Back to Me (Fantasia album)
Encyclopedia
Back to Me is the third studio album by American
singer Fantasia Barrino
. It was released by J Records
on August 24, 2010. The album is her first studio album in four years since 2006's Fantasia. The album's title was suggested to her by comedian Steve Harvey
, when Barrino visited his morning radio program. The album sold 117,000 in its first week, debuting at number two on the US Billboard 200
and at number one on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, making it Fantasia's highest charting album as of September 2010.
to add a more contemporary, commercial sound to the album. The project's lead single, "Bittersweet" was released to iTunes
on May 11, 2010, and was performed live on American Idol
, while a new release date was set for July 27, 2010. "Bittersweet" had yet to gain momentum at radio, so the album was again pushed back to August 10, 2010 and finally to August 24, 2010.
To promote the album, Barrino embarked on her first solo concert tour, Back to Me Tour
in the fall of 2010.
chart and a total of 458,000 copies as of August 2011.
, which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, it has so far received an average
score of 70 based on 7 reviews.
Ken Capobianco with The Boston Globe
called the record "a strong comeback" and went on to say that "Fantasia has matured [and] appears to be an artist reborn." Mariel Concepcion with Billboard
called it a "soulful, laid-back album with tinges of gospel" and went on to say "her distinct voice is most enjoyable when singing heartfelt ballads. Jim Farber with The New York Daily News called it "a wail of a comeback". He also said it "outperforms the singer's first two works, with meatier hooks, firmer melodies, and a more shrewdly focused point of view." Mikael Wood with Entertainment Weekly
gave it a "B" rating, commenting "Fantasia's rough-hewn vocals shine best on The Thrill Is Gone." Stephen Thomas Erlewine
with Allmusic called it her "most interesting album", and commented saying that she was "reconnecting with her roots."
However, Jonathan Keefe of Slant Magazine
stated "the material [Fantasia] has been saddled with has been extraordinarily awful" but still described her positively as an "uninhibited, intuitive soul singer with a truly distinctive sense of phrasing and boundless passion".
The album received a Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Album.
Jaycen Joshua - mixing
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer Fantasia Barrino
Fantasia Barrino
Fantasia Monique Barrino commonly known as Fantasia, is an American R&B singer, Broadway and television actress who rose to fame as the winner of the third season of the reality television series American Idol in 2004. Following her victory, she released her debut single, "I Believe", which...
. It was released by J Records
J Records
J Records was an American record label, owned and operated by Sony Music Entertainment, and was distributed through the RCA Music Group.-Company history:...
on August 24, 2010. The album is her first studio album in four years since 2006's Fantasia. The album's title was suggested to her by comedian Steve Harvey
Steve Harvey
Broderick Steven "Steve" Harvey is an American actor, comedian, entertainer, television and radio personality and best-selling author. He is best known as the star of the WB sitcom The Steve Harvey Show, and as one of the four comedians featured in the Spike Lee film The Original Kings of Comedy...
, when Barrino visited his morning radio program. The album sold 117,000 in its first week, debuting at number two on the US Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
and at number one on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, making it Fantasia's highest charting album as of September 2010.
Background
The album was originally set for release in early 2010, but after an underperforming first single and numerous leaks, J Records ordered more tracks for the album, postponing the album's release until further studio sessions, and stronger singles were recorded. Her label recruited Claude KellyClaude Kelly
Claude Kelly is an American singer-songwriter. He has a prolific discography, well known for writing for artists such as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Toni Braxton, Whitney Houston, Jordin Sparks, Kelly Clarkson, Jay Sean, Adam Lambert, Jessie J and Charice.-Career:He began playing the piano...
to add a more contemporary, commercial sound to the album. The project's lead single, "Bittersweet" was released to iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
on May 11, 2010, and was performed live on American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
, while a new release date was set for July 27, 2010. "Bittersweet" had yet to gain momentum at radio, so the album was again pushed back to August 10, 2010 and finally to August 24, 2010.
To promote the album, Barrino embarked on her first solo concert tour, Back to Me Tour
Back to Me Tour
The Back to Me Tour is the first headlining concert tour by American recording artist, Fantasia Barrino. Primarily visiting North America, the tour will support her third studio album, Back to Me. Previously, Fantasia toured with Kanye West on his "Touch The Sky Tour" in 2005...
in the fall of 2010.
Singles
- "Even Angels", the album's promotional single, was performed on The Oprah Winfrey ShowThe Oprah Winfrey ShowThe Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
on February 3, 2010. The single was never promoted after the performance or sent to radio for airplay. It was later featured on Episode 11 of the third season of RuPaul's Drag RaceRuPaul's Drag RaceRuPaul's Drag Race is an American reality television series produced by World of Wonder for Logo. RuPaul plays host, mentor and inspiration for this series, which details RuPaul's search for "America's next drag superstar."...
, as part of RuPaul's "Lip sync for your life" song list, in which Barrino was a guest judge.
- "BittersweetBittersweet (Fantasia song)"Bittersweet" is a song performed by American singer Fantasia from her third studio album, Back to Me. The song was released on May 11, 2010 as the lead single from the album....
", the album's first official single, was released on May 11, 2010 and then performed the next day on American IdolAmerican IdolAmerican Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
. The music video was released on VEVOVevoVevo is a music video website. It is a joint venture among Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Abu Dhabi Media with EMI licensing its content to the group without taking an ownership stake. The service was launched officially on December 8, 2009...
on June 25, 2010 and featured NFL star Devin ThomasDevin ThomasDevin Thomas is an American football wide receiver currently playing for the New York Giants. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at Michigan State...
as her love interest. Fantasia was also a guest on BETBetBet or BET may refer to:* A wager in gambling* Basic Economics Test * Bet , the second letter in many Semitic alphabets, including Aramaic, Hebrew, Phoenician and Syriac* Brunauer-Emmett-Teller isotherm. See BET_theory...
's 106 and Park on her birthday, June 30, 2010, to premiere the video internationally. The track peaked at #1 on the U.S. Billboard Adult R&B Chart, at #7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and at #74 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. "Bittersweet" is Fantasia's fourth song to reach the Top 10 of the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, including "Truth Is", "Free Yourself," and "When I See U."
- "I'm Doin' MeI'm Doin' Me"I'm Doin' Me" is a song performed by American singer Fantasia from her third studio album, Back to Me. The song was released on September 28, 2010 serving as the second single from the album.-Critical reception:...
", the second "official" single from the album, debuted at #97 on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop songsHot R&B/Hip-Hop SongsHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
and peaked at #11.
- "Collard Greens & Cornbread" is the third official single from the album. Fantasia performed the song on American IdolAmerican IdolAmerican Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
's result night on March 31, 2011. The song was officially released as a radio single on April 11, 2011. The song debuted on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at #73. The single has since peaked at #47 on the chart.
Commercial
Back to Me sold 117,000 copies in its debut week earning Barrino a number two debut on the US Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart and a total of 458,000 copies as of August 2011.
Critical response
Upon its release, Back To Me received generally positive reviews from most music critics. At MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalized
Normalization
Normalization may refer to:- Mathematics and statistics:* Normalization property , term in mathematical logic and theoretical computer science* Noether normalization lemma, result of commutative algebra...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, it has so far received an average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
score of 70 based on 7 reviews.
Ken Capobianco with The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
called the record "a strong comeback" and went on to say that "Fantasia has matured [and] appears to be an artist reborn." Mariel Concepcion with Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
called it a "soulful, laid-back album with tinges of gospel" and went on to say "her distinct voice is most enjoyable when singing heartfelt ballads. Jim Farber with The New York Daily News called it "a wail of a comeback". He also said it "outperforms the singer's first two works, with meatier hooks, firmer melodies, and a more shrewdly focused point of view." Mikael Wood with Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave it a "B" rating, commenting "Fantasia's rough-hewn vocals shine best on The Thrill Is Gone." Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...
with Allmusic called it her "most interesting album", and commented saying that she was "reconnecting with her roots."
However, Jonathan Keefe of Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
stated "the material [Fantasia] has been saddled with has been extraordinarily awful" but still described her positively as an "uninhibited, intuitive soul singer with a truly distinctive sense of phrasing and boundless passion".
The album received a Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Album.
Track listing
Personnel
- Chris Athens – mastering
- Warren Luening, Larry Hall, Rick Baptist – trumpet
- Yelena Yergorian, Josefina Vergara, Tammy Hatwan, Julie Rogers, Katia Popov, Searmi Park, Alyssa Park, Sid Page, Natalie Leggett, Neel Hammond, Henry Gronnier, Caroline Campbell, Charlie Bisharat – violin
- Derek Blanks – photography
- Jesse Bond, James Harrah – guitar
- Stephen Bray, Brenda Russell, Allee Willis – producer
- Tanisha Broadwater, Donnie Meadows, Kimberly L. Smith, David "Touch" Wright – production coordination
- Robert Brophy, Brian Dembow, Thomas Diener, Alma Fernandez – viola
- Ndugu Chancler – drums
- Benjamin Chang, Jaymz Hardy-Martin III, Mike "TrakGuru" Johnson, Scott Naughton – engineer
- Giovanna Clayton, Steve Erdody, Vanessa Freebairn-Smith, Tim Loo – celli
- Los DaMystro – conductor, producer
- Bruce Dukov – concert master, violin
- Warren Felder, Fantasia, Claude Kelly, Tiffany Villarreal, Andrew Wansel – backing vocals
- Frank Filipetti, Carlton Lynn, Robert – engineer, mixing
- Ashanti "The Mad Violinist" Floyd – cello, viola, violin
- Moses Gallart, Jesus Garnica, Chad Jolley, Giancarlo Lino, Conrad Martin, Aaron Walk, Jason Wilkie – assistant
- Erwin Gorostiza – creative director
- Chuck Harmony – bass, drums, guitar, producer, vocal producer
- Dan Higgins, Greg Huckins, Joel Peskin – clarinet
- Alex Iles, Bill Reichenbach, Reggie Young – trombone
Jaycen Joshua - mixing
- Alphonso Johnson – bass
- Jim Jonsin – keyboards, producer, programming
- Joseph Joubert – arranger, conductor
- Rico Love – producer, vocal producer
- Graham Marsh – engineer, vocal engineer
- Deaundra Metzger – hair stylist
- Joe Mitchell – percussion
- Danny Morris – keyboards
- Keith Naftaly – A&R
- Ne-Yo – producer, backing vocals
- Greg Phillinganes – organ, synthesizer
- Tony Reyes – bass, guitar
- Victor Simonson – piano
- Lucky Smyler – make-up
- The Stereotypes – engineer, producer
- Denise Trotman – art direction, design
- Julian Vasquez – vocal engineer
- Pamela Watson – stylist
- Gina Zimmitti – contractor
Weekly charts
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
2 |
| US Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums | 1 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 | 105 |
| US Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums | 30 |