Tomorrow (Sean Kingston album)

Last updated
Tomorrow
SeanKingston-Tomorrowalbumcover.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedSeptember 7, 2009
Recorded2008–2009
Genre
Length44:58
Label
Producer
Sean Kingston chronology
Sean Kingston
(2007)
Tomorrow
(2009)
Back 2 Life
(2013)
Singles from Tomorrow
  1. "Fire Burning"
    Released: April 24, 2009
  2. "Face Drop"
    Released: August 18, 2009

Tomorrow is the second studio album by Jamaican-American singer Sean Kingston. The album was released on September 7, 2009. [2] Despite "Fire Burning" being a commercial success in 2009, the album only peaked at #37 on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart with only 13,000 copies sold in the first week of release. It dropped out of the top 40 the next week, falling 50 spots to #87. [3]

Contents

Background and composition

The majority of the album was produced by J.R. Rotem, while also featuring productions from Detail, RedOne, Emanuel Kiriakou, DJ Frank E and others. Kingston worked with various songwriters on Tomorrow, including then-unknown American singer Bruno Mars, who co-wrote five tracks, Philip Lawrence, Diane Warren and Somali-Canadian rapper K'naan. [4]

Tomorrow marks a detachment from the sound of Kingston's debut album, incorporating 1990s Eurodance and electropop, and instruments like Roland 808 drum machine, Auto-Tune and synthesizers, to his signature reggae and pop music style. [5] [6] "Shoulda Let Go", featuring American rock band Good Charlotte, melds together genres of punk rock and soft rock, while "Fire Burning", "Face Drop", and "My Girlfriend" showcase influences of nu-disco, Euro disco and electropop. The song "War" was originally supposed to feature hip-hop artist Lil Wayne, but he was not included on the official album version of the song.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 62/100 [7]
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg link
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg link
BBC fairly positive link
Boston Globe fairly positive link
Entertainment Weekly C+
Now Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg link
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg link
USA Today Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg link

David Jeffries of AllMusic favored songs "Fire Burning", "Face Drop", "My Girlfriend", "Shoulda Let U Go", and "Ice Cream Girl" and feels ""Tomorrow" proves Kingston can provide a whole album's worth of pool-side entertainment even without the 'Beautiful Girls'-sized single." [8] Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone said "For the most part--despite Auto-Tuned slow songs--Kingston's mix of young-adult desire and disco heat shows he can cross over in unexpected directions." [6] Simon Vozick-Levinson of Entertainment Weekly felt that "Although he's got plenty of hooks, personality is in much shorter supply". [9] While some of his reviews are positive, others feel his album lacks novelty and interest. Jason Richards of Now Magazine said that although he is a good singer-songwriter, his album lacks novelty and feels irritating. [5] Apparently to Sarah Rodman of The Boston Globe , Kingston's collections of "silly lyrics and robotic tempos of Sean Kingston’s sophomore album slide if it were mid-July and we were in the mood for Euro-disco/reggae mash-ups, and straight-up electro-pop." [10] Bill Lamb of About.com :

It's abundantly clear on Tomorrow that Sean Kingston plans to stick around for awhile.[ sic ] He demonstrates he can play well with other artists on the bouncy "Shoulda Let Go" which is co-produced by Drum Up (LaMar Seymour, LaNelle Seymour) for Drum Up Digital and featuring a rock chorus from Good Charlotte and a rhythmic vocal workout with Wyclef Jean on "Ice Cream Girl." At least half of the songs here could be pop hit singles and fit easily into contemporary pop radio playlists. Sean Kingston may want to consider stripping his sound down a bit more, but Tomorrow is far from an unpleasant listening experience. Sean Kingston has successfully delivered the goods he has to offer a second time around. [11]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Welcome to Tomorrow" J.R. Rotem 0:57
2."War"J.R. Rotem2:59
3."Fire Burning" RedOne 4:03
4."My Girlfriend"
Garibay3:24
5."Face Drop"
Secon3:04
6."Magical"
  • Rotem
  • Anderson
3:09
7."Island Queen"
  • Hernandez
  • Lawrence
The Smeezingtons 3:42
8."Tomorrow"
  • Rotem
  • Warsame
  • Hernandez
  • Lawrence
J.R. Rotem2:56
9."Twist Ya Around"
3:24
10."Wrap U Around Me" Diane Warren J.R. Rotem3:22
11."Shoulda Let U Go" (featuring Good Charlotte and DJ Frank E)
3:08
12."Over"
  • Rotem
  • Anderson
J.R. Rotem3:06
13."Ice Cream Girl" (featuring Wyclef Jean)
  • Wyclef Jean
  • Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis
4:01
14."Why U Wanna Go"
  • Fisher
  • Kenya Luca
  • Detail
  • Greg Ogan
3:43
International digital bonus track
No.TitleLength
15."Addicted"3:40
Japan bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
15."Fire Burning" (Dave Audé Club)7:39
16."Face Drop" (Lucas DH Remix)4:08

Singles

Promotional singles

iTunes released promotional singles from the album as part of "Countdown to Tomorrow". All singles received the same animated artwork, each with a different color background. [12]

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References

  1. https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sean-kingston-mn0000922471#biography
  2. "Tomorrow by Sean Kingston". Apple Inc. iTunes . Retrieved July 3, 2012.
  3. https://www.billboard.com/artist/sean-kingston/chart-history/billboard-200
  4. https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/bruno-mars-songs-didnt-know-wrote-adele-adam-lambert-kanye-west-jay-z-7549853/amp/
  5. 1 2 Richards, Jason. "Now Magazine // Music // Sean Kingston". Nowtoronto.com. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  6. 1 2 Archived September 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  7. "Tomorrow by Sean Kingston". Metacritic . Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  8. Jeffries, David (2009-09-22). "( Tomorrow > Review )". allmusic. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  9. Simon Vozick-Levinson (2009-09-16). "Tomorrow". EW.com. Archived from the original on April 24, 2011. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  10. "Sean Kingston's 'Tomorrow' targets the wrong season - The Boston Globe". Boston.com. 2009-09-21. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  11. "Sean Kingston - Tomorrow - Review of the Sean Kingston Album Tomorrow". Top40.about.com. 2007-08-09. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  12. 1 2 3 "iTunes Countdown to Tomorrow | The Official Sean Kingston Site". Seankingston.com. 2009-07-29. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  13. 1 2 3 "Singles: Sean Kingston". Archived from the original on 2009-04-27. Retrieved 2009-08-12.