Reality Show (album)

Reality Show
Studio album by Jazmine Sullivan
Released January 13, 2015 (2015-01-13)
Genre R&B
Length 44:13
Label RCA
Producer Anthony Bell, JayFrance, Da Internz, DJ Dahi, Chuck Harmony, Salaam Remi, Key Wane, Ben Free
Jazmine Sullivan chronology
Love Me Back
(2010)		 Reality Show
(2015)
Singles from Reality Show
  1. "Dumb"
    Released: May 13, 2014
  2. "Forever Don't Last"
    Released: September 16, 2014
  3. "Let It Burn"
    Released: March 17, 2015

Reality Show is the third studio album by American R&B singer Jazmine Sullivan. She recorded the album, her first in five years, during a hiatus from the music industry, writing and working with producers such as Anthony Bell, Salaam Remi, and Key Wane.[1] After the album was released on January 13, 2015, by RCA Records, it received widespread acclaim from critics and sold 30,000 copies in its first week.

Background

In January 2011, after having released her second album Love Me Back (2010), Sullivan announced via Twitter that she was indefinitely leaving the music industry saying, "I promised myself when it wasn't fun anymore I wouldn't do it. And, here I am. I'm not saying I won't ever sing again in my life because I don't believe that. But in this moment… right now… [I] got some things to figure out".[2] In 2014, she announced her new album, Reality Show. In a 2014 interview with Billboard, Sullivan described her return as inevitable saying she "...can't escape [her] calling."[3]

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Complex[5]
Exclaim!8/10[6]
HipHopDX4/5[7]
Now4/5[8]
Pitchfork8.1/10[9]
Slant Magazine[10]
Spin8/10[11]
ViceA–[12]

Reality Show was released by RCA Records on January 13, 2015.[13] In its first week, it debuted at number 12 on the Billboard 200 and sold 30,000 copies in the United States.[14]

Reality Show received widespread acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, it received an average score of 85, based on 9 reviews.[15] In The New York Times, Jon Pareles said the record shrewdly mixes older elements of soul music with modern drum programming, while the themes of romantic dysfunction intensify and inspire Sullivan's singing. "Playing a woman too often scorned", Pareles wrote, "she comes out victoriously soulful."[16] AllMusic's Andy Kellman felt she sings more confidently than before and concluded in his review, "Just as potent and lasting as Fearless and Love Me Back, Reality Show completes one of the most impressive first-three-album runs."[4] Ryan B. Patrick of Exclaim! stated that Sullivan's return was a welcome one, as she delivers "an R&B album that feels like how R&B used to sound circa late 90's/early 2000 while still coming off as forward-looking".[6] Pitchfork critic David Drake hailed Sullivan's voice as the best in contemporary R&B and said "her songs work so well because they allow the listener to experience them at face value or more holistically, shifting perspectives as rapidly as in life itself.".[9]

Reality Show was ranked number 44 on Pitchfork's list of 2015's best albums,[17] while Rap-Up named it the year's tenth best record.[18] It was also nominated for the 2015 Grammy Award for Best R&B Album, while the song "Let It Burn" received nominations in the categories of Best R&B Song and Best Traditional R&B Performance.[19]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Dumb" (featuring Meek Mill)
3:31
2."Mascara"  
  • Sullivan
  • Weir II
Key Wane4:13
3."Brand New"  
3:27
4."Silver Lining"  
  • Sullivan
  • Weir II
Key Wane3:17
5."#HoodLove"  
Chuck Harmony3:45
6."Let It Burn"  
Key Wane3:43
7."Veins"  
  • Sullivan
  • Weir II
Key Wane3:50
8."Forever Don't Last"  
  • Sullivan
  • Birdsong
  • Harmon
Harmony3:39
9."Stupid Girl"  
  • Sullivan
  • Matt Wong
  • Joe "JoeLogic" Gallagher
  • Dan "Dilemma" Thomas
  • JoeLogic
  • Dilemma
  • Wong
2:54
10."Stanley"  
Da Internz4:29
11."Masterpiece (Mona Lisa)"  
  • Sullivan
  • Anthony Bell
4:05

Personnel

Credits are adapted from AllMusic.[4]

  • Anthony Bell – instrumentation, musician, producer, programming
  • Tyler Belllinger – choir, chorus
  • Amber Bullock – vocals (background)
  • Maddox Chimm – assistant
  • Da Internz – producer
  • Kevin "KD" Davis – mixing
  • Dilemma – producer
  • Gleyder "Gee" Disla – engineer
  • DJ Dahi – keyboards, producer, programming
  • Peter Edge – producer
  • Twanetta M. Ferebee-Brown – choir, chorus
  • Benjamin Freedlander – keyboards, producer
  • Joe Gallagher – engineer, vocal engineer
  • Erwin Gorostiza – creative director
  • Jeff Halsey – assistant
  • Kevin Hanson – guitar
  • Stacey Harcum – choir, chorus
  • Chuck Harmony – producer
  • Michelle Holme – art direction, design
  • Jaycen Joshua – mixing
  • Trevor Jerideau – A&R, producer
  • JoeLogic – producer
  • Mike "Guru" Johnson – production coordination
  • Ryan Kaul – assistant
  • Dave Kutch – mastering
  • Erik Madrid – mixing
  • Shane McCauley – photography
  • Meek Mill – featured artist
  • Sophia Nicolee – choir, chorus
  • Gary Noble – mixing
  • Tyron Perrin – vocals (background)
  • Karl Peterson – engineer
  • Kevin Randolph – keyboards
  • Salaam Remi – A&R, arranger, drums, keyboards, producer
  • Nicole Renee – choir, chorus
  • Tony Russell – bass,
  • Richard "Tubbs" Smith – keyboards
  • Christopher Stevens – trumpet
  • Jazmine Sullivan – executive producer, primary artist, producer, vocals (background)
  • Pamela Sullivan – vocals (background)
  • Laurin Talese – choir, chorus
  • Dan Thomas – drum programming
  • Vincent Vu – assistant
  • Key Wane – arranger, bass, drums, keyboards, producer
  • Matt Wong – bass, keyboards, strings
  • Kenta Yonesaka – engineer

Charts

Chart (2015) Peak
position
scope="row" US Billboard 200[20] 12
scope="row" US Digital Albums (Billboard)[21] 3
scope="row" US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[22] 1

References

  1. ↑ "Jazmine Sullivan Readies 'Reality Show' for January". Rap-Up.com. 15 December 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  2. ↑ Cline, Georgette (3 January 2011). "Jazmine Sullivan Announces Departure From Music Career".
  3. ↑ "Billboard/ Jazmine Sullivan Is 'Completely Finished' With 'Reality Show' Album; Talks 3-Year Hiatus: Exclusive". Billboard.com. 2014-05-19. Retrieved 2014-05-30.
  4. 1 2 3 Kellman, Andy. "Reality Show – Jazmine Sullivan". AllMusic. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
  5. ↑ Complex review
  6. 1 2 Patrick, Ryan B. (January 9, 2015). "Jazmine Sullivan – Reality Show". Exclaim!. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
  7. ↑ Garrett, Ural (January 28, 2015). "Jazmine Sullivan – Reality Show". HipHopDX. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
  8. ↑ Ritchie, Kevin (2015). "Jazmine Sullivan". Now (January 28). Toronto. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
  9. 1 2 Drake, David (January 30, 2015). "Jazmine Sullivan: Reality Show". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
  10. ↑ Chan, Andrew (December 30, 2014). "Jazmine Sullivan: Reality Show". Slant Magazine. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
  11. ↑ Soto, Alfred (2015). "Review: Jazmine Sullivan's 'Reality Show' Is So Much Deeper Than Its Title Suggests". Spin. New York (January 13). Retrieved January 13, 2015.
  12. ↑ Christgau, Robert (January 1, 2016). "Ladies First: Expert Witness with Robert Christgau". Vice. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Jazmine Sullivan Eyes January Release for "Reality Show"". WWKX-FM. 2014. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
  14. ↑ http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.32210/title.hip-hop-album-sales-nicki-minaj-j-cole-rae-sremmurd
  15. ↑ "Reviews for Reality Show by Jazmine Sullivan". Metacritic. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
  16. ↑ Pareles, Jon (2015). "A Propulsive Leap Forward and a Nod to Late Blooms". The New York Times (January 11). p. AR20. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
  17. ↑ "The 50 Best Albums of 2015". Pitchfork. December 16, 2015. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Rap-Up's 10 Best Albums of 2015". Rap-Up. 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2015-12-23.
  19. ↑ "Grammy Nominations 2016: See the Full List of Nominees". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. December 7, 2015. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
  20. ↑ "Jazmine Sullivan – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Jazmine Sullivan. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  21. ↑ "Jazmine Sullivan – Chart history" Billboard Digital Albums for Jazmine Sullivan. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  22. ↑ "Jazmine Sullivan – Chart history" Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums for Jazmine Sullivan. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
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