| Stroke of Genius | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 21, 2003 | |||
| Length | 71:16 | |||
| Label | Elektra | |||
| Producer |
| |||
| Gerald Levert chronology | ||||
| ||||
Stroke of Genius is the seventh studio album by American R&B singer Gerald Levert. It was released by Elektra Records on October 21, 2003, in the United States.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
In his review for AllMusic, David Jeffries found that Stroke of Genius "is one of the best arguments yet that Gerald LeVert needs to slow down his release schedule and trust someone else in the producer's chair for once. After 1998's Love & Consequences , Levert fell into a rut, releasing one underwhelming album after another. His voice is fine and he still does the convincing pillow talk, but like his last few releases, the material isn't there. Too often he turns to R. Kelly-styled strip-club music way beyond his reach, with the embarrassing "Knock, Knock, Knock" being the worst offender." [1]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "1st Stroke (Intro)" |
|
| 0:28 |
| 2. | "Knock Knock Knock" | Jasper Cameron | Jasper da Fatso | 3:08 |
| 3. | "Long Hot Summer" |
|
| 3:40 |
| 4. | "Awesome" |
|
| 4:39 |
| 5. | "Stroke of Genius" |
|
| 4:36 |
| 6. | "(They Long to Be) Close to You" (featuring Tamia) |
| 5:21 | |
| 7. | "I Got a Girl" |
|
| 4:03 |
| 8. | "U Got That Love (Call It a Night)" |
|
| 4:30 |
| 9. | "Wear It Out" |
|
| 4:30 |
| 10. | "Good Morning" |
|
| 2:48 |
| 11. | "Keep It Warm" |
|
| 3:43 |
| 12. | "Didn't We" |
|
| 4:35 |
| 13. | "To My Grave" |
|
| 3:46 |
| 14. | "Let It Be" |
|
| 3:33 |
| 15. | "The Visit (Interlude)" | Levert | Levert | 0:21 |
| 16. | "Eyes and Ears" (featuring Eddie Levert & Sean Levert) |
|
| 4:19 |
| 17. | "Rest of Your Life" |
|
| 3:53 |
| 18. | "You Got That Love Again" |
|
| 4:04 |
| 19. | "Won't Get Up" | Levert | Levert | 4:25 |
| 20. | "Last Stroke (Outro)" | Levert | Levert | 0:49 |
Sample credits
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Keith Douglas Sweat is an American singer, songwriter, and an early figure in the new jack swing musical movement. He is known for his collection of hits including "I Want Her", "Make It Last Forever", "I'll Give All My Love to You", "Make You Sweat", "Get Up on It", "Twisted" and "Nobody". He has released 13 solo albums and two as a part of the R&B supergroup LSG, and discovered the groups Silk and Kut Klose.
Gerald Edward Levert was an American singer-songwriter, producer and actor. Levert is best known for singing with his brother, Sean Levert, and friend Marc Gordon of the vocal group LeVert. Levert was also a member of LSG, a supergroup comprising Keith Sweat, Johnny Gill, and himself. Levert is the son of Eddie Levert, who is the lead singer of the R&B/soul vocal group the O'Jays. He had released nine solo albums, six with LeVert, two with his father Eddie Levert, two with LSG, as well as discovering the R&B groups the Rude Boys, Men at Large and 1 of the Girls.
Joseph Anthony Budden II is an American broadcaster, cultural critic, media personality, and former rapper. He first gained recognition as a rapper, best known for his 2003 top 40 single "Pump It Up" and as a member of the hip hop supergroup Slaughterhouse. In 2018, he retired from rap, and found success as a broadcaster, having a much publicized run as a co-host on Everyday Struggle for Complex. He currently hosts The Joe Budden Podcast, released twice a week through Spotify and YouTube, and State of the Culture on Revolt. He has been described as "Howard Stern of Hip-Hop".
Donell Jones is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He is most notable for the hits "U Know What's Up," "Where I Wanna Be," and his cover of Stevie Wonder's "Knocks Me Off My Feet." Jones' first studio album My Heart, was released in 1996, but he is best known for his late 1990s release of his second album Where I Wanna Be.
Alicia Michelle "Miki" Howard is an American singer and actress who had a string of Top 10 hit songs in the mid–1980s and early–1990s, including "Baby, Be Mine" (1987), "Come Share My Love" (1986) and "Love Under New Management" (1990). "Ain't Nobody Like You" (1992) and "Ain't Nuthin' in the World" (1989) both peaked at number one on the U.S. Billboard Top R&B Singles chart.
"So Gone" is a song by American R&B recording artist Monica. It was one out of several tracks rapper-producer Missy Elliott wrote and produced along with Kenneth Cunningham and Jamahl Rye from production duo Spike & Jamahl for Monica's fourth studio album, After the Storm (2003), following the delay and subsequent reconstruction of her 2002 album, All Eyez on Me. Incorporating elements of hip hop and 1970s-style smooth jazz as well as soul music, it features a sample from the 1976 song "You Are Number One", penned by Zyah Ahmonuel and performed by The Whispers.
LSG is an R&B supergroup, composed of R&B artists Gerald Levert from Cleveland, Ohio, Keith Sweat from Harlem, New York and Johnny Gill from Washington, D.C. The group's name "LSG" is derived from the first letter in the last name of each artist.
I'll Give All My Love to You is the second studio album by the American R&B recording artist Keith Sweat. It was released on June 12, 1990, and went to number one on the Top R&B albums chart and number 6 on the Billboard 200. It spawned Sweat's second and third number 1 R&B hits: "Make You Sweat" and the title track, while "Merry Go Round" and "Your Love Part 2" were Top 5 R&B hits.
American singer Usher has released eight studio albums, ten compilation albums, eight extended plays, and 76 singles. His music has been released on the LaFace, Arista, Jive, and RCA record labels. More than 23 million of his albums have been shipped in the United States with over 100 million total records sold worldwide, making him one of the best selling music artists of all time. He has nine Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles and 18 Hot 100 top-ten singles. In 1994, Usher released his self-titled debut album in North America, producing three singles that had moderate chart success, and the album sold more than 500,000 copies. His follow-up 1997 album My Way sold over 8 million copies worldwide, becoming his breakthrough album. It was certified six-times platinum in the US, and spawned three successful singles, including his first UK number-one "You Make Me Wanna..." and first US Hot 100 number-one song "Nice & Slow". Usher's success continued in 2001 with his third studio album 8701. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200. The album produced two number-one singles—"U Remind Me" and "U Got It Bad". It has sold more than 5 million copies and has been certified four-times platinum in the US. Its worldwide sales stand at over 8 million.
Comin' from Where I'm From is the second studio album by American singer Anthony Hamilton. It was released on September 23, 2003, by So So Def Recordings and Arista Records. The album debuted at number 33 on the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 33,000 copies, while peaking at number six on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Comin' from Where I'm From was certified platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on December 2, 2004, and as of December 2005, it had sold 1.2 million copies in the United States.
American R&B singer Monica has released 8 studio albums, one extended play, and 35 singles. Since the beginning of her career in 1995, she has sold 5.3 million albums in the United States, In 1999, Billboard included her among the top twenty of the Top Pop Artists of the 1990s, and in 2010, the magazine ranked her 24th on its list of the Top 50 R&B and Hip Hop Artists of the past 25 years. With a career lasting over 20 years, Monica became the first artist to top the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s.
In My Songs is the ninth studio album by American singer Gerald Levert. It was released posthumously on February 13, 2007 on Atlantic Records. Levert reteamed with longtime collaborator Edwin "Tony" Nicholas to work on the entire album which was completed shortly before his death from an apparent heart attack in November 2006. In My Songs debuted and peaked at numbe two on the US Billboard 200, becoming his highest-charting effort, and won Levert his first Grammy Award in the Best Traditional R&B Performance for the title track at the 50th awards ceremony.
Private Line is the debut solo album by Gerald Levert, following his tenure with the group LeVert. It was released by EastWest Records on October 15, 1991 in the United States. The album reached number one on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums where it spent two weeks atop in 1992. Private Line also topped the Top Heatseekers album chart and peaked at number 48 on the Billboard 200. It spawned four singles: the title track, "School Me," "Can U Handle It" and "Baby Hold On to Me," a duet with his father, Eddie Levert.
Groove On is the second studio album by Gerald Levert. It was released by EastWest Records on September 6, 1994 in the United States. The follow-up to Levert's debut album, Private Line (1991), it reached number two on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number 18 on the US Billboard 200. The first single from the album was the David Foster produced "I'd Give Anything", a cover of the 1993 song that was originally recorded by short lived country music group Boy Howdy. It was Levert's second top 40 crossover hit. The music video for the second single "How Many Times" was directed by actress Jada Pinkett. Two more singles included "Can't Help Myself" and "Answering Service".
"Casanova" is a 1987 single by LeVert, written and produced by Reggie Calloway. It reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and #9 on the UK Singles Chart, LeVert's only Top Ten on either chart. It was number one on the Billboard Hot Black Singles chart for two weeks, becoming the group's second number-one. It has become a standard number for New Orleans brass bands following its popularization by the Rebirth Brass Band. The song is featured in 1987's The Pick-Up Artist, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Molly Ringwald, and appears on the soundtrack album of the Whoopi Goldberg movie Fatal Beauty, released the same year.
Love & Consequences is the third studio album by American R&B singer Gerald Levert. It was released on July 21, 1998 on East West Records. In addition to his longtime collaborator, Edwin "Tony" Nicholas, Levert worked with more writers and producers including R. Kelly, Joe Little III of The Rude Boys and Darrell "Delite" Allamby. A commercial success, it peaked at number 17 on the US Billboard 200 and at number two on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, while receiving a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
G is the fourth studio album by American singer Gerald Levert. It was originally scheduled to be released via EastWest Records on September 21, 1999 under the title Same 'Ol G, but was pushed back and released on March 7, 2000 after being delayed from its release. The album peaked at number two on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and at number 8 on the Billboard 200.
Gerald's World is the fifth studio album by American R&B singer Gerald Levert. It was released by Elektra Records on September 18, 2001 in the United States.
The G Spot is the sixth studio album by American R&B singer Gerald Levert. It was released by Elektra Records on September 24, 2002, in the United States.
Do I Speak for the World is the eighth studio album by American R&B singer Gerald Levert. It was released by Elektra Records on November 30, 2004 in the United States. The album marked his final studio album with the label.