| The Ballad of Purple St. James | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 4, 2010 | |||
| Recorded | 2008–2010 | |||
| Genre | R&B, electronic soul | |||
| Length | 53:14 | |||
| Label | +FE Music | |||
| Producer | Yahzarah, Phonte Coleman, Nicolay, TheRealFocus, Nate Smith, Steve McKie, Zo! [1] | |||
| Yahzarah chronology | ||||
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The Ballad of Purple St. James is the third studio album of American singer, Yahzarah. The album was released on May 4, 2010, on the recording label +FE Music. This is Yahzarah's first album in seven years.
The album was originally titled Introducing Purple St. James with the song "Your Love" as the lead single. In 2010, it was announced by Yahzarah's label that the album was retitled "The Ballad of Purple St. James". The album features production from Yahzarah, Nicolay, and Phonte of the +FE Music. The album features elements of electronic soul and pop influenced mixed with R&B music.
Completing 'The Ballad...' with Phonte and Nicolay allowed me an opportunity to return to the joy of making music and to create a project that is sexy, fearless, beautiful and sincere. This work is a true reflection of me.
— Yahzarah
In 2009, Yahzarah released a buzz single "Your Love". When the album's title changed, another song known as "The Tickler" was given promotion and music video. The song was dubbed as another buzz single. In March 2010, she released the first single "Why Dontcha Call Me No More" which was available as a free download on the Foreign Exchange Music's website. [2] Following the release of the single, a sampler was released as a free download. [3] On May 19, 2010, the music video for "Why Dontcha Call Me No More" was released. [4] On September 15, 2010, Yahzarah released her second single "Cry Over You" and released the video to YouTube. [5]
In late 2010, Yahzarah began promoting her third single "Starship". In May 2011, Yahzarah confirmed on her Twitter account that a video for her single "Love Come Save the Day" was progress. [6] In September 2011, the music video for "Love Come Save the Day" was released to YouTube.
In 2010, Yahzarah began her Love vs Lust tour with The Foreign Exchange to promote the album.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [7] |
The album received a favorable review from Allmusic.com. gave "The Ballad of Purple St. James" a 4.5 rating out of 5 stars. Andy Kellman of Allmusic.com stated, "YahZarah had worked on and off with the duo for several years, but never in a concentrated burst like this. The album allows the singer and songwriter to flash her vocal and thematic flexibility in ways her previous albums did not." [8] The album charted at #75 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop chart. [9] The album also became #2 on Amazon's Top Album Sellers and #1 on Reverbnation's R&B Albums Chart.
Little Brother is an American hip hop duo from Durham, North Carolina that consists of rappers Phonte and Big Pooh. DJ and producer 9th Wonder was an original member of the group but departed in 2007. The group has produced five acclaimed studio albums and six mixtapes. Little Brother is highly regarded among hip hop fans and critics.
Jill Jones is an American singer, songwriter, and actress, who performed as a backing vocalist for Teena Marie and Prince in the 1980s. She is best known for her various collaborative works with Prince in the 1980s and 1990s, including her self-titled debut album in 1987. Since 2001, she has released three acoustic and dance albums, with her most recent being 2016's I Am.
Doug Stone is an American country music singer and songwriter. He debuted in 1990 with the single "I'd Be Better Off ", the first release from his 1990 self-titled debut album for Epic Records. Both this album and its successor, 1991's I Thought It Was You, earned a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. Two more albums for Epic, 1992's From the Heart and 1994's More Love, are each certified gold. Stone moved to Columbia Records to record Faith in Me, Faith in You, which did not produce a Top Ten among its three singles. After suffering a heart attack and stroke in the late 1990s, he exited the label and did not release another album until Make Up in Love in 1999 on Atlantic Records. The Long Way was released in 2002 on the Audium label, followed by two albums on the independent Lofton Creek Records.
The Foreign Exchange is an R&B/electronica/hip hop duo consisting of the American rapper/singer Phonte and the Dutch record producer Nicolay.
Phonte Lyshod Coleman, known mononymously as Phonte, is an American rapper, singer, and producer. He is also a member of Team Supreme, that co-hosts the Questlove Supreme podcast.
Franz Nicolay is an American musician and writer. He is best known for playing the accordion and piano in The World/Inferno Friendship Society and keyboards in The Hold Steady from 2005 to 2010 and again from 2016 onwards. He is also notable for founding Anti-Social Music, a composer/performer collective based in New York City, and for performing in the Balkan jazz quartet Guignol.
Connected is the first studio album by the Foreign Exchange, a hip hop group consisting of American rapper Phonte from Little Brother and Dutch producer Nicolay. It was released on BBE on August 24, 2004.
Dana Nicole Amma Williams, is known professionally as YahZarah, is a Ghanaian American singer and music producer. She is known for radio hits "Wishing" and "Why Dontcha Call Me No More". In 1997, she began her career as a background singer for Erykah Badu.
"What Kind of Fool Am I?" is a popular song written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley and published in 1962. It was introduced by Anthony Newley in the musical Stop the World – I Want to Get Off. It comes at the end of Act Two to close the show. Bricusse and Newley received the 1961 Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically. At the 1963 Grammy Awards, it won the award for Song of the Year and was the first by Britons to do so.
"30 Minutes" is a song by Russian recording duo t.A.T.u., taken from their debut English language studio album 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane (2002). It was released in 2001 in Russian as 30 Minut from the album 200 Po Vstrechnoy. It was written by Sergio Galoyan, Martin Kierszenbaum, Ivan Shapovalov and Valeriy Polienko, while production was handled by Kierzszenbaum and Robert Orton. The song was served as the album's third single off the studio by Interscope Records and Universal Music Russia in June 2003.
The following is the discography of American hip hop duo Little Brother.
"Love, Me" is a song written by Skip Ewing and Max T. Barnes, and recorded by American country music artist Collin Raye. It was released in October 1991 as the second single from the album All I Can Be. In January 1992, the single became Raye's first Number One single on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts; the same year, the song received a Song of the Year nomination from the Country Music Association. The single has been cited as a popular choice for funerals.
Here is a studio album by Dutch record producer Nicolay, one half of the duo The Foreign Exchange. It was released on BBE in 2006. It features guest appearances from Darien Brockington, Black Spade, Wiz Khalifa, Yahzarah, Kay, and Sy Smith.
This is a listing of official releases by Yahzarah, an American R&B singer.
"Why Dontcha Call Me No More" is a song by American singer Yahzarah. The song was released in March 2010 as the lead single for her third studio album, The Ballad of Purple St. James.
Stephen Levitin is an American record producer. Apple Juice Kid's production has been heard on songs by Mos Def, Azealia Banks, Wale, Camp Lo and MC Lyte. He has released several jazz remix albums with support from Okayplayer including Miles Davis Remixed and Frank Sinatra Remixed.
The Beast is an American alternative hip hop band from Durham, North Carolina. They were formed in 2007 by emcee Pierce Freelon, drummer Stephen Coffman, bassist Peter Kimosh and pianist Eric Hirsh. All members of the band are graduates of UNC Chapel Hill. The Beast is best known for their 2010 album, Freedom Suite, which was recorded with jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon and released in collaboration with Okayplayer's jazz channel The Revivalist. Other artists the Beast has collaborated with include 9th Wonder, YahZarah, Phonte, The Apple Juice Kid, Geechi Suede and Branford Marsalis. The band has been praised for their progressive lyrics and eclectic, jazz-based production.
"Don't Cry for Me" is a song recorded by British singer, songwriter and actress Lisa Stansfield for her 1997 eponymous album. It was written by Stansfield, Ian Devaney, Cory Rooney and Mark Morales. Originally, the track was produced by Devaney, Rooney and Morales, and further production was handled by Peter Mokran and Devaney.
"Kid" is a song written by Chrissie Hynde that was released on the Pretenders 1979 debut album Pretenders. Hynde wrote the song about a fictional boy discovering that his mother is a prostitute. The song's melodicism was attributed by guitarist James Honeyman-Scott to Hynde's growing interest in pop music. Honeyman-Scott wrote the song's solo, which he had designed over a couple of days.
"I Believe in You" is a song written by Neil Young that was first released on his 1970 album After the Gold Rush. It has also been covered by other artists, including Linda Ronstadt, Robin Zander and Rita Coolidge. Coolidge's version was released as a single and was a minor hit in Canada.
