Plantation Lullabies is the debut album by Me'shell Ndegeocello

Me'shell Ndegeocello

Meshell Ndegeocello is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, bassist, and vocalist. Her music incorporates a wide variety of influences, including funk, soul, hip hop, reggae, R&B, rock, and jazz. She has received significant critical acclaim throughout her career, and has had ten career Grammy...

. It was released 19 October 1993 on Maverick Records

Maverick Records

Maverick Recording Company is an American record label owned and operated by Warner Music Group, and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:...

. The album peaked at #166 on the 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...

 Top 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...

 list in 1994; with the single "If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)" reaching #73 on the Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

.

Me'shell got three Grammy nominations in 1995: Best R&B Album and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song for "If That's Your Boyfriend".

In the U.S, "Plantation Lullabies" peaked at #166 on The Billboard 200 Album chart. It also peaked at #7 on Billboard's Heatseekers Album chart and #35 on Billboard's Top R&B Album chart.

The first single that was lifted off the LP was "Dred Loc", in 1993 "Dred Loc" peaked at #86 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. The third single "Outside Your Door", peaked at #41 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart, after the success of "If That's Your Boyfriend" in 1994.

"If That's Your Boyfriend" was a major crossover success for Me'Shell. It peaked at #73 on The Billboard Hot 100. As well as peaking at #21 on Billboard's Hot Rap Singles and #23 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. The remixed versions of the single peaked at #20 on Billboard's Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart and #18 on Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Maxi Single Sales chart. The song was also a left field Top 40 hit in the States, peaking at #35 on Billboard's Rhythmic Top 40. The music video for "If That's Your Boyfriend" was nominated for two MTV Music Video Awards. One for "Best New Artist" and another for "Best Female Video".

Track listing

1. "Plantation Lullabies" – 1:31
2. "I'm Diggin You (Like An Old Soul Record)" – 4:25
3. "If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)" – 4:31
4. "Shoot'n Up and Gett'n High" – 4:14
5. "Dred Loc" – 4:05
6. Untitled – 1:41
7. "Step Into The Projects" – 3:54
8. "Soul On Ice" – 5:08
9. "Call Me" – 4:45
10. "Outside Your Door" – 5:08
11. "Picture Show" – 4:38
12. "Sweet Love" – 4:54
13. "Two Lonely Hearts (On The Subway)" – 4:16

Personnel

• Me'shell Ndegeocello – producer, vocals, bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  , additional instruments
  Musical instrument
  A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...
  
  
• Wah-Wah Watson – guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  
• Geri Allen – piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  
• Joshua Redman
  Joshua Redman
  Joshua Redman is an American jazz saxophonist and composer who records for Nonesuch Records. He won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition in 1991.-Biography:...
  
   – tenor saxophone
  Tenor saxophone
  The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
  
  
• Luis Conte
  Luis Conte
  Luis Conte is a Cuban percussionist.-Early years:As a child in Cuba, Conte began his musical odyssey playing the guitar. However, he soon switched to percussion, and that has remained his mode since....
  
   – congas
• Bobby Lyle – piano solo
• Byron Jackson – background vocals
  Backing vocalist
  A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
  
  
• David Fiuczynski
  David Fiuczynski
  David "Fuze" Fiuczynski is an American guitarist, best known as the leader of the Screaming Headless Torsos and David Fiuczynski's KiF, and as a member of Hasidic New Wave...
  
   – acoustic guitar
  Acoustic guitar
  An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
  
  
• James "Sleepy Keys" Preston – piano
• DJ Premier
  DJ Premier
  Christopher Edward Martin , better known by his stage name DJ Premier , is an American record producer and DJ, and was the instrumental half of the hip hop duo Gang Starr, together with emcee Guru...
  
   – turntable interpretations
  Turntablism
  Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating music using phonograph turntables and a DJ mixer.The word 'turntablist' was coined in 1995 by DJ Babu to describe the difference between a DJ who just plays records, and one who performs by touching and moving the records, stylus and mixer...
  
  
• Bill Summers – drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  , shekere
  Shekere
  This article is about the musical instrument. for the musical genre, see Sekere.The shekere is an instrument from West Africa consisting of a dried gourd with beads woven into a net covering the gourd. Throughout the continent there are similar gourd/bead or gourd/seed percussion instruments. Some...
  
  
• David Gamson – drums, producer
  Record producer
  A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
  
  
• André Betts – producer, drum programming
  Drum machine
  A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
  
  
• Bob Power – producer, mixer
  Audio engineering
  An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
  
  
• George Karas – mixer
• Tom Coyne – mastering
  Audio mastering
  Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
  
  
• Mic Murphy – additional engineering
• Julie Larson – A&R
  A&R
  Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
  
   coordinator
• Bill Toles – Executive Producer
  Executive producer
  An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
  
  

Singles

• Dred Loc

US 12" single (1993) 0-41039
1. Dred Loc
2. Dred Loc (Skins I'm In Remix)
3. Dred Loc (Sly N Robbie Remix)
4. Dred Loc (Skins I'm In Instrumental)
5. Dred Loc (Sly N Robbie Instrumental)

• If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)

• Outside Your Door

US 12" promo (1993) PRO-A-6852
1. Outside Your Door (Edit) 4.23
2. Outside Your Door 5.07
3. Outside Your Door (Remix) 5.05

US CD promo (1993) PRO-CD-6852-R
1. Outside Your Door (Edit) 4.23
2. Outside Your Door (Remix) 5.05
3. Outside Your Door 5.07

• Call Me

UK 12" single (1993) WO244T

UK CD single (1994) WO244CD
1. Call Me (Master Mix)
2. Call Me
3. If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night) (Cool R&B Extended Mix)