with Capitol Records.
Johntá Moore Austin is an American singer, songwriter, arranger, record producer, and rapper from Atlanta, Georgia. He is best known for his production and songwriting work on hometown native Jermaine Dupri's record label, So So Def Recordings during the mid-2000s.
"Say My Name" is a song by American group Destiny's Child from their second studio album, The Writing's on the Wall (1999). It was written by Beyoncé Knowles, LeToya Luckett, LaTavia Roberson, Kelly Rowland, LaShawn Daniels, Fred Jerkins III, and Rodney Jerkins, featuring production by the latter. While the song and single artwork features the group's original line-up consisting of Luckett and Roberson, the music video for the single marked the introduction of the group's second line-up with replacement members Michelle Williams and Farrah Franklin. "Say My Name" was released as the third single from The Writing's on the Wall on October 14, 1999, by Columbia Records.
Destiny's Child is the debut studio album by American R&B group of the same name, released by Ruffhouse, Columbia Records and Music World Entertainment on February 17, 1998. It features the singles "No, No, No" and "With Me", both of which preceded the album. "Killing Time" was also featured in "Men in Black: The Album" and released as a promotional single in 1997. Prior to release, the album was set to be called "Bridges". The album spent twenty six weeks on the US Billboard 200 chart and peaked at number sixty-seven. To date the album has sold a total of 831,000 copies in America. In the United Kingdom, it reached the top fifty, peaking at number forty-five. It was re-packaged and re-released in several countries after the success of the follow-up album, The Writing's on the Wall (1999). The album was met with generally favorable reviews from music critics, including AllMusic and Rolling Stone, and won a Soul Train Lady of Soul Award for Best R&B/Soul Album of the Year.
LeToya is the debut solo studio album by American R&B singer LeToya Luckett. It was released by Capitol Records on July 25, 2006. Luckett who co-wrote nine of the album's 16 songs, worked with a variety of producers on the album, including Teddy Bishop, The CornaBoyz, Bryan-Michael Cox, Jermaine Dupri, Just Blaze, Lil Walt, Candice Nelson, Jazze Pha, J. R. Rotem, and Scott Storch. It marked her first solo project after her departure from girl groups Destiny's Child and Anjel.
"Torn" a song by American R&B singer LeToya Luckett. It was written by Luckett, Teddy Bishop, and Dave Young for her solo debut album LeToya (2006), while production was helmed by Bishop. The song contains elements and features samples from The Stylistics' "You Are Everything" (1971). Due to the inclusion of the sample, Thom Bell and Linda Epstein received credit as songwriters. Lyrically, "Torn" is about the protagonist being "torn" between staying with or leaving her lover.
"She Don't" is a song by American R&B singer LeToya Luckett. It was written and produced by Walter "Lil' Walt" Milsap III and Candice Nelson for her solo debut album LeToya (2006). The song features samples from "We Belong Together" (1973) by American rhythm and blues vocal group The Spinners. Due to the inclusion of the sample, Yvette Davis is also credited as a songwriter. "She Don't" was released as the album's second single in the summer of 2006 and peaked at nunmber 17 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
The discography of LeToya Luckett, an American R&B singer-songwriter consists of three studio albums, fifteen singles, seven promotional singles and ten music videos.
"I Won't Tell" is a song by American rapper Fat Joe. It was released as the first single of his eight album The Elephant in the Room (2008), and features R&B singer J. Holiday. It was released on November 8, 2007 on Fat Joe's MySpace page. It was released through iTunes on December 4, 2007. It is a hip hop and contemporary R&B song.
"I Miss You" is a R&B/hip hop song written by Webbie, Mouse and Mannie Fresh for Webbie's second studio album, Savage Life 2 (2008). The song samples Diana Ross' "Missing You", and features LeToya Luckett. It was originally going to feature singer Kelis, but she was replaced for unknown reasons. While the song is about Webbie being on the road and looking forward to returning home to his woman, it is dedicated to Houston rappers that recently have died, mainly for UGK member Pimp C. The song was leaked to the internet on February 5, 2008, and was officially released on March 10, 2008.
"Not Anymore" is a song recorded by American singer LeToya Luckett released as the lead single taken from her second studio album Lady Love (2009). The song was written by Ne-Yo and produced by Bei Maejor. It was digitally released on February 3, 2009 through Capitol Music Group.
"She Ain't Got..." is a song recorded by American singer LeToya Luckett. It was written by Luckett, Andre Merritt, Chris Brown and Cory Bold, while production was overseen by Bold. Merritt was credited as a vocal and co-producer, while Brown received a vocal producer credit. The song was released as the second single from her second studio album Lady Love (2009), on June 1, 2009, through Capital Records.
Stronger with Each Tear is the ninth studio album from American R&B and soul singer-songwriter Mary J. Blige. The album was released in the US on December 21, 2009, under Blige's own imprint, Matriarch Records.
"Regret" is a song recorded by American singer LeToya Luckett, released as the third single taken from her second studio album Lady Love (2009) featuring American rapper Ludacris. It was written by Luckett, Ludacris, Tank, Jerry "Texx" Franklin, Kristina Stephens, and J. Valentine and produced by Tank and Franklin. The song was released on November 11, 2009, through Capitol Records. The Sky High Remix of "Regret" was released digitally on December 18, 2009. It contains a nearly identical instrumental to that of a previous Tank production, "Ghetto" (2007) by Kelly Rowland.
"Un-Thinkable " is a song by American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys from her fourth studio album The Element of Freedom (2009), that features uncredited background vocals from Canadian rapper Drake, although he is credited on the official remix of the song. It was initially scheduled to be the fifth single, but it was released as the fourth single. It was her first single to reach number one on the R&B chart in the United States since 2007's "Like You'll Never See Me Again". "Un-Thinkable " spent twelve consecutive weeks atop the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs, becoming the longest-running number-one single of 2010. The song topped the Billboard Adult R&B Songs, and reached number twenty-one on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Good to Me" is a song recorded by American singer LeToya Luckett released as the fourth and final single taken from her second studio album Lady Love (2009). The song was written by Durrell Babbs, Jerry N Franklin, Johnnie Newt, Robert Newt, Kris Stephens and produced by Tank and Song Dynasty. The song was released on February 1, 2010, through Capital Records.
Johnnie Valentine Newt is an American R&B singer and songwriter from San Francisco, California. He is known for his work with R&B singer Tank, and served as a member of his production group Song Dynasty.
"Don't Make Me Wait" is a song recorded by American singer LeToya Luckett. The song was written by Andre Harris, LeToya Luckett, Joseph Edward Macklin, Darryl Farris, Louis John Macklin, Zaiki Morris and Juan Moore. The song was released on February 11, 2014, by eOne Music Entertainment.
"Back 2 Life" is a song recorded by American singer LeToya Luckett, for her third studio album Back 2 Life (2017). The song was released on December 7, 2016, by eOne Music Entertainment. The song samples “Back to Life ” (1989) by Soul II Soul.
Back 2 Life is the third and most recent studio album by American R&B singer LeToya Luckett. It was released by eOne Music Entertainment on May 12, 2017. Her first album in eight years, it marked Luckett's first project as an independent artist after the release of her first two solo albums LeToya (2006) and Lady Love (2009), both of which were produced under Capitol Records. Luckett consulted a variety of musicians to work with her on Back 2 Life, including Jo Blaq, Warryn Campbell, D'Mile, Andre Harris, and J. White Did It.
{{cite web}}
: Missing or empty |url=
(help)