The Cookbook
Encyclopedia
The Cookbook is the sixth studio album
by American rapper Missy Elliott
, released by The Goldmind Inc.
and Atlantic Records
on July 5, 2005, in the United States. The album is notable for the fact that Timbaland
, who produced the vast majority of material on Elliott's past albums, only produced two tracks.
Three singles were released from the album; the first, "Lose Control
", was released on May 27, 2005, and peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100
chart and charted well internationally. The second single, "Teary Eyed
", was released on August 8, 2005, and failed to chart on any Billboard chart and charted low in other countries. The third single, "We Run This
", was released on February 21, 2006, and peaked at number forty-eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and charted moderately well internationally.
The album received generally favorable reviews from critics and peaked at number two on the Billboard 200
. It was certified Gold
by the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA), selling 645,000 copies in the United States and received a Grammy
nomination for Best Rap Album
, ultimately losing to Kanye West
's Late Registration
. The music video for Lose Control
, directed by Dave Meyers
won the Grammy for Best Short Form Music Video.
. She explained the cover, saying, "I wanted people to see I was taking music back to the roots—not just hip hop, but our ancestors. Whether they was on railroad tracks or cooking in somebody's kitchen, they was always singing."
In an interview with Billboard
magazine, Elliott said, "I really do think this is my best album. I was in a really great space with this album. I wasn't in a great space with some of the other albums I've done." She went on to say, "I played Lil' Kim
the album the other day, and she told me it was incredible and that there was not one song on it that she didn't like."
Two months later, Ciara confirmed she would appear on the album, singing and rapping on the potential first untitled single at the time. Elliott worked on The Cookbook with such producers as The Neptunes
, Rich Harrison
and Scott Storch
. The album included only two songs produced by Timbaland
, who produced most or all songs on Elliott's previous albums. She explained, "Me and Tim, this like our sixth album, so if we go any further left, we gonna be on Mars somewhere. We've done everything it is to do. I think both of us came to a spot where we didn't know where to go with each other." She said Timbaland was very involved with the album, supporting or opposing certain producers. Elliott went on to say, "I was eight songs deep and I let Tim listen and he was like, 'Nah, you're going in the wrong direction. You trippin'.' I had to go back in the studio and come up with new records. [When he heard those], he was like, 'This is the Missy people are listening to.'"
", was released on May 27, 2005, and peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100
chart, number six on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
and number two on the Billboard Pop 100
. The single also peaked at number two on the New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart
and in the top ten in four other countries. A Dave Meyers
-directed promotional video accompanied the song; it was the most played video on BET
and MTV2
and second most played video in the United States. It went on to win a Grammy Award
for Best Short Form Music Video
, while the song itself received a nomination for Best Rap Song
.
The second single, "Teary Eyed
", was released on August 8, 2007; it failed to chart except in Australia and Switzerland. The music video for the song was directed by Antti J. Jokinen and was filmed "like a movie". It features Elliott responding to a relationship that had gone wrong.
The third single, "We Run This
", was released on February 21, 2006, and peaked at number 48 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 39 on the Billboard Pop 100 and peaked in the top forty in Australia, Ireland and the United Kingdom. An edited version of the song was used as the theme song for the gymnastics-themed film Stick It
, as well as for the music video, which was directed by Dave Meyers. The video features a cameo by gold-medalist Dominique Dawes
as Elliott's gymnastics coach, with scenes from the film being used throughout the video. The song received a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance
.
, which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average
score of 74, based on 28 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Rich Juzwiak of Stylus Magazine
gave the album an A rating, stating "Her adventurous and, yes, massive, persona is allowed to wander wherever it wants on The Cookbook, be it avant or common." Alexis Petridis of The Guardian
wrote, "The Cookbook is a convincing return to form.... Sounding as unique and startling and formidable as ever, Missy Elliott is clearly not a woman to be messed with." John Bush of Allmusic noted that "Elliott forces a few rhymes, plays to type with her themes, and uses those outside producers to follow trends in hip-hop.... What's different here is how relaxed Elliott is, how willing she seems to simply go with what comes naturally and sounds best." Q
gave the album four out of five stars and stated "If not Elliott's most inventive album, The Cookbook is certainly her most colourful and entertaining".
However, Ben Sisario of Blender
wrote, "For every killer raise-your-hands hook there is a snoozer of an SWV
-esque torch ballad, and she can't seem to tell the difference." He went on to say, "Almost half the songs are treacly Kleenex soul ballads; even the titles...bring a cringe." Los Angeles Times
writer Natalie Nichols found that "her souffle of hip-hop, soul, R&B, funk and dance music falls a bit flat". Rolling Stone
s Brian Hiatt called The Cookbook Elliott's "least cohesive, most conventional album yet." Entertainment Weekly
s Margeaux Watson viewed that "she's clearly lost without Timbaland", calling him "the main ingredient of her original flavor". Steve Horowitz of PopMatters
noted that it "does have a few duds" and found some of the "offensive lyrics" as flaws, but wrote that "While not every cut is a winner, Elliott does a fairly consistent job of gaining the listener's attention through her outrageous lyrics and performance style".
Pitchfork Media
's Ryan Dombal found the album "Even more bipolar than usual", with Elliott "jolting from uber-hypeness to soul-crushing balladry. Fortunately, supported by an array of producers both grizzly and green, her invaluable unpredictability is alternately harnessed and given new life on this album, despite its uneven and transitional nature." Joan Morgan of The Village Voice
complimented Elliot's "ability to capture the ain't-afraid-to-sweat flava" and stated "Elliott mines the best of hip-hop's old-school elements for throwback tracks that are engagingly sparse and elemental". In his consumer guide for The Village Voice, critic Robert Christgau
gave The Cookbook an A- rating, indicating "the kind of garden-variety good record that is the great luxury of musical micromarketing and overproduction". Christgau called it a "benchmark album" and commented that "Elliott showcases the musical health of African American pop [...] Elliott's disinclination to give it up to gangsta's thrill cult or black pop's soft-focus porn, plus her proven ability to work a good beat when she gets one, leads her naturally to a collection that ebbs and flows, peaks and dips, and pokes fun at any canon of taste you got".
The album was nominated at the 2006 Grammy Awards for Best Rap Album
, but lost to Kanye West
's Late Registration
.
, selling 176,000 copies in the first week of release. It has sold 645,000 copies in the United States and has been certified Gold
by the Recording Industry Association of America
. The Cookbook peaked in the top thirty in Australia, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland.
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 rapper Missy Elliott
Missy Elliott
Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott , is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actressA five-time Grammy Award winner, Elliott, with record sales of over seven million in the United States, is the only female rapper to have five albums certified platinum by the RIAA, including one...
, released by The Goldmind Inc.
The Goldmind Inc.
The Goldmind, Inc. is an American record label founded by hip hop artist Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott. Elliott was once distributed through Elektra Entertainment Group, and more recently by Atlantic Records before starting her own label. The Goldmind, Inc...
and Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
on July 5, 2005, in the United States. The album is notable for the fact that Timbaland
Timbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley , better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper....
, who produced the vast majority of material on Elliott's past albums, only produced two tracks.
Three singles were released from the album; the first, "Lose Control
Lose Control (Missy Elliott song)
"Lose Control" is a song by American rapper/songwriter Missy Elliott featuring singer Ciara and rapper Fatman Scoop. It was released as the lead single from Elliott's sixth studio album, The Cookbook. It contains samples from Cybotron's "Clear", Hot Streak's "Body Work" and Les Rythmes Digitales'...
", was released on May 27, 2005, and peaked at number three on the Billboard 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...
chart and charted well internationally. The second single, "Teary Eyed
Teary Eyed
"Teary Eyed" was the second single from rapper Missy Elliott's 2005 album The Cookbook and was released in September 2005 . The single saw a change in direction for Missy as the song is a hip hop ballad, with Missy singing throughout...
", was released on August 8, 2005, and failed to chart on any Billboard chart and charted low in other countries. The third single, "We Run This
We Run This
"We Run This" is the third U.S. single from rapper Missy Elliott's 2005 album The Cookbook, and the lead single from her 2006 compilation Respect M.E.. It samples elements from the The Sugarhill Gang version of The Shadows' song "Apache" and was released in early 2006 in the U.S., where it peaked...
", was released on February 21, 2006, and peaked at number forty-eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and charted moderately well internationally.
The album received generally favorable reviews from critics and peaked at number two on the 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...
. It was certified Gold
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,...
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), selling 645,000 copies in the United States and received a Grammy
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nomination for Best Rap Album
Grammy Award for Best Rap Album
The Grammy Award for Best Rap Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums with rapping at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards...
, ultimately losing to Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
's Late Registration
Late Registration
Late Registration is the second studio album by American hip hop artist Kanye West, released August 30, 2005, on Roc-A-Fella Records. Recording sessions for the album took place over the course of a year at various recording studios located in New York City and Hollywood...
. The music video for Lose Control
Lose Control (Missy Elliott song)
"Lose Control" is a song by American rapper/songwriter Missy Elliott featuring singer Ciara and rapper Fatman Scoop. It was released as the lead single from Elliott's sixth studio album, The Cookbook. It contains samples from Cybotron's "Clear", Hot Streak's "Body Work" and Les Rythmes Digitales'...
, directed by Dave Meyers
Dave Meyers (director)
David "Dave" Meyers is an American music video director.-Career:Meyers has directed over 200 music videos including: P!nk's "There You Go", "Most Girls", "You Make Me Sick", "Get The Party Started", "Don't Let Me Get Me", "Feel Good Time", "Stupid Girls", "U + Ur Hand", "So What", "Please Don't...
won the Grammy for Best Short Form Music Video.
Background
The title The Cookbook derived of Elliott feeling "no two records are going to sound alike; each record has its own spices and herbs. Each record is cooking up a hot recipe for a hot album." The black and white cover features Elliott posing with a vintage microphone in a 1920s juke jointJuke joint
Juke joint is the vernacular term for an informal establishment featuring music, dancing, gambling, and drinking, primarily operated by African American people in the southeastern United States. The term "juke" is believed to derive from the Gullah word joog, meaning rowdy or disorderly...
. She explained the cover, saying, "I wanted people to see I was taking music back to the roots—not just hip hop, but our ancestors. Whether they was on railroad tracks or cooking in somebody's kitchen, they was always singing."
In an interview 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...
magazine, Elliott said, "I really do think this is my best album. I was in a really great space with this album. I wasn't in a great space with some of the other albums I've done." She went on to say, "I played Lil' Kim
Lil' Kim
Kimberly Denise Jones , better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper and actress who was a member of the group Junior M.A.F.I.A.....
the album the other day, and she told me it was incredible and that there was not one song on it that she didn't like."
Recording
In January 2005, it was revealed Elliott had been working on a new albumTwo months later, Ciara confirmed she would appear on the album, singing and rapping on the potential first untitled single at the time. Elliott worked on The Cookbook with such producers as The Neptunes
The Neptunes
The Neptunes are a record production duo consisting of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, who are credited with contributing the sound for many successful hip hop, R&B and pop artists in the late-1990s and 2000s...
, Rich Harrison
Rich Harrison
Rich Harrison is a Grammy Award-winning record producer and songwriter from Washington, D.C.. He is primarily an R&B/Hip-Hop producer...
and Scott Storch
Scott Storch
Scott Storch is an American record producer. He produces a variety of music, particularly hip hop, reggaeton, and R&B. His label, Storch Music Company responsible for signing Brooke Hogan and Nox...
. The album included only two songs produced by Timbaland
Timbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley , better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper....
, who produced most or all songs on Elliott's previous albums. She explained, "Me and Tim, this like our sixth album, so if we go any further left, we gonna be on Mars somewhere. We've done everything it is to do. I think both of us came to a spot where we didn't know where to go with each other." She said Timbaland was very involved with the album, supporting or opposing certain producers. Elliott went on to say, "I was eight songs deep and I let Tim listen and he was like, 'Nah, you're going in the wrong direction. You trippin'.' I had to go back in the studio and come up with new records. [When he heard those], he was like, 'This is the Missy people are listening to.'"
Singles
The first, "Lose ControlLose Control (Missy Elliott song)
"Lose Control" is a song by American rapper/songwriter Missy Elliott featuring singer Ciara and rapper Fatman Scoop. It was released as the lead single from Elliott's sixth studio album, The Cookbook. It contains samples from Cybotron's "Clear", Hot Streak's "Body Work" and Les Rythmes Digitales'...
", was released on May 27, 2005, and peaked at number three on the Billboard 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...
chart, number six on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot 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 number two on the Billboard Pop 100
Pop 100
The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009...
. The single also peaked at number two on the New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart
Recording Industry Association of New Zealand
The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand...
and in the top ten in four other countries. A Dave Meyers
Dave Meyers (director)
David "Dave" Meyers is an American music video director.-Career:Meyers has directed over 200 music videos including: P!nk's "There You Go", "Most Girls", "You Make Me Sick", "Get The Party Started", "Don't Let Me Get Me", "Feel Good Time", "Stupid Girls", "U + Ur Hand", "So What", "Please Don't...
-directed promotional video accompanied the song; it was the most played video on BET
Black Entertainment Television
Black Entertainment Television is an American, Viacom-owned cable network based in Washington, D.C.. Currently viewed in more than 90 million homes worldwide, it is the most prominent television network targeting young Black-American audiences. The network was launched on January 25, 1980, by its...
and MTV2
MTV2
MTV2 is a cable network that is widely available in the United States on digital cable and satellite television, and is progressively being added to analogue cable lineups across the nation...
and second most played video in the United States. It went on to win a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Short Form Music Video
Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video
The Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to performers, directors, and producers of quality short form music videos...
, while the song itself received a nomination for Best Rap Song
Grammy Award for Best Rap Song
The Grammy Award for Best Rap Song was first awarded in 2004. It is a songwriting award given to all who wrote the lyrics and music of the song. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were presented, for works released in the previous year...
.
The second single, "Teary Eyed
Teary Eyed
"Teary Eyed" was the second single from rapper Missy Elliott's 2005 album The Cookbook and was released in September 2005 . The single saw a change in direction for Missy as the song is a hip hop ballad, with Missy singing throughout...
", was released on August 8, 2007; it failed to chart except in Australia and Switzerland. The music video for the song was directed by Antti J. Jokinen and was filmed "like a movie". It features Elliott responding to a relationship that had gone wrong.
The third single, "We Run This
We Run This
"We Run This" is the third U.S. single from rapper Missy Elliott's 2005 album The Cookbook, and the lead single from her 2006 compilation Respect M.E.. It samples elements from the The Sugarhill Gang version of The Shadows' song "Apache" and was released in early 2006 in the U.S., where it peaked...
", was released on February 21, 2006, and peaked at number 48 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 39 on the Billboard Pop 100 and peaked in the top forty in Australia, Ireland and the United Kingdom. An edited version of the song was used as the theme song for the gymnastics-themed film Stick It
Stick It
Stick It is an American teen comedy-drama film starring Jeff Bridges, Missy Peregrym, and Vanessa Lengies. It was written and directed by Jessica Bendinger, writer of Bring It On; the film marks her directorial debut...
, as well as for the music video, which was directed by Dave Meyers. The video features a cameo by gold-medalist Dominique Dawes
Dominique Dawes
Dominique Margaux Dawes is a retired United States artistic gymnast. She was 10-year member of the U.S. national gymnastics team, the 1994 U.S. all-around senior National Champion, a three-time Olympian, a World Championships silver medalist and a member of the gold-medal winning "Magnificent...
as Elliott's gymnastics coach, with scenes from the film being used throughout the video. The song received a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance
Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance was awarded from 1991 to 2011, alongside the Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Previously a single award was presented for Best Rap Performance....
.
Critical response
The Cookbook 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 74, based on 28 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Rich Juzwiak of Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....
gave the album an A rating, stating "Her adventurous and, yes, massive, persona is allowed to wander wherever it wants on The Cookbook, be it avant or common." Alexis Petridis of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
wrote, "The Cookbook is a convincing return to form.... Sounding as unique and startling and formidable as ever, Missy Elliott is clearly not a woman to be messed with." John Bush of Allmusic noted that "Elliott forces a few rhymes, plays to type with her themes, and uses those outside producers to follow trends in hip-hop.... What's different here is how relaxed Elliott is, how willing she seems to simply go with what comes naturally and sounds best." Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
gave the album four out of five stars and stated "If not Elliott's most inventive album, The Cookbook is certainly her most colourful and entertaining".
However, Ben Sisario of Blender
Blender (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....
wrote, "For every killer raise-your-hands hook there is a snoozer of an SWV
SWV
Sisters with Voices, better known as SWV, is an American female R&B trio from New York. Formed in 1990 as a gospel group, SWV became one of the most successful R&B groups of the 1990s. They had a series of hits, including "Weak", "Right Here/Human Nature", "I'm So Into You", and "You're the One"....
-esque torch ballad, and she can't seem to tell the difference." He went on to say, "Almost half the songs are treacly Kleenex soul ballads; even the titles...bring a cringe." Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
writer Natalie Nichols found that "her souffle of hip-hop, soul, R&B, funk and dance music falls a bit flat". 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 Brian Hiatt called The Cookbook Elliott's "least cohesive, most conventional album yet." 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...
s Margeaux Watson viewed that "she's clearly lost without Timbaland", calling him "the main ingredient of her original flavor". Steve Horowitz of PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
noted that it "does have a few duds" and found some of the "offensive lyrics" as flaws, but wrote that "While not every cut is a winner, Elliott does a fairly consistent job of gaining the listener's attention through her outrageous lyrics and performance style".
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
's Ryan Dombal found the album "Even more bipolar than usual", with Elliott "jolting from uber-hypeness to soul-crushing balladry. Fortunately, supported by an array of producers both grizzly and green, her invaluable unpredictability is alternately harnessed and given new life on this album, despite its uneven and transitional nature." Joan Morgan 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...
complimented Elliot's "ability to capture the ain't-afraid-to-sweat flava" and stated "Elliott mines the best of hip-hop's old-school elements for throwback tracks that are engagingly sparse and elemental". In his consumer guide for The Village Voice, critic Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
gave The Cookbook an A- rating, indicating "the kind of garden-variety good record that is the great luxury of musical micromarketing and overproduction". Christgau called it a "benchmark album" and commented that "Elliott showcases the musical health of African American pop [...] Elliott's disinclination to give it up to gangsta's thrill cult or black pop's soft-focus porn, plus her proven ability to work a good beat when she gets one, leads her naturally to a collection that ebbs and flows, peaks and dips, and pokes fun at any canon of taste you got".
The album was nominated at the 2006 Grammy Awards for Best Rap Album
Grammy Award for Best Rap Album
The Grammy Award for Best Rap Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums with rapping at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards...
, but lost to Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
's Late Registration
Late Registration
Late Registration is the second studio album by American hip hop artist Kanye West, released August 30, 2005, on Roc-A-Fella Records. Recording sessions for the album took place over the course of a year at various recording studios located in New York City and Hollywood...
.
Commercial performance
The album debuted at number two on the 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...
, selling 176,000 copies in the first week of release. It has sold 645,000 copies in the United States and has been certified Gold
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,...
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...
. The Cookbook peaked in the top thirty in Australia, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland.
Track listing
| # | Title | Producer(s) | Featured guest(s) | Writers | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Joy" | Timbaland Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley , better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper.... |
Mike Jones Mike Jones (rapper) Michael "Mike" Jones is an American southern rap artist, who initially was affiliated with the record label Swishahouse, then left to be the owner of Ice Age Entertainment.... |
M. Elliott, M. Jones, T. Mosley | 4:49 |
| 2 | "Partytime" | Timbaland | S. Bladd, J. Calloway, M. Elliott, J. Geils, L. Jackson, S. Justman, D. Klein, T. Mosley, R. Salwitz, P. Wolf | 3:04 | |
| 3 | "Irresistible Delicious" | Craig Brockman Craig Brockman Craig Brockman is a hip hop and R&B record producer, arranger, keyboardist, and instrumentalist. He mostly works with Missy Elliott, Timbaland and Nisan Stewart.-Production:... |
Slick Rick Slick Rick Richard Walters , better known by his stage name Slick Rick is a Grammy-nominated English-American rapper... |
C. Brockman, M. Elliott, E. Sadler, H. Shocklee, R. Walters | 4:15 |
| 4 | "Lose Control Lose Control (Missy Elliott song) "Lose Control" is a song by American rapper/songwriter Missy Elliott featuring singer Ciara and rapper Fatman Scoop. It was released as the lead single from Elliott's sixth studio album, The Cookbook. It contains samples from Cybotron's "Clear", Hot Streak's "Body Work" and Les Rythmes Digitales'... " |
Missy Elliott | Ciara Ciara Ciara Princess Harris , known mononymously as Ciara, is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, actress and fashion model. Born in Austin, Texas, she traveled around the world during her childhood, only to land in Atlanta, Georgia where she met music producer, Jazze Pha... and Fatman Scoop Fatman Scoop Isaac Freeman III, better known by his stage name Fatman Scoop is a hip hop promoter and radio personality famed for his on-stage rough, raw, loud voice.... |
J. Atkins, R. Davis, M. Elliott, C. Harris, C. Hudson, G III Isaacs | 3:47 |
| 5 | "My Struggles" | Qur'an H. Goodman | Mary J. Blige Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. She is a recipient of nine Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards, and has recorded eight multi-platinum albums. She is the only artist with Grammy Award wins in Pop, Rap, Gospel, and R&B. Blige has... and Grand Puba Grand Puba Maxwell Dixon is an emcee best known as a member of the group Brand Nubian.-Biography:He made his debut with the group Masters of Ceremony. Its album Dynamite was hailed by critics, but probably due to lack of sales, the group soon disbanded, and Puba emerged as the lead emcee of Brand Nubian... |
M. J. Blige, L. Bonner, J. Bristol, A. Cleveland, W. Dixon, T. Dofat, M. Elliott Q. Goodman, W. Jeffrey W. Jr. Robinson | 2:52 |
| 6 | "Meltdown" | Scott Storch Scott Storch Scott Storch is an American record producer. He produces a variety of music, particularly hip hop, reggaeton, and R&B. His label, Storch Music Company responsible for signing Brooke Hogan and Nox... |
M. Elliott, S. Storch | 4:16 | |
| 7 | "On & On" | The Neptunes The Neptunes The Neptunes are a record production duo consisting of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, who are credited with contributing the sound for many successful hip hop, R&B and pop artists in the late-1990s and 2000s... |
D. David, M. Elliott, C. Hugo, R. Walters, P. Williams | 4:45 | |
| 8 | "We Run This We Run This "We Run This" is the third U.S. single from rapper Missy Elliott's 2005 album The Cookbook, and the lead single from her 2006 compilation Respect M.E.. It samples elements from the The Sugarhill Gang version of The Shadows' song "Apache" and was released in early 2006 in the U.S., where it peaked... " |
Rhemario "Rio Beats" Webber | M. Elliott, J. Lordan, R. Webber | 3:25 | |
| 9 | "Remember When" | Missy Elliott | C. Brockman, M. Elliott, N. Stewart | 4:18 | |
| 10 | "4 My Man" | The Avila Brothers | Fantasia 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... |
5:10 | |
| 11 | "Can't Stop" | Rich Harrison Rich Harrison Rich Harrison is a Grammy Award-winning record producer and songwriter from Washington, D.C.. He is primarily an R&B/Hip-Hop producer... |
M. Elliott, R. Harrison | 3:49 | |
| 12 | "Teary Eyed Teary Eyed "Teary Eyed" was the second single from rapper Missy Elliott's 2005 album The Cookbook and was released in September 2005 . The single saw a change in direction for Missy as the song is a hip hop ballad, with Missy singing throughout... " |
Warryn Campbell Warryn Campbell Warryn Campbell is an American record producer. He specializes in gospel music and R&B.-Career:His work includes production and songwriting credits for Kanye West, Alicia Keys, Xzibit, Yolanda Adams, Dayna Caddell, Mos Def, Missy Elliott, Kierra Sheard, Brandy, Dave Hollister, Men of Standard,... |
W. Campbell, M. Elliott | 3:49 | |
| 13 | "Mommy" | Associates, Keith Lewis | M. Elliott, K. Lewis, T. Perez, J. Pizzarro | 2:58 | |
| 14 | "Click Clack" | Bangladesh Bangladesh (producer) Shondrae Crawford, better known as Bangladesh or Mr. Bangladesh, is a Grammy Award winning American record producer and disc jockey and rapper, who was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa, and now lives in Atlanta, Georgia.- Life and career :... |
S. Crawford, M. Elliott | 2:54 | |
| 15 | "Time and Time Again" | Saint Nick | M. Coleman, M. Elliott | 3:49 | |
| 16 | "Bad Man" | Craig Brockman | Vybz Kartel Vybz Kartel Adidja Palmer , better known as Vybz Kartel, is a Jamaican dancehall artist, songwriter and businessman. He has many nicknames, including Addi Teacher and Gaza Emperor.-Biography:... and M.I.A. M.I.A. (artist) Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam , better known by her stage name M.I.A. , is an English singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, painter and director of Sri Lankan Tamil descent. Her compositions combine elements of hip hop, electronica, dance, alternative and world music. M.I.A... |
M. Arulpragasm, C. Brockman, M. Elliott, D. Hubert, A. Palmer | 5:12 |
Leftover tracks
- "The Right One for You"
- The track was tagged as a limited bonus song from the Target retail version, and was later added to a 2006 U.K. re-release of the album under the name, "Right One for Me".
- "Swat Dat Fly"
- Produced by TimbalandTimbalandTimothy Zachery Mosley , better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper....
, a snippet of the track was released via Timbaland's weekly free downloading special, Timbaland ThursdayTimbaland ThursdayTimbaland Thursdays is a weekly free music started by producer Timbaland. It was inspired by Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Fridays. In an interview with Rap-Up.com Timbaland stated “So my brother told me Kanye is puttin' out a new song every Friday called G.O.O.D. Fridays, Swizz got Mondays,” who recently...
s.
- Produced by Timbaland
Samples
- "Partytime"
- "Whammer Jammer" by The J. Geils Band
- "Irresistible Delicious"
- "Lick the Balls" by Slick RickSlick RickRichard Walters , better known by his stage name Slick Rick is a Grammy-nominated English-American rapper...
- "Lick the Balls" by Slick Rick
- "Lose Control"
- "Clear" by Cybotron
- "Body Work" by Hot Streak
- "My Struggles"
- "What's the 411?" by Mary J. BligeMary J. BligeMary Jane Blige is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. She is a recipient of nine Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards, and has recorded eight multi-platinum albums. She is the only artist with Grammy Award wins in Pop, Rap, Gospel, and R&B. Blige has...
- "What's the 411?" by Mary J. Blige
- "We Run This"
- "Apache" by The Sugarhill GangThe Sugarhill GangThe Sugarhill Gang is an American hip hop group, known mostly for their 1979 hit, "Rapper's Delight", the first hip hop single to become a Top 40 hit. The song uses the instrumental track from the classic hit "Good Times" by Chic as its foundation....
- "Apache" by The Sugarhill Gang
Personnel
- June Ambrose – stylistBarberA barber is someone whose occupation is to cut any type of hair, and to shave or trim the beards of men. The place of work of a barber is generally called a barbershop....
- Marcella Araica – assistant engineer
- Chris Brown – assistant engineer
- Jay Brown – A&RA&RArtists 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 :...
- Greg Gigendad Burke – art directionArt directorThe art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games....
, designDesignerA designer is a person who designs. More formally, a designer is an agent that "specifies the structural properties of a design object". In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, such as consumer products, processes, laws, games and graphics, is referred to as a... - Warryn CampbellWarryn CampbellWarryn Campbell is an American record producer. He specializes in gospel music and R&B.-Career:His work includes production and songwriting credits for Kanye West, Alicia Keys, Xzibit, Yolanda Adams, Dayna Caddell, Mos Def, Missy Elliott, Kierra Sheard, Brandy, Dave Hollister, Men of Standard,...
– producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - Vadim Chislov – assistant engineer
- Andrew Coleman – engineerEngineerAn engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
- Wyatt Coleman – engineer
- Shondrae "Mister Bangladesh" CrawfordBangladesh (producer)Shondrae Crawford, better known as Bangladesh or Mr. Bangladesh, is a Grammy Award winning American record producer and disc jockey and rapper, who was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa, and now lives in Atlanta, Georgia.- Life and career :...
– producer - Jimmy DouglassJimmy DouglassJimmy Douglass is an American four-time Grammy winning recording engineer and record producer, whose prolific career has spanned more than four decades.-Career:...
– mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may... - Michael Eleopoulos – engineer
- Missy ElliottMissy ElliottMelissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott , is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actressA five-time Grammy Award winner, Elliott, with record sales of over seven million in the United States, is the only female rapper to have five albums certified platinum by the RIAA, including one...
– producer, executive producer - Paul J. Falcone – engineer, mixing
- Gloria Elias Foeillet – make-upCosmeticsCosmetics are substances used to enhance the appearance or odor of the human body. Cosmetics include skin-care creams, lotions, powders, perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail and toe nail polish, eye and facial makeup, towelettes, permanent waves, colored contact lenses, hair colors, hair sprays and...
- Chris Gehringer – masteringAudio masteringMastering, 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...
- Serban GheneaSerban GheneaSerban Ghenea is a four-time Grammy Award and three-time Latin Grammy Award-winning mixer. He has mixed songs for such artists as Michael Jackson, Justin Timberlake, Usher, Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood, Jewel, Santana, Ozomatli, Shakira, Jill Scott, R. Kelly, Rod Stewart, and Dave Matthews Band...
– mixing - Hart Gunther – assistant
- Rich HarrisonRich HarrisonRich Harrison is a Grammy Award-winning record producer and songwriter from Washington, D.C.. He is primarily an R&B/Hip-Hop producer...
– producer - Iz – instrumentation
- Eric Jensen – assistant engineer
- Darrale Jones – A&R
- Charlene "Tweet" KeysTweet (singer)Tweet is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter.-Early years:The youngest child of Tom and Shirley Keys, Tweet was born in Rochester, New York on January 21, 1972, and grew up singing in the church along with her parents and her four older siblings...
– background vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists... - Keith Lewis – producer
- Patrick Magee – assistant engineer
- Kimberly Mason – coordinationCoordinationCoordination is the act of coordinating, making different people or things work together for a goal or effect to fulfill desired goals in an organization.Coordination is a managerial function in which different activities of the business are properly adjusted and interlinked.Coordination may also...
- The NeptunesThe NeptunesThe Neptunes are a record production duo consisting of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, who are credited with contributing the sound for many successful hip hop, R&B and pop artists in the late-1990s and 2000s...
– producer - Saint Nick – producer
- Larry Sims – coordination
- Southwest DeKalb – drumDrumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s - Scott StorchScott StorchScott Storch is an American record producer. He produces a variety of music, particularly hip hop, reggaeton, and R&B. His label, Storch Music Company responsible for signing Brooke Hogan and Nox...
– producer - TimbalandTimbalandTimothy Zachery Mosley , better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper....
– producer - Saint Warwick – photographyPhotographyPhotography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
- Rhemario Webber – producer
- Rayshawn Woolard – assistant engineer
Charts
| Chart (2005) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
17 |
| Austrian Albums Chart | 34 |
| Belgian Albums Charts (Flanders Flanders Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp... ) |
20 |
| Belgian Albums Charts (Wallonia) | 22 |
| Dutch Albums Charts | 21 |
| European Top 100 Albums European Top 100 Albums The European Top 100 Albums chart is the European adaptation of the Billboard 200 albums chart. It was created in March 1984.The European Top 100 Albums, commonly referred to as Eurochart Top 100 Albums shows the sales of an act in 19 European countries based on IFPI data.The European Top 100... |
26 |
| 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... |
54 |
| German Albums Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
19 |
| Irish Albums Chart Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically... |
47 |
| Netherlands Albums Chart | 21 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Albums Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
20 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
23 |
| Swedish Albums Chart | 41 |
| Swiss Albums Chart | 8 |
| U.S. 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 |
| U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
2 |
| U.S. Billboard Top Rap Albums | 1 |
| 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... |
33 |
Release history
| Region | Date |
|---|---|
| Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... |
July 4, 2005 |
| United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
|
| France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... |
July 5, 2005 |
| Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south... |
|
| United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |