Congo Square is the thirteenth studio album

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 singer–songwriter Teena Marie

Teena Marie

Mary Christine Brockert, better known by her stage name Teena Marie, was an American singer, songwriter and producer...

. Released in the United States on June 9, 2009, it would be the final album released before her death in late December 2010. The album features collaborations with Teena Marie's daughter Alia Rose—who records under the name of Rose LeBeau—and rapper MC Lyte

MC Lyte

MC Lyte is an American rapper who first gained fame in the late-1980s becoming the first solo female rapper to release a full album with 1988's critically acclaimed Lyte as a Rock.-Early life:...

, as well as Faith Evans

Faith Evans

Faith Renée Evans is an American singer-songwriter, recording artist, record producer, actress and author. Born in Florida and raised in New Jersey, Evans relocated to Los Angeles during 1993 for a career with the music business. After working as a backing vocalist for Al B...

, George Duke

George Duke

George Duke is a multi-faceted American musician, known as a keyboard pioneer, composer, singer and producer in both jazz and popular mainstream musical genres. He has worked with numerous acclaimed artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and professor of music...

 and Shirley Murdock

Shirley Murdock

Shirley Murdock is an American R&B singer, who is best known for her 1986 R&B hit single "As We Lay" and for her vocals on Zapp and Roger hit single Computer Love.-Career:...

.

Background

The album title references Congo Square

Congo Square

Congo Square is an open space within Louis Armstrong Park, which is located in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, just across Rampart Street north of the French Quarter. The Tremé neighborhood is famous for its history of African American music....

, in the Treme

Treme

Tremé is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Mid-City District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are Esplanade Avenue to the north, North Rampart Street to the east, St. Louis Street to the south and North Broad Street to the west...

 in New Orleans, an area in which, during times of slavery, slaves were "allowed to dance and sing in the wardrobe of their mother country on Sundays." Teena Marie said of the album:

"I've been through quite a few trials and tribulations over the last two years. I spent many of those hours in prayer and felt like God was putting his arms around me. I started thinking about the music I grew up on—how inspired it was. Each song I was coming up with began to sound like the style of some favorite artist of mine from the past... Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye, Billie Holliday, the old Chicago soul of The Emotions and the new Chicago vibe of Kanye West... Ice Cube's bumpin' in the trunk vibe and of course, Rick James. It's all in there."

Teena Marie also expressed her appreciation for Faith Evans, saying, "I've always loved Faith and her vocal style. She reminds me of me. Her correlation with Biggie—having a career with him and without him—reminds me of me and Rick [James]. I feel like she's a younger me. Of the younger ladies, she's the one I love most."

Track listing

All songs written by Teena Marie, except where noted.

1. "The Pressure" (featuring MC Lyte
   MC Lyte
   MC Lyte is an American rapper who first gained fame in the late-1980s becoming the first solo female rapper to release a full album with 1988's critically acclaimed Lyte as a Rock.-Early life:...
   
   ) (Marie, James Allen, Doug Grigsby) – 5:32
2. "Can't Last a Day" (featuring Faith Evans
   Faith Evans
   Faith Renée Evans is an American singer-songwriter, recording artist, record producer, actress and author. Born in Florida and raised in New Jersey, Evans relocated to Los Angeles during 1993 for a career with the music business. After working as a backing vocalist for Al B...
   
   ) – 5:05
3. "Baby I Love You" (Marie, Nairobi Williams) – 4:57
4. "Ear Candy 101" – 4:48 (Ben Del Giorgio, Doug Grigsby)
5. "Lover's Lane" (featuring Howard Hewett
   Howard Hewett
   Howard Hewett is an American R&B and gospel singer and former lead vocalist of the R&B group Shalamar.Raised in Akron, Ohio, Hewett moved to Los Angeles. He would eventually meet Soul Train dancer and future first wife Rainey Riley-Cunningham, then a secretary of the show's creator and original...
   
   ) – 5:07
6. "Marry Me" – 5:31
7. "You Baby" – 4:15
8. "Milk N' Honey" (featuring Gail Gotti and Rose LeBeau) (Marie, Rose LeBeau) – 5:26
9. "What U Got 4 Me" (Marie, Allen) – 4:42
10. "Rovleta's Jass" – 0:31
11. "Congo Square" (featuring George Duke
    George Duke
    George Duke is a multi-faceted American musician, known as a keyboard pioneer, composer, singer and producer in both jazz and popular mainstream musical genres. He has worked with numerous acclaimed artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and professor of music...
    
    ) – 4:55
12. "Harlem Blues" – 5:17
13. "Black Cool" – 1:59
14. "Ms. Coretta" – 5:19
15. "Soldier Boy" (featuring Shirley Murdock
    Shirley Murdock
    Shirley Murdock is an American R&B singer, who is best known for her 1986 R&B hit single "As We Lay" and for her vocals on Zapp and Roger hit single Computer Love.-Career:...
    
    ) – 4:25
16. "The Rose N' Thorn" – 5:30

Charts

Chart (2009)	Peak position
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...	20
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...	4

Singles

Year	Single	Chart positions
		U.S. R&B 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,...	U.S. Adult R&B
2009	"Can't Last a Day" (featuring Faith Evans Faith Evans Faith Renée Evans is an American singer-songwriter, recording artist, record producer, actress and author. Born in Florida and raised in New Jersey, Evans relocated to Los Angeles during 1993 for a career with the music business. After working as a backing vocalist for Al B... )	41	14

External links

• Congo Square on Concord Music Group
  Concord Music Group
  Concord Music Group is a record company owned by Village Roadshow formed in 2004 by the merger of Concord Records and Fantasy Records. In 2005, the company acquired the classics and jazz label Telarc International. On December 18, 2006, Concord announced the re-launch of the soul label Stax;...