Round 2 (J. Holiday album)

Round 2
Studio album by J. Holiday
Released	March 10, 2009 [1]
Recorded	2008–2009
Studio	Carrington House and Christian Boy Studios in Atlanta Signature Sound Studios, The Red Room and The Music House in Sherman Oaks
Genre	R&B hip hop
Length	47:36
Label	Music Line Capitol
Producer	Allstar Big Reese Chuck Harmony The Co-Stars The-Dream Jasper Cameron Jon Ørom Jules Wolfson Ne-Yo The Platinum Brothers Reginald Hamlet State of Emergency Travis Cherry
J. Holiday chronology
Back of My Lac' (2007) Round 2 (2009) Guilty Conscience (2014)
Singles from Round 2
"It's Yours" Released: December 16, 2008

Round 2 is the second studio album by American recording artist J. Holiday, it was released on March 10, 2009, by Music Line Group and Capitol Records. ^[1] It is the follow-up to his debut album, Back of My Lac' , which was released in 2007. This record would later be his final studio release with Capitol. The album was supported by the lone single, "It's Yours", which achieved moderate chart success.

Upon release, Round 2 received mixed reviews from music critics, who complimented its production and songwriting and was considered to be an improvement from his previous album.

Singles

The first single "It's Yours", was released on December 16, 2008. The song had achieved minor chart success, debuting at number 25 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and also debuting at number 33 on the Japan Hot 100 chart. A music video was released and directed by Jonathan Mannion.

The second single that was supposed to be released was Fall, but due to label problems it was canceled like "Come Here" on his previous album.

Commercial performance

The album sold 55,000 copies in its first week and debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200. ^[2] The album has sold 300,000 copies in the United States.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Album of the Year	65/100 [3]
Review scores
Source	Rating
About.com	[4]
AllMusic	[5]
Associated Press	(favorable) [6]
DJBooth	[7]
PopMatters	6/10 [8]
Rolling Stone	[9]
Vibe	(mixed) [10]

Round 2 received mixed reviews from music critics. Andy Kellman of AllMusic said, "Holiday instead delivers a second album that is not a retread. It's not a reinvention, either, but the roster of collaborators is almost completely different, and Holiday all but eliminates the tough guy and stoner talk." ^[5] Mark Edward Nero of About.com said Round 2 is a well-sung, well-written, well-produced album, but the one negative is that it's a little bland and leans too much on love songs. ^[4] Nathan Slavik of DJBooth stated that Round 2 finds Holiday shifting away from Lac’s harder-edged image in favor of a smoother sound, resulting in a well-crafted album that shows that while Holiday's got a ways to go before he reaches elite status, no one will ever be able to call him a one-hit wonder again. ^[7]

Track listing

Round 2 track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Intro"	Nahum Grymes	J. Holiday	0:36
2.	"It's Yours"	Cameron Grymes	Jasper Cameron Big Reese	4:06
3.	"Fall"	Gibbs Chesser Austin Smith Wright Green	The Platinum Brothers	3:32
4.	"Don't Go"	Shaffer Smith Charles Harmon	Chuck Harmony	3:31
5.	"Wrong Lover" (featuring Rick Ross)	Gibbs Chesser Austin Travis Cherry Grymes Wellington William Roberts II Mcnair, Jr. Biggs Wansel	The Platinum Brothers Travis Cherry	4:12
6.	"Run into My Arms"	Gibbs Chesser Austin Cherry Grymes	The Platinum Brothers	4:04
7.	"Sing 2 U"	Grymes Bowen Hamlet	Reginald Hamlet	3:15
8.	"Lights Go Out"	Grymes Bowen Gordon	Allstar	3:52
9.	"Make That Sound"	Gibbs Chesser Cherry Antoine Grymes Brown	The Platinum Brothers Travis Cherry [a] Karl Antoine [a]	4:07
10.	"Forever Ain't Enough"	Grymes Jean Orom Wolfson	Jules Wolfson Jon Ørom [a]	4:22
11.	"Fly"	Babbs Grymes Dinkins Jr. Colapietro	The Co-Stars	4:17
12.	"Homeless"	Grymes Scantlebury Austin	State of Emergency	3:43
13.	"I Tried"	Grymes Scantlebury Austin	State of Emergency	3:49
Total length:				47:36

iTunes bonus track ^[11]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
14.	"Magic Man"	Austin Grymes Scantz	Donnie Scantz	3:18
Total length:				50:54

Japanese edition (bonus tracks) ^[12]

No.	Title	Length
14.	"Holiday"	4:16
15.	"Bed (Haji & Emanuel Remix)"	3:31
Total length:		55:13

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies an co-producer

Sample credits

• "Wrong Lover" contains interpolations from the composition "Hurry Up This way Again" written by Cynthia Biggs & Dexter Wansel.

Personnel

Credits for Round 2 adapted from Allmusic. ^[13]

All-Star – Audio Production, Engineer, Producer Karl Antoine – Composer Luke Austin – Audio Production, Composer, Keyboards, Producer Babbs – Composer Chris Bellman – Mastering Big Reese – Audio Production Cynthia Biggs – Composer Bowen – Composer Ronette Bowie – A&R David Brown – Composer, Vocal Arrangement Cameron – Composer Travis Cherry – Composer Mike Chesser – Producer, Audio Production, Composer Cmillions – Producer Colapietro – Composer Vito Colapietro – Composer The Co-Stars – Audio Production Chris Dave – Drums Chris 'Daddy' Dave – Drums, Woodwind Kevin "KD" Davis – Mixing Neely Dinkins – Engineer Neely Dinkins Jr. – Composer Nicole Frantz – Creative Director Moses Gallart – Mixing Assistant Adam Gibbs – Producer, Audio Production, Composer Gordon – Composer Green – Composer Grymes – Composer Reggie Hamlet – Producer Reginald Hamlet – Audio Production, Composer Chuck Harmony – Audio Production, Composer, Producer J. Holiday – Arranger, Audio Production, Engineer, Executive Producer, Primary Artist, Producer, Vocals (Background) Elizabeth Isik – A&R Jasper – Arranger, Audio Production, Drum Programming, Keyboards, Vocals (Background)

Jaycen Joshua – Mixing Jean – Composer Mike Johnson – Engineer Darius Jones – A&R Kori Lewis – Stylist Giancarlo Lino – Mixing Assistant Carlton Lynn – Engineer Erik Madrid – Mixing Assistant Ankur Malhotra – A&R Jonathan Mannion – Art Direction, Photography Manny Marroquin – Mixing McNair Jr. – Composer Ne-Yo – Audio Production, Producer Jon Ørom – Audio Production, Composer, Producer David Oromaner – Composer Dave Pensado – Mixing Christian Plata – Mixing Assistant The Platinum Brothers – Audio Production Geno Regist – Engineer Roberts – Composer April Roomet – Stylist Rick Ross – Featured Artist, Primary Artist Scantlebury – Composer Donnie Scantz – Arranger, Engineer, Keyboards, Programming Smith – Composer S. Smith – Composer State of Emergency – Audio Production Mark Stowbridge – Guitar Mark Strowbridge – Guitar James Thompson – Guitar (Bass) Randy Urbanski – Mixing Assistant Dexter Wansel – Composer John Webb – Guitar (Bass) John Webb – Guitar (Bass) Wellington – Composer Jules Wolfson – Audio Production, Composer, Producer Wright – Composer Andrew Wuepper – Mixing Assistant

Charts

Weekly chart performance for Round 2

Chart (2009)	Peak position
Japanese Albums (Oricon) [14]	54
US Billboard 200 [15]	4
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums ( Billboard ) [16]	2

References

1. "J. Holiday Returns For 'Round 2'". Rap-Up. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
2. "Kelly Clarkson Tops Billboard 200". Billboard . March 18, 2009.
3. "J. Holiday – Round 2 – Reviews – Album of the Year". Album of the Year. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
4. Nero, Mark Edward. "Holiday In Love". About.com. Archived from the original on September 4, 2009. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
5. Kellman, Andy. "Round 2 – J. Holiday". AllMusic . Retrieved August 8, 2011.
6. https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090309/ap_en_re/music_review_j_holiday ^{[ dead link ]}
7. Slavik, Nathan (March 11, 2009). "J Holiday – Round 2". DJBooth. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
8. Lewis, Tyler (November 10, 2009). "J. Holiday: Round 2". PopMatters . Retrieved March 4, 2015.
9. Rollingstone ^{[ dead link ]}
10. Garraud, Tracy (March 10, 2009). "J. Holiday: Round 2". Vibe . Eldridge Industries. Archived from the original on March 15, 2009. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
11. "Itunes – J. Holiday – Round Two". Itunes Mp3 (Apple Inc). March 10, 2009. Archived from the original on June 17, 2010.
12. "J. Holiday – Round 2 (2009, CD)". Discogs .
13. "Round 2 – J. Holiday | Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic .
14. "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2009-03-23" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
15. Billboard 200 – Week of March 28, 2009. Billboard. Archived from the original on December 31, 2022. Retrieved March 18, 2024.
16. Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Week of March 28, 2009. Billboard. Archived from the original on December 25, 2022. Retrieved March 18, 2024.