Revolver (T-Pain album)

Revolver (stylized as REVOLVEЯ), is the fourth studio album by American musician T-Pain, released through Konvict Muzik, RCA Records and his own label Nappy Boy Entertainment on December 6, 2011. It is his first album released after the dissolution of his previous label, Jive Records.[2] Recording sessions for the album have taken place from 2009 to 2011. T-Pain stated that the two R's in the word, RevolveЯ have been capitalized so that in the middle, it says "evolve", indicating that T-Pain has evolved as an artist, and as a person in the period from Thr33 Ringz up till RevolveЯ. He later stated that the R's were put to show how people can be deceived, and understand things incorrectly without looking at the inside of things and this is the scheme of the album.

Revolver
Studio album by
T-Pain
ReleasedDecember 6, 2011 (2011-12-06)
Recorded2009–11
Genre
Length52:53
Label
Producer
T-Pain chronology
prEVOLVEr
(2011)		 Revolver
(2011)		 Stoic
(2012)
Singles from Revolver
  1. "Best Love Song"
    Released: March 22, 2011
  2. "5 O'Clock"
    Released: September 27, 2011
  3. "Turn All the Lights On"
    Released: January 17, 2012[1]

T-Pain announced that the album would be released on December 6 in the United States in an interview with Lady Jade on the F.A.M.E. tour bus, coincidentally this is the same release date of his first album, Rappa Ternt Sanga back in 2005. The singles "Take Your Shirt Off", "Reverse Cowgirl" and "Rap Song" (featuring Rick Ross) were released intended for inclusion on the album; however, due to poor chart performance, these songs would instead be re-dubbed as promotional singles.

Background

Work began on the album, originally titled UBER, during 2009, and the album was initially intended to be released during 2010. However, the album suffered a series of delays; although T-Pain claimed the album had been completed and mastered, he rescheduled the album's release date, to reflect his displeasure at generally falling music sales, which frustrated several fans. Despite this, he has since claimed that he would release the album when his account on the social networking site Twitter reaches a million "followers". T-Pain initially denied that Jay-Z's song "D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)" put him off from using Auto-Tune, the vocal pitch correcting technology he has frequently used throughout his previous work, he later confirmed that there would be a higher presence of Auto-Tune on the album, and later revealed he had stopped using the technology permanently and would rather use his own new version of it, called the T-Pain Effect, after leaving Antares Audio Technologies and signing with iZotope and using his very own "I Am T-Pain" microphone.

In June 2010, T-Pain confirmed that the album had been completed and mastered, but that it will not be released until album sales increase.[3] T-Pain posted on Twitter stating he would release his PrEVOLVEr mixtape when he gets 500,000 followers and release his album RevolveR when he gets 1,000,000 followers.[4] He released his first single for the album "Best Love Song" with Chris Brown on March 22, 2011, after his three singles "Reverse Cowgirl", "Take Your Shirt Off" and "Rap Song" featuring American rapper Rick Ross did not chart well, releasing them as promotional singles instead. T-Pain stated that after Jay-Z released "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)", the first single from The Blueprint 3, his 2009 album, he would still continue using autotune and release his new album UBER.[5]

In an interview with Ryan Seacrest, T-Pain confirmed that he was working on a song with singer Kesha and rapper Pitbull to be featured on the album. T-Pain later renamed the album RevolveR and expected to release his album in 2010. T-Pain stated that he had to cut many guest spots on the album, calling his last album from 2008, Thr33 Ringz, a possible DJ Khaled album because of all the guest appearances.[6] Chris Brown, Wiz Khalifa, Lily Allen, Pitbull, One Chance, Lil Wayne, Detail and Ne-Yo have all been confirmed features for the album. T-Pain released his highly anticipated prequel to RevolveR on May 4, 2011, with over 30 tracks entitled prEVOLVEr. On October 7, RCA Music Group announced it was disbanding Jive Records along with Arista Records and J Records. With the shutdown, T-Pain would release RevolveЯ on the RCA Records brand.[7][8]

Title

In terms of the album title, T-Pain has stated: "There's a lotta people who, when they first find out about T-Pain, judge me before they know what I got goin' on or what my music is all ABOUT... So the reason I chose "rEVOLVEr" as the title and spelt it the way I have, is basically to show how people can be deceived and misjudge something before they look at it PROPERLY. Like when people hear the word "revolver" they immediately think "violence" - which is what a lotta people think when they first see ME! Whereas when they look more closely at the title and they see the "r"s are faded out, they'll realise that in the middle it's actually saying "EVOLVE". Which in turn sheds a different light on the whole of the album... Because what it actually represents is how I've evolved as an artist and a person between my last album and THIS one."[9]

Singles

On March 22, the first official single "Best Love Song" was released. The song features singer Chris Brown. It was produced by Young Fyre. The song peaked at number thirty-three on the Billboard Hot 100. The music video was released on May 25 via YouTube.

On September 8, the second official single "5 O'Clock", sampling "Who'd Have Known" by Lily Allen, was released. The song features Wiz Khalifa, and Lily Allen; it peaked in the United States at ten as well as charting worldwide. On September 30, T-Pain's birthday, the official music video for "5 O'Clock" was released via YouTube.

On January 17, 2012, "Turn All the Lights On" was solicited to urban radio as the album's third single.[1] The song features singer Ne-Yo.

Other songs

In the beginning, T-Pain was originally given six consecutive singles for the album. The first single was supposed to be "Take Your Shirt Off", but was dubbed as a promotional single due to low charting. Another single, "Reverse Cowgirl", was released, which originally featured rapper Young Jeezy, and was dubbed as a promotional single also due to low charting. During a performance, T-Pain debuted yet another "supposed first single" entitled "Rap Song". The song, which features rapper Rick Ross, was the least successful single so far. "Booty Wurk (One Cheek at a Time)", which features Joey Galaxy and was produced by Young Fyre, was solicited to radio as a single on June 7, 2011 and was released to the iTunes Store on July 8, 2011.[10]

The official remix for "Bang Bang Pow Pow" was released in early 2012 and features American rapper Nelly.

Reception

Critical response
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic56/100[11]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
Entertainment Weekly(B+)[13]
The A.V. ClubC−[14]
IGN(7.5/10)[15]
The New York Times(mixed)[16]
Rolling Stone[17]
Slant Magazine[18]
Toronto Star[19]
musicOMH[11]
NME[20]

RevolveЯ received mixed reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 56, based on thirteen reviews, which indicates "mixed or average reviews".[11] Slant Magazine's Jesse Cataldo staded that it lacked "spark, life, or individual charm" and noted a "complete absence of evolution" by T-Pain.[18] Mikael Wood of Entertainment Weekly stated that "gorgeous robo-soul ballads like "Rock Bottom" and the Twitter romance "Default Picture" feel as intimate as the work of any bedroom troubadour".[13] AllMusic editor David Jeffries noted that the album was "entirely less conceptual than his previous effort", but T-Pain's "gigantic producer hat remains off save a handful of cuts", and the album "still feels like a circus".[12] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times commented that the album "lacks sui generis charm and shock", and stated, "There aren’t many obvious envelopes left to push in hip-hop and R&B, but T-Pain is still seeking out untrammeled ground".[16]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at #28 on the Billboard 200 with 35,000 copies sold in its first week. As of June 2012, the album has sold 110,076 copies.[21] It also entered at number seven on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and at number nine on its Digital Albums chart.[22][23]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Bang Bang Pow Pow" (featuring Lil Wayne)Faheem Najm, Tyler Williams, Dwayne Carter, Jr.T-Minus3:41
2."Bottlez" (featuring Detail)Najm, Mitch Cohn, Noel FisherCatalyst, Detail*3:06
3."It's Not You (It's Me)" (T-Pain vs. Chuckie featuring Pitbull)Najm, Armando Perez, Clyde Narain, Fabian LenssenChuckie, Fabian Lenssen, T-Pain*3:38
4."Default Picture"Najm, Tramaine Winfrey, Jon A. Gordon (The Gordon Brothers), Michael A. Gordon (The Gordon Brothers), Donald "Ziggy" Cook, Jr.Young Fyre3:06
5."5 O'Clock" (featuring Wiz Khalifa and Lily Allen)Najm, Cameron Thomaz, Lily Allen, Gary Barlow, Greg Kurstin, Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen, Stephen RobsonT-Pain, Greg Kurstin, John Shanks*4:41
6."Sho-Time (Pleasure Thang)"Najm, David BalfourT-Pain, David "Preach" Balfour*3:52
7."Rock Bottom"Najm, BalfourT-Pain, David "Preach" Balfour*4:25
8."Look at Her Go" (featuring Chris Brown)Najm, Mathieu Jomphe, Christopher BrownBillboard2:59
9."Mix'd Girl"Najm, Christopher Whitacre, Justin HendersonTha Bizness4:10
10."I Don't Give a Fuk"Najm, Winfrey, Jon A. Gordon, Michael A. Gordon, CookYoung Fyre3:45
11."Drowning Again" (featuring One Chance)Najm, Rob Brent, Jon A. Gordon, Michael A. Gordon, Courtney VantreaseT-Pain5:23
12."When I Come Home"Najm, BalfourT-Pain3:16
13."Best Love Song" (featuring Chris Brown)Najm, Winfrey, BrownYoung Fyre3:16
14."Turn All the Lights On" (featuring Ne-Yo)Najm, Luke Gottwald, Shaffer Smith, Henry WalterDr. Luke, Cirkut3:37
Total length:52:53
Deluxe edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
15."Center of the Stage" (featuring R. Kelly and Bei Maejor)Najm, Willie Poole, Robert Kelly, Brandon GreenGet Cool, T-Pain3:48
16."Regular Girl"NajmT-Pain3:12
17."Nuthin'" (featuring E-40 and Detail)Najm, Winfrey, Fisher, Earl StevensYoung Fyre3:25
Expanded edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
18."Turn All the Lights On (Bakaboyz Remix)" (featuring Ne-Yo)F. Najm, S. Smith, H. Walter, L. GottwaldBakaboyz4:06
19."5 O'Clock (Remix)" (featuring Lily Allen and Wisin & Yandel)T-Pain, L. Allen, C. Thomaz, G. Barlo, H. Donald, M. OwenT-Pain4:21
20."Rap Song" (featuring Rick Ross)T-Pain, Dwayne Carter, William Roberts, Tramaine WinfreyLil Wayne, T-Pain3:58
Notes
  • * signifies a co-producer.

Chart positions
Chart (2011) Peak
position
Australian Urban Albums Chart[24] 21
German Newcomers Chart[25] 5
Japanese Albums Chart[26] 49
UK R&B Albums Chart[27] 26
US Billboard 200[28] 28
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[22] 7

References
  1. "Urban/AUC Future Releases (January 17, 2012)". Allaccess.com. Archived from the original on December 28, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  2. "iTunes - Music - rEVOLVEr by T-Pain". Itunes.apple.com. 2011-12-02. Retrieved 2012-07-12.
  3. Ziegbe, Mawuse (16 June 2010). "T-Pain Says He Won't Release His New Album Until Record Sales Pick Up". MTV News (MTV Networks). Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  4. Najm, Faheem (15 March 2011). "Twitlonger - When you talk too much for Twitter". TwitLonger. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  5. Reid, Shaheem; Jayson Rodriguez (11 June 2009). "T-Pain Will Still Use Auto-Tune On New Album Despite Backlash". MTV News (MTV Networks). Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  6. Harper, Rosario (12 March 2010). "T-Pain On Cutting "RevolveR" Guest Spots, "It Was So Many People On The Last It Should Have Been A DJ Khaled Album"". SOHH. 4Control Media, Inc. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  7. Christman, Ed (2011-08-23). "RCA's New Executive Team Named Under CEO Peter Edge Amid Layoffs (Update)". Billboard.biz. Retrieved 2012-07-12.
  8. "Radio Industry News, Music Industry Updates, Arbitron Ratings, Music News and more!". FMQB. Retrieved 2012-07-12.
  9. "T-Pain interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' January 2010". Bluesandsoul.com. Retrieved 2012-07-12.
  10. "Booty Wurk (One Cheek At a Time) (feat. Joey Galaxy) - Single by T-Pain - Download Booty Wurk (One Cheek At a Time) (feat. Joey Galaxy) - Single on iTunes". iTunes. Apple Inc. 8 July 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2011. It peaked at number forty-four on the US Billboard Hot 100. T-Pain tweeted the first official single off the album was to feature rapper Drake but has not gotten a verse back. He also tweeted a club single with rapper Lil Wayne which he said was compared to his late single "I'm n Luv (Wit a Stripper)" In an Interview with Rap Up TV Noel "Detail" Fisher said, the "next" single off the album will be called "Bottles" and is produced by him.
  11. "RevolveЯ Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2011-12-10.
  12. Jeffries, David (December 6, 2011). "rEVOLVEr - T-Pain". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Review. Retrieved 2011-12-10.
  13. Wood, Mikael (December 5, 2011). "rEVOLVEr review - T-Pain Review". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved 2011-12-10.
  14. "T-Pain: REVOLVEr". The A.V. Club.
  15. Grischow, Chad (December 5, 2011). "T-Pain: rEVOLVEr Review - Music Review at IGN". IGN. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved 2011-12-26.
  16. Caramanica, Jon (December 6, 2011). "Chipper Remnants of a Life Turned Sour". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-12-10.
  17. Catucci, Nick (December 13, 2011). "rEVOLVEr – Album Reviews". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Retrieved 2011-12-26.
  18. Cataldo, Jesse (December 5, 2011). "T-Pain: rEVOLVEr". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2011-12-10.
  19. Rayner, Ben (December 5, 2011). "Albums: Winehouse's so-so snippets, Black Keys' earworms". Toronto Star. Torstar Media Group. Archived from the original on September 12, 2012. Retrieved 2011-12-29.
  20. "Album Review: T-Pain - 'rEVOLVEr'". NME. 2 December 2011.
  21. Jacobs, Allen (2011-12-14). "Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 12/11/2011 | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales". HipHop DX. Archived from the original on 2012-04-15. Retrieved 2012-07-12.
  22. R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Week of December 24, 2011. Billboard. Retrieved on 2011-12-17.
  23. Digital Albums – Week of December 24, 2011. Billboard. Retrieved on 2011-12-17.
  24. "Top 40 Urban Albums & Singles Chart - Australian Record Industry Association". Ariacharts.com.au. Retrieved 2012-07-12.
  25. "Starpianist Yiruma stürmt Newcomer-Charts - media control". Media-control.de. 2011-12-14. Retrieved 2012-07-12.
  26. "Ｔ－ＰＡＩＮのCDアルバムランキング、Ｔ－ＰＡＩＮのプロフィールならオリコン芸能人事典-ORICON STYLE". Oricon.co.jp. Retrieved 2013-04-27.
  27. "R&B Albums Top 40 - 14 July 2012". Official Charts. Retrieved 2012-07-12.
  28. "Billboard 200 - Week of December 24, 2011". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
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