Royalty (Chris Brown album)

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Royalty
File:Royalty Chris Brown.jpg
Studio album by Chris Brown
Released December 18, 2015
Recorded 2014–15
Genre
Length 51:04
Label
Producer <templatestyles src="Hlist/styles.css"></templatestyles>
Various
Chris Brown chronology
Fan of a Fan: The Album
(2015)Fan of a Fan: The Album2015		 Royalty
(2015)		 Heartbreak on a Full Moon
(2016)Heartbreak on a Full Moon2016
Singles from Royalty
  1. "Liquor"
    Released: June 26, 2015
  2. "Zero"
    Released: September 18, 2015
  3. "Back to Sleep"
    Released: November 9, 2015
  4. "Fine by Me"
    Released: November 27, 2015

Royalty is the seventh studio album by American singer Chris Brown. It was released on December 18, 2015, by RCA Records. The album serves as the follow-up to his sixth album X (2014). The album is dedicated to Chris Brown's daughter, Royalty Brown.[1]

Royalty debuted at number 3 on the US Billboard 200, selling 184,000 units (162,000 in pure album sales) in its first week,[2][3] marking an improvement over Brown's last three studio albums. It also became his seventh solo album consecutive top ten debut in the United States. As of March 2016, Royalty has sold 360,000 copies in the United States[4] It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for combined equivalent units (including streaming and track-equivalent units) of 500,000 copies. The album received mixed reviews from music critics.

Preceding the album's release by four singles; including "Liquor", "Zero", "Back to Sleep", and "Fine by Me". The album's third single "Back to Sleep" peaked at number 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

Background

On June 25, 2015, Chris Brown announced that his seventh album would be released during the autumn of 2015.[5] On the day after, he released the album's lead single, titled "Liquor".[6]

On August 22, 2015, the singer has declare on his Twitter, that this new album will be titled "Royalty", in honor of his daughter (named Royalty Brown).[7][8] On October 16, 2015, he has revealed the album cover, portraying Chris with Royalty in her arms in a black and white picture.[9] During an interview with Hot 97, Brown explained the significance of the title:

<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />

The album is called "Royalty" because it represents where I’m at right now in my life, and my daughter is the biggest part of my life.

— [10]

Composition

Royalty is mainly an R&B and funk album.[11] The opening track, "Back to Sleep" is an R&B slow jam that features beats and minor influences of funk and pop music, reminiscent of Marvin Gaye's 1982 song "Sexual Healing".[12][13][14][15] "Fine by Me" is an EDM, disco and R&B song[16][17] inspired by 80's music.[18] "Wrist" is a trap song with some heavy influences from R&B and hip hop.[15] "Make Love" is a slow jam that has a pure R&B style, inspired by 90's music.[19] "Liquor" is an R&B song with heavy influences from psychedelic and soul music. "Zero" is a disco and funk song[20][21][22][23] that was compared by some critics to the work of American band Chic and French electronic music duo Daft Punk.[22][23][24] "Anyway" is a dance-pop song which features an auto-tuned chorus sung by Tayla Parx.[25] "Picture Me Rollin’" is a g-funk and old school hip hop song, which features influences by west coast rap.[22][26][27] "Who's Gonna (Nobody)" is an R&B song that samples "Nobody" performed by Keith Sweat featuring Athena Cage, and "My, My, My" performed by Johnny Gill.[28][29] "No Filter" is a disco and funk song.[22][30][31] "Day One" is an hip hop and R&B song, where Brown's voice is auto-tuned.[31][32] "KAE" is an urban song dedicated to Brown's ex-girlfriend, Karrueche Tran.[33][34] "U Did It" is an R&B song which features some electronic elements.[35]

Release and promotion

On October 13, 2015, Brown announced that Royalty will be released on November 27, 2015.[9][36][37] After it was revealed that the album has been pushed back to December 18, 2015,[38] in exchange on November 27, 2015, he released a free 34-track mixtape, called Before the Party, as a prelude to Royalty. The mixtape features guest appearances from Rihanna, Wiz Khalifa, Pusha T, Wale, Tyga, French Montana and Fetty Wap.[39] On October 16, 2015, the album cover was revealed.[40][41]

On December 4, 2015, the track "Wrist" featuring Solo Lucci, was released as part of the countdown single, with the pre-order of the album on December 4, 2015.[42] On December 11, 2015 the track "Anyway" was released as an instant great with pre-orders.[43]

Singles

The album's lead single, "Liquor" was released on June 26, 2015.[44] The song was produced by ToneStith. On September 22, 2015, the music video premiered, sharing along with the music video for "Zero".[45] The song has since peaked at number 60 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[46]

The album's second single, "Zero" was released on September 18, 2015.[47] The song was produced by Riley Bell, Matthew Burnett and Tushar Apte. On September 22, 2015, the music video was released for "Zero", while sharing along with the music video for "Liquor". The song has since peaked at number 80 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[46]

The song, titled "Back to Sleep" was leaked via SoundCloud on November 5, 2015.[48][49] It was officially released as the album's third single on November 9, 2015. The song was produced by Vinylz and Boi-1da. On December 14, 2015, Brown uploaded and released the music video for "Back to Sleep" on his YouTube and Vevo account.[50] The video begins, after the conclusion of Brown's "Fine By Me" music video. The song has since peaked at number 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100 making it Brown's highest charting single from Royalty in the United States.[46]

"Fine by Me" was released, along with the pre-order on iTunes on November 26, 2015.[51] On the following day, it was officially released as the album's fourth single. The song was produced by The Monsters and the Strangerz. The video begins at the end of his video "Zero", and shows a clip from his other video "Liquor".[52]

Other songs

The track "Wrist" featuring Solo Lucci, was released as part of the countdown single, with the pre-order of the album on December 4, 2015. On December 15, 2015, Brown uploaded the music video from the song.[53] The track "Anyway" was released as an instant great with pre-orders on December 11, 2015. It was produced by BLAQTUXEDO and features guest appearances from Tayla Parx.[54] The music video for "Picture Me Rollin’" was uploaded and released on December 17, 2015. Scott Disick, French Montana, Kid Red, ASAP Ferg, and ASAP Rocky, all make their cameo appearances in this video.[55] On December 18, 2015, Brown uploaded the music video for "Little More (Royalty)" on his YouTube and Vevo account.[56] The song has since peaked at number 91 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[46]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 59/100[57]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 2.5/5 stars[20]
Billboard 3.5/5 stars[58]
Complex 2/5 stars[59]
HipHopDX 3.5/5 stars[60]
Las Vegas Weekly 3/5 stars[61]
Slant Magazine 2/5 stars[62]
Los Angeles Times 3/4 stars[63]

Royalty received mixed reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 59, which indicates "mixed or average reviews", based on 5 reviews. Allmusic editor Andy Kellman expressed a mixed response saying that the album "is designed more to please Brown's devout fans than illustrate growth", and called it a qualitative step back from previous solo album X.[20] Los Angeles Times's Mikael Wood expressed a positive response, and complimented its music as "a convincing bad-guy energy that’s all the more potent for its sweet, often luscious textures".[63] Complex's Michael Arcenaux expressed a negative response, describing the album as a "mistake" and calling it a "directionless mess", saying that "Chris Brown has all the components to be excellent, he’s a decent singer with a nice tone, a proven songwriter, and an excellent performer, but rarely is that reflected on his albums".[64] Mike Pizzo of Las Vegas Weekly said that on the album Brown "doesn’t attempt to make a cohesive album, but looks to solidify his position by producing another handful of radio-ready cuts, attempting to satisfy multiple audiences at once".[65]

Brad Wete of Billboard praised the album's sound, but he was dissatisfied towards its lyrical content, saying "Admittedly, a rich 26-year-old bachelor’s life is full of romps with women and wild nights. Fame, access, and talent bring those with ease. This seems to be an art imitating life thing. But if and when Brown ascends to the next level, it likely will be because he starts talking about the morning after. It’s time for him to wake up."[58] Marcus Dowling of HipHopDX on his review has expressed the same concepts of Brad Wete's review, saying that "While showing progression on Royalty, Chris Brown still is quite far from being the best man and artist that he can be."[60]

Commercial performance

Royalty debuted at number 3 on the Billboard 200 selling 184,000 equivalent copies (162,000 in pure album sales) behind Justin Bieber's Purpose and 25 by Adele.[66] It was the second best-selling album of the week.[67] The album was the sixth Brown's solo album to debut at number one on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.[68] Royalty was also streamed 17.3 million times in the first week.[69] The album debuted at number 23 on the UK Albums Chart[70] and number-one on the UK R&B Chart, becoming Brown's fifth number-one on that chart.[71]

The sales for Royalty mark an improvement over Brown's last three studio albums, with the former two peaking higher, but selling less, while the latter than a collaboration with Tyga; which has sold 51,000 copies.[66] Despite having greater first week sales than his three previous albums, this is his third-lowest peak position for one of his solo studio albums.[72] In its second week, the album remained in the top ten at Billboard 200, fell to number 8, selling 55,000 equivalent copies (36,000 in pure album sales).[73] In its third week, the album dropped down to number 12 on the chart, selling 29,000 equivalent copies (17,000 in pure album sales).[74] In the fourth week the album fell to number 14 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 23,000 equivalent copies (12,000 in pure album sales).[75] As of March 2016, Royalty has sold 360,000 copies in the United States.[4] Royalty was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for combined album sales, on-demand audio, video streams, track sales equivalent of 500,000.

Track listing

Royalty — CD – digital download – streaming[76]
No. Title Writer(s) Producer(s) Length
1. "Back to Sleep"  
3:21
2. "Fine by Me"  
3:27
3. "Wrist" (featuring Solo Lucci)
3:14
4. "Make Love"  
  • Brown
  • Antonio "ToneStith" Stith
  • Rian Glen Beriones
  • Melvin Villanueva
 ToneStith 3:50
5. "Liquor"  
  • ToneStith
  • The Aquarius
 3:44
6. "Zero"  
  • Burnett
  • Apte
  • Bell
 3:34
7. "Anyway" (featuring Tayla Parx)
  • Brown
  • Darius "Blaq Tuxedo" Logan
  • Lisa Scinta
  • Taylor "Tayla Parx" Parks
  • Dominique "Blaq Tuxedo" Logan
  • Barry "Mijo" Bradford
  • Andrew Hey
 Blaq Tuxedo 3:31
8. "Picture Me Rollin’"  
  • Brown
  • Aaron Lamont Small
  • Wesley "DJ Wes" Dees
  • Edward "LDB" Griffin
  • Andre "Dre-native" Blake
  • Kenneth "K-Smack" Franklin
  • Santiago "GoldenBoy" Bauza
  • Cheryl Cook
  • Warren Griffin II
  • Jerry Leiber
  • Mike Stoller
  • Angela Stone
 Dr3amforever 3:13
9. "Who's Gonna (Nobody)"  
B.A.M. 4:33
10. "Discover"  
4:25
11. "Little Bit"  
  • Brown
  • Nowee
  • Bentley
  • Darius Logan
  • Dominique Logan
  • Anderson
  • Chaz Jackson
  • Orlando Williamson
  • Blaq Tuxedo
  • The Aristocrats
 2:45
12. "Proof"  
Ayo & Keyz of the Upperclassmen 4:01
13. "No Filter"  
  • Brown
  • Terrence De Carlo Coles
  • Josh "Nonfiction" Cumbee
  • Afshin "Nonfiction" Salmani
  • Natalie Dunn
  • Ilan Kidron
  • Whitmore, Jr.
  • Mark Pitts
 Nonfiction 3:06
14. "Little More (Royalty)"  
4:20
Total length:
 51:04
Sample credits

Personnel

Credits for Royalty adapted from Allmusic.[79]

Charts

Chart (2015–16) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[80] 14
Australian Urban Albums (ARIA)[81] 2
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[82] 54
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[83] 48
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[84] 85
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[85] 17
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[86] 26
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[87] 21
French Albums (SNEP)[88] 81
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[89] 37
Irish Albums (IRMA)[90] 51
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[91] 16
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[92] 39
South African Albums (RISA)[93] 15
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[94] 57
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[95] 46
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[96] 15
UK Albums (OCC)[70] 23
UK R&B Albums (OCC)[71] 1
US Billboard 200[97] 3
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[98] 1

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
United States (RIAA)[99] Gold 360,000[4]

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Release history

Region Date Format(s) Label
United Kingdom[100] December 18, 2015
RCA
United States[76]

See also

References

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External links

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