What If We Were Real

What If We Were Real
Studio album by Mandisa
Released	April 5, 2011 [1]
Recorded	July 2010 – January 2011 [2] [3]
Studio	FabMusic, Glomo Studio and The Givens House (Franklin, Tennessee)
Genre	Gospel, CCM, R&B
Length	38:32
Label	Sparrow
Producer	Christopher Stevens David Garcia Dan Muckala Chance Scoggins [1]
Mandisa chronology
Freedom (2009) What If We Were Real (2011) Overcomer (2013)
Singles from What If We Were Real
"Stronger" Released: January 7, 2011 [1] "Waiting for Tomorrow" Released: 2011 "Good Morning" Released: 2012

What If We Were Real is the fourth studio album by CCM singer Mandisa. The album was released on April 5, 2011 on Sparrow Records. This album received a nomination at 54th Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album. ^[4]

Background

Mandisa began work on the album in July 2010. She also co-wrote three songs on the album. ^[1] The album also features a guest appearance from tobyMac on the song "Good Morning". ^[5]

Singles

The first single off of the album was "Stronger". It peaked at number one on the Hot Christian Songs chart and as of August 31, 2011, has sold 194,000 copies. ^[6]

"Waiting for Tomorrow" was the second single and peaked at number nine on the Hot Christian AC chart.

"Good Morning" featuring Christian artist TobyMac was the third single. It sold 138,000 copies. ^[6] On October 11, 2014 it has been certified Gold by RIAA. ^[7]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Stronger"	Christopher Stevens, David Garcia, Ben Glover	3:33
2.	"What If We Were Real"	Cindy Morgan, Mandisa Hundley, Glover	3:19
3.	"These Days"	Glover, Tony Wood, Brian White	3:17
4.	"The Truth About Me"	Wood, Simon Hawkins, Kerrie Roberts, Ronnie Freeman	3:32
5.	"Say Goodbye"	Sam Mizell, Jeff Pardo	3:12
6.	"Good Morning" (featuring tobyMac)	Toby McKeehan, Jaime Moore, Cary Barlowe, Hundley, Aaron Rice	3:23
7.	"Waiting for Tomorrow"	Glover, Pardo	3:17
8.	"Just Cry"	Hundley, Wood, Freeman	4:35
9.	"Temporary Fills"	Ricky Free, Michael Fordinal	2:44
10.	"Free"	Rice, Lauren Evans, Moore, Barlowe	4:09
11.	"Lifeline"	Robin Ghosh, Wood & Jason Barton	3:28
Total length:			38:29

^[8]

Personnel

• Mandisa – vocals, backing vocals
• David Garcia – keyboards, programming, guitars, bass, backing vocals
• Christopher Stevens – keyboards, programming, guitars, bass, backing vocals
• Dan Muckala – programming, arrangements
• Chris Bevins – programming
• Craig Swift – programming
• Chance Scoggins – acoustic piano
• Adam Lester – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
• Tommy Platt – guitars
• Justin Ostrander – guitars
• Ron Robinson – guitars
• Bernard Harris – bass
• Tommy Lee – bass
• Tony Lucido – bass
• Jamie Holloway – drums
• Garth Justice – drums
• Matt Butler – cello
• Zach Casebolt – cello
• Claire Indie – cello
• Blanca Callahan – backing vocals
• Missi Hale – backing vocals
• Jovaun Woods – backing vocals
• tobyMac – rap (6)

Production

• Brad O'Donnell – A&R
• Karrie Hardwick – A&R
• David Garcia – producer (1, 7, 11), mixing (1, 7, 11)
• Christopher Stevens – producer (1, 2, 5-7, 9, 11), mixing (1, 2, 5-7, 9, 11)
• Dan Muckala – producer (3, 4, 10), mixing (3, 4, 10)
• Chance Scoggins – producer (8)
• Bill Whittington – engineer (8)
• Kent Hooper – mixing (8)
• Taylor Stevens – assistant engineer (1, 2, 5-7, 9, 11), editing (1, 2, 5-7, 9, 11)
• Dan Deurloo – assistant engineer (3, 4, 10)
• Chuck Butler – editing (3, 4, 10)
• Chris Gehringer – mastering at Sterling Sound (New York City, New York)
• Jan Cook – art direction
• Austin Hale – design
• Kristin Barlowe – photography

Commercial performance

The album sold 8,000 copies, debuting at No. 66 on the Billboard 200 albums chart ^[9] and at number two on the Christian Albums chart. ^[10] The album debuted with higher sales and peaked in better chart positions than her previous album, Freedom . ^[11] It has sold a total of 196,000 copies as of August 2012. ^[12]

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for What If We Were Real Chart (2011–13) Peak position US Billboard 200 [13] 66 US Christian Albums (Billboard) [14] 2 US Top Catalog Albums (Billboard) [15] 23

Year-end charts 2011 year-end chart performance for What If We Were Real Chart (2011) Peak position US Christian Albums (Billboard) [16] 18 2012 year-end chart performance for What If We Were Real Chart (2012) Peak position US Christian Albums (Billboard) [17] 8

References

1. "GRAMMY Nominee and American Idol Alum Mandisa to Release Empowering Third Studio Album What If We Were Real on April 5". Jesusfreakhideout.com. January 19, 2011. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
2. "Mandisa". Mandisa.sparrowrecords.com. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
3. "Twitter / Mandisa: Last studio day! I told pr". Twitter.com. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
4. "Nominees And Winners". GRAMMY.com. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
5. "Twitter / Mandisa: Producer sent me the versi". Twitter.com. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
6. "Kelly Clarkson has the top-selling 'Idol' single ever". Content.usatoday.com. July 5, 2012. Retrieved July 17, 2012.
7. "Mandisa's "Good Morning" Digital Single RIAA Certified Gold » Mandisa Official". Mandisa Official. Retrieved April 23, 2015.
8. "What If We Were Real [+Digital Booklet]: Mandisa: MP3 Downloads". Amazon. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
9. "Adele re-takes top album spot; Jennifer Hudson drops from Top 10 -USAToday". Content.usatoday.com. April 13, 2011. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
10. "Billboard Christian Albums". Billboard.com. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
11. "Mandisa Album & Song Chart History". Billboard.com. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
12. "USAToday". Content.usatoday.com. August 1, 2012. Retrieved August 4, 2011.
13. "Mandisa Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
14. "Mandisa Chart History (Christian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
15. "Mandisa Chart History (Top Catalog Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
16. "Top Christian Albums – Year-End 2011". Billboard. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
17. "Top Christian Albums – Year-End 2012". Billboard. Retrieved April 3, 2021.