Chocolate Factory
Encyclopedia
Chocolate Factory is the fifth studio album
by American R&B
and soul
musician R. Kelly
, released February 18, 2003 on Jive Records
. Recording sessions for the album took place mainly at Rockland Studios and Chicago Recording Company
in Chicago, Illinois during 2001 to 2003. It was primarily written, arranged, and produced by R. Kelly. Chocolate Factory was conceived by Kelly amid controversy over his sex scandal at the time.
The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200
chart, selling over 532,000 copies in its first week. It achieved success in international markets and produced three singles that attained chart success, including US and UK hits "Snake
" and "Step in the Name of Love
", and international hit "Ignition (Remix)". Chocolate Factory was well-received by most music critics, receiving rave reviews from publications such as The New York Times
and USA Today
. The album has sold over three million copies worldwide and received sales certification
s in the United States and the United Kingdom.
in Chicago, Illinois. Other recording locations included the Record Plant, in Los Angeles, California, Soup Can Music in Harper Woods, Michigan, and Vanguard Studios in Oak Park, Michigan. Chocolate Factory was written, arranged, and produced entirely by R. Kelly, with the exception of "Who's That", co-written by rapper Fat Joe
. It was released February 18, 2003 on Jive Records
, following a year of controversy for a now-infamous videotape alleged to show Kelly and an underage girl having sex.
chart, with first-week sales of over 532,000 copies in the United States. After the release of Kelly's hit single, "Ignition (Remix)
", which peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, the album eventually went on to sell over 2.72 million copies in the United States alone. Other hits released off of Chocolate Factory included "Snake" featuring Big Tigger
, which peaked at #16, and the classic soul-inspired "stepper's anthem
", "Step in the Name of Love", which peaked at #9. The album's packaging design is very similar to the design of Parliament
's Chocolate City album. On May 19, 2003, it was certified double platinum
by the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA), for shipments in excess of two million copies in the United States. Chocolate Factory has also been certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry
(BPI) for shipments in excess of 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom. It has sold over three million copies worldwide.
, which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average
score of 65, based on 10 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". The album received rave reviews from publications such as The New York Times
, People
, and USA Today
, among others. Mojo
gave it 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "Chocolate Factory seems positively inspired... An impressively varied opus", and BBC Online stated "[Kelly] doesn't sound like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders, but a revived soul in spiritual euphoria." (4/03, pp. 173–4). Some reviewers, however, cited Kelly's controversial lyricisim as flaws in the album's songwriting. Despite complimenting its "sweet, almost classic-sounding hooks", Slant Magazine
's Sal Cinquemani wrote that "Kelly's songwriting skills leave much to be desired; for every hook-driven "You Knock Me Out" there's a "Showdown," an asinine, interlude-filled insult to songwriters everywhere". In contrast, Sterling Clover of The Village Voice
noted the album's "quantity and consistency of sonic presence" and praised Kelly's performance with respect to his songs' structures, stating "Kelly has sussed how to ground himself in tight rhythmic bass and a solid backup chorus, refiguring them into layered and discontinuous sheets of sound". Rolling Stone
s Anthony DeCurtis
cited Chocolate Factory as "among the best work of his career" and went on to write "... as a singer, songwriter and producer, he's at the top of his game."
Several critics scrutinized the album's sexually-explicit lyrics with respect to Kelly's controversial allegations of sexual misconduct at the time. Chicago Tribune
writer Greg Kot
viewed that "the subtext for this one makes it sound like musical spin control, a public-relations manifesto as much as an R&B album. [...] There are a few moments when the disconnect between Kelly's lyrics and his sordid legal troubles becomes disturbing, no more so than when he refers to himself as the 'pied piper of R&B' in 'Step in the Name of Love,' a reference to the fairy-tale figure who enticed a village full of children away from their parents". The A.V. Club
s Nathan Rabin wrote that Chocolate Factory "is filled with the sort of come-ons and honeyed promises that even cut-rate dive-bar lotharios would dismiss as hopelessly cheesy, but Kelly stitches them together with such craft and invests them with such conviction that they become a strange sort of pulp poetry... [Kelly] matches his shamelessness with a gift for crafting melodies that burrow their way into listeners' subconscious with almost sadistic force". Dan Leroy of Yahoo! Music
's elaborated on his sexually-explicit lyrics and their context, stating "Kelly’s hot-blooded horniness is an integral part of his persona; he can hardly back away from the risque R&B that’s made him what he is, despite the underage sex scandal that dogs him". On Kelly's performance, Leroy concluded by writing:
In a restrospective review for Rolling Stone, Keith Harris gave the album 4 out of 5 stars and wrote of its significance to Kelly's recording career, stating "he'd apparently learned from Michael Jackson's publicity mistakes, because the new Kelly was less haunted, if no less horny. The hit 'Ignition (Remix)' was his warmest pick-up
joint to date, and set the tone for the new record—and maybe a new stage in his career".
magazine's 2003 Albums of the Year List at number 12 and The Village Voice
s Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll at number 44. Three New York Times staff writers included it on their top ten lists for 2003. The album was nominated for the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album
, and "Step in the Name of Love" was nominated for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. Rhapsody
named it the second best R&B album of the first decade of the 21st century. Billboard
magazine ranked Chocolate Factory at number 169 on its list of the Top 200 Albums of the Decade.
Loveland was included as a bonus disc.
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by American R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
and soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
musician R. Kelly
R. Kelly
Robert Sylvester Kelly , better known by his stage name R. Kelly, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. A native of Chicago, Kelly began performing during the late 1980s and debuted in 1992 with the group Public Announcement. In 1993, Kelly went solo with the album 12 Play...
, released February 18, 2003 on Jive Records
Jive Records
Jive Records was a record label based in New York City, operating under RCA Music Group. Jive was primarily known for a string of successes with hip hop artists in the 1980s, and in teen pop and boy bands in the late 1990s. The word "jive" was inspired by Township Jive, a form of South African...
. Recording sessions for the album took place mainly at Rockland Studios and Chicago Recording Company
Chicago Recording Company
Chicago Recording Company, or CRC, is a recording studio in Chicago, Illinois, founded in 1975.Boasting twelve studios and a DVD authoring suite, CRC is the largest recording company in the midwest...
in Chicago, Illinois during 2001 to 2003. It was primarily written, arranged, and produced by R. Kelly. Chocolate Factory was conceived by Kelly amid controversy over his sex scandal at the time.
The album debuted at number one 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...
chart, selling over 532,000 copies in its first week. It achieved success in international markets and produced three singles that attained chart success, including US and UK hits "Snake
Snake (song)
"Snake" is a song by American recording artist R. Kelly, featuring Cam'ron and Big Tigger, from his fifth studio album, Chocolate Factory. It was released on December 15, 2003, by Jive Records as the second single from the album. The R&B song with latin music inspiration was written and produced by R...
" and "Step in the Name of Love
Step in the Name of Love
"Step in the Name of Love" is the title of a hit song by R&B singer R. Kelly. Taken from the 2003 album Chocolate Factory, the song became the tenth single from Kelly to reach #1 on the R&B chart, particularly on the strength of the song's remix. It also peaked at number nine on the pop charts...
", and international hit "Ignition (Remix)". Chocolate Factory was well-received by most music critics, receiving rave reviews from publications such as The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
and USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
. The album has sold over three million copies worldwide and received sales certification
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
s in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Background
Recording sessions for the album took place during 2001 to 2003 primarily at Rockland Studios and Chicago Recording CompanyChicago Recording Company
Chicago Recording Company, or CRC, is a recording studio in Chicago, Illinois, founded in 1975.Boasting twelve studios and a DVD authoring suite, CRC is the largest recording company in the midwest...
in Chicago, Illinois. Other recording locations included the Record Plant, in Los Angeles, California, Soup Can Music in Harper Woods, Michigan, and Vanguard Studios in Oak Park, Michigan. Chocolate Factory was written, arranged, and produced entirely by R. Kelly, with the exception of "Who's That", co-written by rapper Fat Joe
Fat Joe
Joseph Antonio Cartagena , better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper, CEO of Terror Squad Entertainment, and member of musical groups D.I.T.C. and Terror Squad....
. It was released February 18, 2003 on Jive Records
Jive Records
Jive Records was a record label based in New York City, operating under RCA Music Group. Jive was primarily known for a string of successes with hip hop artists in the 1980s, and in teen pop and boy bands in the late 1990s. The word "jive" was inspired by Township Jive, a form of South African...
, following a year of controversy for a now-infamous videotape alleged to show Kelly and an underage girl having sex.
Commercial performance
Chocolate Factory debuted at number one 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, with first-week sales of over 532,000 copies in the United States. After the release of Kelly's hit single, "Ignition (Remix)
Ignition (Remix)
"Ignition " is a song written and produced by American R&B singer R. Kelly from his 2003 album Chocolate Factory. The song was also featured on the soundtrack to the 2003 comedy/romance film, Love Don't Cost a Thing. It is viewed as one of his signature songs and has been very popular in the United...
", which peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, the album eventually went on to sell over 2.72 million copies in the United States alone. Other hits released off of Chocolate Factory included "Snake" featuring Big Tigger
Big Tigger
Darian "Big Tigger" Morgan , also known as Big Tigg; is an American television and radio personality best known as the host of BET's Rap City and 106 & Park.- :...
, which peaked at #16, and the classic soul-inspired "stepper's anthem
Stepping (African-American)
Stepping or step-dancing is a form of percussive dance in which the participant's entire body is used as an instrument to produce complex rhythms and sounds through a mixture of footsteps, spoken word, and hand claps...
", "Step in the Name of Love", which peaked at #9. The album's packaging design is very similar to the design of Parliament
Parliament (band)
Parliament was a funk band most prominent during the 1970s. It and its sister act Funkadelic, both led by George Clinton, began the funk music culture of that decade.-History:...
's Chocolate City album. On May 19, 2003, it was certified double platinum
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
(RIAA), for shipments in excess of two million copies in the United States. Chocolate Factory has also been certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry
British Phonographic Industry
The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies...
(BPI) for shipments in excess of 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom. It has sold over three million copies worldwide.
Critical response
Chocolate Factory received 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
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album 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 65, based on 10 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". The album received rave reviews from publications such as The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, People
People (magazine)
In 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...
, and USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, among others. Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
gave it 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "Chocolate Factory seems positively inspired... An impressively varied opus", and BBC Online stated "[Kelly] doesn't sound like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders, but a revived soul in spiritual euphoria." (4/03, pp. 173–4). Some reviewers, however, cited Kelly's controversial lyricisim as flaws in the album's songwriting. Despite complimenting its "sweet, almost classic-sounding hooks", 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 :...
's Sal Cinquemani wrote that "Kelly's songwriting skills leave much to be desired; for every hook-driven "You Knock Me Out" there's a "Showdown," an asinine, interlude-filled insult to songwriters everywhere". In contrast, Sterling Clover of The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
noted the album's "quantity and consistency of sonic presence" and praised Kelly's performance with respect to his songs' structures, stating "Kelly has sussed how to ground himself in tight rhythmic bass and a solid backup chorus, refiguring them into layered and discontinuous sheets of sound". Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
s Anthony DeCurtis
Anthony DeCurtis
Anthony DeCurtis is an American author and music critic, who has written for Rolling Stone, The New York Times, Relix and other publications.-Career:...
cited Chocolate Factory as "among the best work of his career" and went on to write "... as a singer, songwriter and producer, he's at the top of his game."
Several critics scrutinized the album's sexually-explicit lyrics with respect to Kelly's controversial allegations of sexual misconduct at the time. Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
writer Greg Kot
Greg Kot
Greg Kot is an American writer and journalist. Since 1990, Kot has been the music critic at the Chicago Tribune, where he has covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and business issues...
viewed that "the subtext for this one makes it sound like musical spin control, a public-relations manifesto as much as an R&B album. [...] There are a few moments when the disconnect between Kelly's lyrics and his sordid legal troubles becomes disturbing, no more so than when he refers to himself as the 'pied piper of R&B' in 'Step in the Name of Love,' a reference to the fairy-tale figure who enticed a village full of children away from their parents". The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
s Nathan Rabin wrote that Chocolate Factory "is filled with the sort of come-ons and honeyed promises that even cut-rate dive-bar lotharios would dismiss as hopelessly cheesy, but Kelly stitches them together with such craft and invests them with such conviction that they become a strange sort of pulp poetry... [Kelly] matches his shamelessness with a gift for crafting melodies that burrow their way into listeners' subconscious with almost sadistic force". Dan Leroy of Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music, owned by Yahoo!, is the provider of a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming...
's elaborated on his sexually-explicit lyrics and their context, stating "Kelly’s hot-blooded horniness is an integral part of his persona; he can hardly back away from the risque R&B that’s made him what he is, despite the underage sex scandal that dogs him". On Kelly's performance, Leroy concluded by writing:
In a restrospective review for Rolling Stone, Keith Harris gave the album 4 out of 5 stars and wrote of its significance to Kelly's recording career, stating "he'd apparently learned from Michael Jackson's publicity mistakes, because the new Kelly was less haunted, if no less horny. The hit 'Ignition (Remix)' was his warmest pick-up
Pickup artist
Pickup artist describes a man who considers himself to be skilled, or who tries to be skilled at meeting, attracting, and seducing women.The use of pickup in this context, slang for making a casual acquaintance with a stranger in anticipation of sexual relations, dates from at least the World War,...
joint to date, and set the tone for the new record—and maybe a new stage in his career".
Accolades
The album was included in Rolling Stones 50 Best Albums of 2003. Chocolate Factory was ranked in several "End of Year" lists, including BlenderBlender (magazine)
Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....
magazine's 2003 Albums of the Year List at number 12 and The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
s Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll at number 44. Three New York Times staff writers included it on their top ten lists for 2003. The album was nominated for the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album
Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album
The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works on albums in the contemporary R&B music genre...
, and "Step in the Name of Love" was nominated for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. Rhapsody
Rhapsody (online music service)
Rhapsody is an online music store subscription service, launched in December 2001, and available in the United States only. On April 6, 2010, Rhapsody officially declared its independence from RealNetworks. Downloaded files come with restrictions on their use, enforced by Helix, Rhapsody's version...
named it the second best R&B album of the first decade of the 21st century. 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...
magazine ranked Chocolate Factory at number 169 on its list of the Top 200 Albums of the Decade.
Track listing
All songs were written, produced, and arranged by R. Kelly, except track 17, which was co-written by Fat Joe.Loveland
In special edition U.S. copies of Chocolate Factory, the seven-track EPExtended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
Loveland was included as a bonus disc.
Personnel
Credits for Chocolate Factory adapted from Allmusic.- Percy Bady – Keyboards
- Steve Bearsley – Assistant
- Glen Brown – Assistant
- Kara Buhl – Photo Production, Producer
- Greg Calvert – Assistant
- Joan Collaso – Choir, Chorus
- Joe Donatello – Engineer, Programming
- Rodney East – Keyboards
- David Feldman – Assistant
- Tony Flores – Assistant
- Yvonne Gage – Choir, Chorus
- Andy Gallas – Assistant, Engineer, Programming
- Abel Garibaldi – Engineer, Mixing, Programming
- Serban Ghenea – Mixing
- Hart Hollman & The Motown Romance Orchestra – Orchestra
- Brandon Hull – Assistant
- Dave Hyman – Assistant
- Kim Johnson – Vocals (Background)
- R. Kelly – Arranger, Mixing, Producer, Vocals
- Gregg Landfair – Guitar
- James Lee – Assistant
- Henry Love – Conga
- Donnie Lyle – Bass, Guitar, Keyboards, Mando
- Paul Mabin – Choir, Chorus
- Tony Maserati – Mixing
- Ian Mereness – Engineer, Mixing, Programming
- Jason Mlodzinski – Assistant
- Peter Mokran – Mixing
- Nick Monson – Assistant
- Jeffrey Morrow – Choir, Chorus
- Jackie Murphy – Art Direction, Design
- Kendall D. Nesbitt – Keyboards
- Juan Ortiz – Assistant
- Herb Powers – Mastering
- Reisig – Photography
- Paul Riser – Conductor, Horn Arrangements, Horn Conductor, Orchestration, String Arrangements, String Conductor
- Tim Roberts – Assistant
- Carl Robinson – Engineer, Horn Engineer, String Engineer
- Stevie Robinson – Choir, Chorus
- Johnny Rutledge – Choir, Chorus
- The Soul Children – Performer
- Deatta Staples – Vocals (Background)
- Jeff Vereb – Assistant
- Pamela Watson – Stylist
- Nathan Wheeler – Assistant Engineer
- Kyle White – Assistant
- Walt Whitman & the Soul Children – Performer
- Simbryt Whititngton – Choir, Chorus
Chart positions
| Chart (2003) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Albums Chart Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS... |
14 |
| Dutch Albums Chart MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
25 |
| French Albums Chart Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
18 |
| German Albums Chart | 18 |
| Swiss Albums Chart | 24 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
10 |
| 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... |
1 |
| US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums | 1 |
Certifications
| Country | Provider | Certification |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | BPI British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... |
Gold |
| United States | RIAA Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... |
3x platinum RIAA certification In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards... |
Chart precession and succession
See also
- List of number-one albums of 2003 (U.S.)
- List of number-one R&B albums of 2003 (U.S.)
External links
- Chocolate Factory at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
- Chocolate Factory at MetacriticMetacriticMetacritic.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,...
- Criminal (Critical) Accomplice: Writing About R. Kelly — By Mark Anthony NealMark Anthony NealMark Anthony Neal is Professor of Black Popular Culture in the Department of African and African-American Studies at Duke University, where he won the 2010 Robert B. Cox Award for Teaching...