Moodring
Encyclopedia
Moodring is the third studio album
by American recording artist Mýa
, released July 22, 2003 on A&M
and Interscope
records. Recorded after the number one success of "Lady Marmalade
" and her appearance in the box office hit Chicago
, the album featured contributions from noteworthy hitmakers Ron Fair
, Missy Elliott
, Timbaland
, Rockwilder
, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, and Knobody
among others. With this album, Harrison wrote "99.9%" of her own lyrics and co-produced many of the album's tracks.
Moodring spawned two singles; the international hit My Love Is Like...Wo
and the elegant mid-tempo track and album's final release Fallen. The former reached the top forty in over five countries which included United States
, United Kingdom
, and Australia
. The latter failed to reprise the same success of the album's first single however though reached the top forty on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
Moodring debuted at number three on the Billboard 200
album chart on August 9, 2003 with first-week sales of 113,000 copies. Upon its initial release the album received generally positive reviews with Allmusic praising Mýa for coming up with her best and most varied set of songs yet. The album earned a gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America
on September 25, 2003 and has sold 589,000 to date. In August 2005, after five years with Interscope Records, Harrison decided leave the company and her management. Moodring is the singer's last studio album in United States; following her departure from Interscope.
interview with A.J. Calloway and Free
she thought about calling the album Correction because music critics and her peers believe she could not sing, but ultimately she decided on Moodring.
, drag queens, reggae
and a little bit of pop rock
— Mýa has the blueprint for making an album, all she had to do was take her time. "Wrapping it up now," Mýa said last week in Los Angeles
. "I haven't been really consistent [with recording]. I've been in and out of the studio, so shoot, I'm using some records I did maybe two years ago. I been in the studio every chance I get for the fun of it, and I realized, 'Hey, I need to start recording an album.' After that I pretty much realized I had 20 songs in my pocket. In real life the 22-year-old is a little peeved that some people still see her as a kid, but she said she's going to show her maturity on her forthcoming LP. "I've grown up and gone through some things, so I'm expressing what I feel," explained Mýa, who walked away with a Grammy for her part on "Lady Marmalade
." "I'm a little bit more open than usual, and I've lived a life. I've had a career where I can live a comfortable life. I'm not Britney Spears
, so I still have a life. I can go certain places without getting hounded by little 5-year-olds. So I'm very sane as a person. I've gone through relationships, gone through the normal things that a normal person would go through." Mýa said that despite the edginess of her project, people shouldn't be too shocked by her free spirit
ed word play
and music
. "It's well balanced," she proclaimed. "I'm not saying, 'F--- you, kiss my ass.' I'm not cursing all over my album, but it's real. I know lots of females that can appreciate where I'm coming from, and men too."
Unlike Fear of Flying (2000), which addressed somewhat superficial relationship issues, the new stuff is real and personal, largely because Mýa's writing her own lyrics this time, said Elliott, who produced six songs on the disc.
"It's like when Pink stepped out with her second record," she explained. "She got to express herself a little more than she did on her first album. Mýa's grown up, and the things she's talking about deal more with real issues. It's not like someone coming in with a song that's already written, where the lyrics and music are from another person's perspective. We co-wrote the stuff that we did. So it's more from her." Like Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake
and Christina Aguilera
, Mýa is dealing with more provocative subject matter these days. For example, one of two songs produced by Christopher "Tricky" Stewart is about fiery relationships on the road. Elliott said Mýa's lyrical development is not a shock tactic or an effort to keep up with her racy peers — it's more a sign of her own maturation and her interest in being honest and open.
"You keep it tight, hit me off how I like, every day, every night," she sings on the piano-powered "No Sleep," where she makes a 3 a.m. booty call to her man. "They say I'm shy, but you know that's a lie," she goes on to sing before further testifying about how good the love is with her mate. Mýa's words on "Anatomy One-on-One" might make you pat yourself on the forehead with a handkerchief, as she sings even steamier lyrics, vividly detailing a session of passion with her Mr. Do Right. "You found a position that turns me on," she gushes. "Temperature's hotter than fire/ And the heat has got me burning up/ Let's stop, drop and roll together."
Unfortunately her flames are doused with a dose of reality that is as sobering as a cold shower on "Step." Here you can imagine the petite crooner getting set to put up her dukes as she complains about a girl who's trying to take her man. And you wouldn't believe it by Mýa's usually dainty behavior, but she can get down and dirty in a slugfest. She threatens to take off her heels and tells the jezebel that wants to break up her happy home, "I ain't got no time for the bullshhhh/ You should have a little respect 'cause if a girl is f---ing your man, you wouldn't like that." Mýa is "cold-blooded" after all, as she sings on the disco throwback "Sophisticated Lady," where she promises to make any man holla because she is the flyest of the fly.The playfully unabashed "Whatever Bitch" also steps outside the usual R&B soundscapes. That cut finds Mýa using house music to dismiss jealous girls who roll their eyes at her and want to spoil her partying.
"They calling me a ho 'cause I'm trying to get my freak on," she scoffs. "But bitch, we're in a club, what the hell do you expect bitch?/ I worked too freaking hard to let a hata bring me down."
But Mýa's biggest foe on Moodring may not be a woman — it could very well be the object of her affection. "Why You Gotta Look So Good?" tells the story of the songbird struggling to leave a bad relationship. G-Unit member Lloyd Banks
guest stars on the track, rapping from the male perspective about the same woeful situation.
"We both know if you put on some extra pounds I would have left a long time ago ..." Banks says. "I can't find good enough reason to try to hit the road .../ It's a shame how your female anatomy keeps grabbing me." "Mya can stand on her own," Elliott said. "Her album is gonna be off the chain. It's gonna be off the hook, man."
", written and produced by Missy Elliott
. The single reached the top twenty in the United States and the top forty elsewhere in countries like United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland. It took Mýa 365 days (a whole year) before she decided to record the track because of its lyrics. Second single "Fallen", an elegant mid-tempo track, was produced by One Up Entertainment. The single was less successful than Mýa's first single and was the album's final release. "Why You Gotta Look So Good?", the album's third track was written and produced by Rockwilder
and Mýa and features G-Unit
member and then-labelmate Lloyd Banks
. The song itself tells the story of a woman struggling to leave a bad relationship. The Timbaland
-produced "Step" is the album's fourth track and was written by Elliot, Timbaland, and Mýa. "Sophisticated Lady", the album's fifth track, was produced by Mýa, Don Vito, and Tricky Stewart
. It incorporates elements of Rick James
's 1983 song "Cold Blooded
". The piano-powered "No Sleep Tonight" is the album's sixth track and was produced by Tricky Stewart and Mýa. The song itself tells the story of Mýa making a 3 a.m. booty call to her man. Track seven "Anatomy 1on 1" was produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
. It is one of Mýa's favorite tracks on the album and is consider bubble bath music. Hurry Up, is the album's eighth and was produced by DJ Clue
and features Mýa's artist Gunnz. The Jerome "Knobody" Foster
-produced "Things Come & Go", is the album's ninth track and features reggae
-dancehall
musician Sean Paul
. It incorporates elements of Shuggie Otis
's "Aht Uh Mi Hed". "You", the album's first ballad and tenth track, was produced by One Up Entertainment. The song was considered as a single at one point by Mýa's record label Interscope. "After the Rain", the album's eleventh track, was produced by Jerome "Knobody" Foster
. The song is a tribute to Aaliyah
and Lisa Lopes
. "Late", another Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis-produced track, is the twelfth song on the album. The song tells the story of a woman who has not come on her period yet. "Whatever Bitch", is a drag queen
anthem and the album's thirteenth track. Written and produced by Damon Elliott
and Mýa, the song incorporates elements of techno
music. "Taste This", the album's fourteenth track, was written by Mýa and produced by Jerome "Knobody" Foster
. The song tells the story of a woman who is fed up with her lover half-stepping in their relationship and incorporates elements of quiet storm
music. Track fifteen, "Take a Picture", was produced by Damon Elliott and written by pop rock
singer Pink
. The song was originally supposed to be featured on Pink's 2001 album Missundaztood but later was recorded by Mýa. "Free Fallin'
" is a remake of the Tom Petty
song from his 1989's album Full Moon Fever
. "Real Compared to What" is the album's final track. It features then labelmate Common and was featured in Mýa's 2002 Coca-Cola
commercial.
album chart and Billboard
' s Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart at number two with first-week sales of 113,000 units sold. The album was certified gold
by the RIAA
on September 25, 2003 and remained on Billboard 200 album chart for 18 non-consecutive weeks. Moodring has sold 589,000 copies in the United States alone, according Nielsen Soundscan
. The album was the 157th best-selling album of 2003 in the United States. Outside the United States, the album debuted or peaked at number #197 in the United Kingdom
, #25 in Canada
, and #74 in Australia
. Internationally, the album was not as successful as 2000's Fear of Flying
.
Moodring debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 album chart, with first-week sales of 113,000 copies. In its second, the album dropped 6 spots to number 9, selling 59,700 copies. In its third week, the album dropped 4 spots to number 13, selling 39,690 copies. In its fourth week, the album dropped 10 spots to number 23, selling 34,638.
In its fifth week, the album dropped to 17 spots to number 40, selling 25,891 copies. In its sixth week, the album dropped to 2 spots to number 42, selling 20,041. In its seventh week, the album moved up 3 spots to number 39, selling 22,197 copies. In its eighth week, the album dropped to number 64 and fell out of Billboard' s Top 50. After ten weeks of its release, the album sat at number 85 and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America
for shipments of 500,000 copies to retailers on September 25, 2003. On the Billboard 200 album chart, the album spent a total of 18 non-consecutive weeks.
Internationally, the album reached four countries. It debuted and peaked at number 74 on the Australian Albums Chart. It failed to move up on United Kingdom's Top 75 album chart, spending one week below the chart; peaking at number 197. It debuted and peaked at number 25 on the Canadian Albums Chart
. It debuted and peaked at number 53 on the Japanese Albums Chart
.
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 recording artist Mýa
Mya
-A person:* Bo Mya , Chief Commander of the Karen National Union* Mýa , American R&B singer-songwriter and actress** Mýa , a 1998 album by Mýa-A code:* Burmese language, ISO 639-3 code is mya* Moruya Airport's IATA code...
, released July 22, 2003 on A&M
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
and Interscope
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:...
records. Recorded after the number one success of "Lady Marmalade
Lady Marmalade
"Lady Marmalade" was also covered by Italian pop star Sabrina. It was released in 1987 as the album's second single by Baby Records. In some countries, including France and the Netherlands, the song was known as "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi? " and was released in 1988.-Track listings:7" maxi#...
" and her appearance in the box office hit Chicago
Chicago (2002 film)
Chicago is a 2002 musical film adapted from the satirical stage musical of the same name, exploring the themes of celebrity, scandal, and corruption in Jazz-age Chicago....
, the album featured contributions from noteworthy hitmakers Ron Fair
Ron Fair
Ron Fair is a veteran A&R executive, record producer arranger, recording engineer and songwriter. In a career that has spanned over 30 years at major record labels he has produced and arranged hits for several artists, but he is best known as a "guru/mentor", guiding the careers of unknown artists...
, 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...
, Timbaland
Timbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley , better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper....
, Rockwilder
Rockwilder
Rockwilder is an American hip hop and R&B record producer, rapper, and R&B Singer. A long term friend of Def Jam rapper Redman, Rockwilder got his start producing for East Coast Hip Hop artists in the mid 1990s. In 1999 Rockwilder produced Method Man & Redman's hit single "Da Rockwilder"...
, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, and Knobody
Knobody
Jerome Foster, better known as Knobody, is an American music producer and A&R. Knobody has produced records across different genres including soul, R&B, hip hop and rock for several multi-platinum artists including Jay-Z, Ne-Yo, Akon, The Game, Big Pun, Mýa and R.E.M....
among others. With this album, Harrison wrote "99.9%" of her own lyrics and co-produced many of the album's tracks.
Moodring spawned two singles; the international hit My Love Is Like...Wo
My Love Is Like...Wo
"My Love Is Like...Wo" is a song by American recording artist Mýa from her third studio album, Moodring . Written and produced by Missy Elliott and brothers Charles and Kenneth Bereal, it was released as the album's lead single in June 2003....
and the elegant mid-tempo track and album's final release Fallen. The former reached the top forty in over five countries which included United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, 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...
, and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. The latter failed to reprise the same success of the album's first single however though reached the top forty on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
Moodring debuted at number three 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...
album chart on August 9, 2003 with first-week sales of 113,000 copies. Upon its initial release the album received generally positive reviews with Allmusic praising Mýa for coming up with her best and most varied set of songs yet. The album earned a gold certification 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...
on September 25, 2003 and has sold 589,000 to date. In August 2005, after five years with Interscope Records, Harrison decided leave the company and her management. Moodring is the singer's last studio album in United States; following her departure from Interscope.
Album title
Originally titled Smoke & Mirrors, Mýa later stated in a 106 & Park106 & Park
106 & Park is a Top Ten Hip-Hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that airs weekdays at 6:00 PM on BET . Since its inception, it was the network's #1 rated show...
interview with A.J. Calloway and Free
Free (rapper)
Antoinette Marie Wright, better known by her stage name, "Free" , is an American media personality, television producer and philanthropist. She rose to fame as the first host of BET's 106 & Park...
she thought about calling the album Correction because music critics and her peers believe she could not sing, but ultimately she decided on Moodring.
Conception
G-funkG-funk
G-funk, or Gangsta-funk, is a sub-genre of hip hop music that emerged from Westcoast gangsta rap in the early 1990s. G-funk incorporates multi-layered and melodic synthesizers, slow hypnotic grooves, a deep bass, background female vocals, the extensive sampling of P-funk tunes, and a high-pitched...
, drag queens, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
and a little bit of pop rock
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
— Mýa has the blueprint for making an album, all she had to do was take her time. "Wrapping it up now," Mýa said last week in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. "I haven't been really consistent [with recording]. I've been in and out of the studio, so shoot, I'm using some records I did maybe two years ago. I been in the studio every chance I get for the fun of it, and I realized, 'Hey, I need to start recording an album.' After that I pretty much realized I had 20 songs in my pocket. In real life the 22-year-old is a little peeved that some people still see her as a kid, but she said she's going to show her maturity on her forthcoming LP. "I've grown up and gone through some things, so I'm expressing what I feel," explained Mýa, who walked away with a Grammy for her part on "Lady Marmalade
Lady Marmalade
"Lady Marmalade" was also covered by Italian pop star Sabrina. It was released in 1987 as the album's second single by Baby Records. In some countries, including France and the Netherlands, the song was known as "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi? " and was released in 1988.-Track listings:7" maxi#...
." "I'm a little bit more open than usual, and I've lived a life. I've had a career where I can live a comfortable life. I'm not Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
, so I still have a life. I can go certain places without getting hounded by little 5-year-olds. So I'm very sane as a person. I've gone through relationships, gone through the normal things that a normal person would go through." Mýa said that despite the edginess of her project, people shouldn't be too shocked by her free spirit
Free Spirit
Free Spirit may refer to:*Free Spirit , 1995*Free Spirit , 2009*Free Spirit , an American television series*Free Spirit , a South African television series...
ed word play
Word play
Word play or wordplay is a literary technique in which the words that are used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement...
and music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
. "It's well balanced," she proclaimed. "I'm not saying, 'F--- you, kiss my ass.' I'm not cursing all over my album, but it's real. I know lots of females that can appreciate where I'm coming from, and men too."
Unlike Fear of Flying (2000), which addressed somewhat superficial relationship issues, the new stuff is real and personal, largely because Mýa's writing her own lyrics this time, said Elliott, who produced six songs on the disc.
"It's like when Pink stepped out with her second record," she explained. "She got to express herself a little more than she did on her first album. Mýa's grown up, and the things she's talking about deal more with real issues. It's not like someone coming in with a song that's already written, where the lyrics and music are from another person's perspective. We co-wrote the stuff that we did. So it's more from her." Like Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake
Justin Timberlake
Justin Randall Timberlake is an American pop musician and actor. He achieved early fame when he appeared as a contestant on Star Search, and went on to star in the Disney Channel television series The New Mickey Mouse Club, where he met future bandmate JC Chasez...
and Christina Aguilera
Christina Aguilera
Christina María Aguilera is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994...
, Mýa is dealing with more provocative subject matter these days. For example, one of two songs produced by Christopher "Tricky" Stewart is about fiery relationships on the road. Elliott said Mýa's lyrical development is not a shock tactic or an effort to keep up with her racy peers — it's more a sign of her own maturation and her interest in being honest and open.
"You keep it tight, hit me off how I like, every day, every night," she sings on the piano-powered "No Sleep," where she makes a 3 a.m. booty call to her man. "They say I'm shy, but you know that's a lie," she goes on to sing before further testifying about how good the love is with her mate. Mýa's words on "Anatomy One-on-One" might make you pat yourself on the forehead with a handkerchief, as she sings even steamier lyrics, vividly detailing a session of passion with her Mr. Do Right. "You found a position that turns me on," she gushes. "Temperature's hotter than fire/ And the heat has got me burning up/ Let's stop, drop and roll together."
Unfortunately her flames are doused with a dose of reality that is as sobering as a cold shower on "Step." Here you can imagine the petite crooner getting set to put up her dukes as she complains about a girl who's trying to take her man. And you wouldn't believe it by Mýa's usually dainty behavior, but she can get down and dirty in a slugfest. She threatens to take off her heels and tells the jezebel that wants to break up her happy home, "I ain't got no time for the bullshhhh/ You should have a little respect 'cause if a girl is f---ing your man, you wouldn't like that." Mýa is "cold-blooded" after all, as she sings on the disco throwback "Sophisticated Lady," where she promises to make any man holla because she is the flyest of the fly.The playfully unabashed "Whatever Bitch" also steps outside the usual R&B soundscapes. That cut finds Mýa using house music to dismiss jealous girls who roll their eyes at her and want to spoil her partying.
"They calling me a ho 'cause I'm trying to get my freak on," she scoffs. "But bitch, we're in a club, what the hell do you expect bitch?/ I worked too freaking hard to let a hata bring me down."
But Mýa's biggest foe on Moodring may not be a woman — it could very well be the object of her affection. "Why You Gotta Look So Good?" tells the story of the songbird struggling to leave a bad relationship. G-Unit member Lloyd Banks
Lloyd Banks
Christopher Charles Lloyd , better known by his stage name Lloyd Banks, is an American rapper and member of the rap group G-Unit. Raised in South Jamaica, Queens, he dropped out of high school in 1998. G-Unit released two albums, Beg for Mercy in 2003 and T.O.S. in 2008...
guest stars on the track, rapping from the male perspective about the same woeful situation.
"We both know if you put on some extra pounds I would have left a long time ago ..." Banks says. "I can't find good enough reason to try to hit the road .../ It's a shame how your female anatomy keeps grabbing me." "Mya can stand on her own," Elliott said. "Her album is gonna be off the chain. It's gonna be off the hook, man."
Musical content
The opening track and the album's first single is "My Love Is Like...WoMy Love Is Like...Wo
"My Love Is Like...Wo" is a song by American recording artist Mýa from her third studio album, Moodring . Written and produced by Missy Elliott and brothers Charles and Kenneth Bereal, it was released as the album's lead single in June 2003....
", written and produced by 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...
. The single reached the top twenty in the United States and the top forty elsewhere in countries like United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland. It took Mýa 365 days (a whole year) before she decided to record the track because of its lyrics. Second single "Fallen", an elegant mid-tempo track, was produced by One Up Entertainment. The single was less successful than Mýa's first single and was the album's final release. "Why You Gotta Look So Good?", the album's third track was written and produced by Rockwilder
Rockwilder
Rockwilder is an American hip hop and R&B record producer, rapper, and R&B Singer. A long term friend of Def Jam rapper Redman, Rockwilder got his start producing for East Coast Hip Hop artists in the mid 1990s. In 1999 Rockwilder produced Method Man & Redman's hit single "Da Rockwilder"...
and Mýa and features G-Unit
G-Unit
G-Unit is an American hip hop group originating from New York City formed by 50 Cents. G-Unit emerged on the New York scene by independently releasing several mix tapes...
member and then-labelmate Lloyd Banks
Lloyd Banks
Christopher Charles Lloyd , better known by his stage name Lloyd Banks, is an American rapper and member of the rap group G-Unit. Raised in South Jamaica, Queens, he dropped out of high school in 1998. G-Unit released two albums, Beg for Mercy in 2003 and T.O.S. in 2008...
. The song itself tells the story of a woman struggling to leave a bad relationship. The Timbaland
Timbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley , better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper....
-produced "Step" is the album's fourth track and was written by Elliot, Timbaland, and Mýa. "Sophisticated Lady", the album's fifth track, was produced by Mýa, Don Vito, and Tricky Stewart
Christopher Stewart (music producer)
Christopher "Tricky" Stewart is an American songwriter, music producer, music publisher, executive producer, recording industry executive and recording studio owner. In a career spanning 16 years, Stewart, at the helm of his company RedZone Entertainment, is responsible for over 25 million...
. It incorporates elements of Rick James
Rick James
James Ambrose Johnson, Jr. , better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. James was a popular performer in the late 1970s and 1980s, scoring four number-one hits on the U.S. R&B charts performing in the genres of funk and R&B...
's 1983 song "Cold Blooded
Cold Blooded (Rick James song)
"Cold Blooded" was a hit funk song for Rick James in 1983. James wrote the song about his relationship with actress Linda Blair. Released from the album of the same title, it spent six weeks at number one on the Billboard R&B Singles chart and reached number forty on the Hot 100.In 1999, the song...
". The piano-powered "No Sleep Tonight" is the album's sixth track and was produced by Tricky Stewart and Mýa. The song itself tells the story of Mýa making a 3 a.m. booty call to her man. Track seven "Anatomy 1on 1" was produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III and Terry Steven Lewis are an American R&B and pop-music songwriting and record production team...
. It is one of Mýa's favorite tracks on the album and is consider bubble bath music. Hurry Up, is the album's eighth and was produced by DJ Clue
DJ Clue
Ernesto Shaw better known as DJ Clue?, is a mixtape DJ.-Biography:For more than 10 years, DJ Clue has proven that he is more than just a beat-thumper. His accomplishments show how a turntable genius precisely puts together different songs to make a concoction of beats and melodies that rule the...
and features Mýa's artist Gunnz. The Jerome "Knobody" Foster
Knobody
Jerome Foster, better known as Knobody, is an American music producer and A&R. Knobody has produced records across different genres including soul, R&B, hip hop and rock for several multi-platinum artists including Jay-Z, Ne-Yo, Akon, The Game, Big Pun, Mýa and R.E.M....
-produced "Things Come & Go", is the album's ninth track and features reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
-dancehall
Dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...
musician Sean Paul
Sean Paul
Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques , who performs under stage name Sean Paul, is a Jamaican pop rap and reggae singer.-1973–1996: Early life:...
. It incorporates elements of Shuggie Otis
Shuggie Otis
Shuggie Otis is an American singer-songwriter, recording artist, and multi-instrumentalist....
's "Aht Uh Mi Hed". "You", the album's first ballad and tenth track, was produced by One Up Entertainment. The song was considered as a single at one point by Mýa's record label Interscope. "After the Rain", the album's eleventh track, was produced by Jerome "Knobody" Foster
Knobody
Jerome Foster, better known as Knobody, is an American music producer and A&R. Knobody has produced records across different genres including soul, R&B, hip hop and rock for several multi-platinum artists including Jay-Z, Ne-Yo, Akon, The Game, Big Pun, Mýa and R.E.M....
. The song is a tribute to Aaliyah
Aaliyah
Aaliyah Dana Haughton , who performed under the mononym Aaliyah , was an American R&B recording artist, actress and model. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, and was raised in Detroit, Michigan. At the age of 10, she appeared on the television show Star Search and performed in concert alongside...
and Lisa Lopes
Lisa Lopes
Lisa Nicole Lopes better known by her stage name Left Eye, was an American rapper, singer, dancer, actress, television host, and songwriter...
. "Late", another Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis-produced track, is the twelfth song on the album. The song tells the story of a woman who has not come on her period yet. "Whatever Bitch", is a drag queen
Drag queen
A drag queen is a man who dresses, and usually acts, like a caricature woman often for the purpose of entertaining. There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once. Drag queens also vary by class and culture and...
anthem and the album's thirteenth track. Written and produced by Damon Elliott
Damon Elliott
Damon Elliott , commonly known as Dame, is an American producer, writer, composer, recording artist and entrepreneur. His production genre’s include pop, hip hop, rock, R&B, gospel, and more recently, country....
and Mýa, the song incorporates elements of techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
music. "Taste This", the album's fourteenth track, was written by Mýa and produced by Jerome "Knobody" Foster
Knobody
Jerome Foster, better known as Knobody, is an American music producer and A&R. Knobody has produced records across different genres including soul, R&B, hip hop and rock for several multi-platinum artists including Jay-Z, Ne-Yo, Akon, The Game, Big Pun, Mýa and R.E.M....
. The song tells the story of a woman who is fed up with her lover half-stepping in their relationship and incorporates elements of quiet storm
Quiet storm
Quiet storm is a late-night radio format, featuring soulful slow jams, pioneered in the mid-1970s by then-station-intern Melvin Lindsey at WHUR-FM, in Washington, D.C. Smokey Robinson's like-titled hit single, released in 1975 as the title track to his third solo album, lent its name to the format...
music. Track fifteen, "Take a Picture", was produced by Damon Elliott and written by pop rock
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
singer Pink
Pink (singer)
Alecia Beth Moore , better known by her stage name Pink , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and actress....
. The song was originally supposed to be featured on Pink's 2001 album Missundaztood but later was recorded by Mýa. "Free Fallin'
Free Fallin'
"Free Fallin" is the opening track from Tom Petty's 1989 solo album, Full Moon Fever. The song was written by Petty and his writing partner for the album, Jeff Lynne...
" is a remake of the Tom Petty
Tom Petty
Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T...
song from his 1989's album Full Moon Fever
Full Moon Fever
Full Moon Fever is the first solo album by Tom Petty, though it features contributions from several members of his backing band, the Heartbreakers, along with fellow members of the Traveling Wilburys. The record shows Petty exploring his musical roots with nods to his influences...
. "Real Compared to What" is the album's final track. It features then labelmate Common and was featured in Mýa's 2002 Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
commercial.
Commercial performance
Moodring debuted at number three 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...
album chart and 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...
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
by the RIAA
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...
on September 25, 2003 and remained on Billboard 200 album chart for 18 non-consecutive weeks. Moodring has sold 589,000 copies in the United States alone, according Nielsen Soundscan
Nielsen SoundScan
Nielsen SoundScan is an information and sales tracking system created by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett. Soundscan is the official method of tracking sales of music and music video products throughout the United States and Canada...
. The album was the 157th best-selling album of 2003 in the United States. Outside the United States, the album debuted or peaked at number #197 in the 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...
, #25 in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and #74 in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Internationally, the album was not as successful as 2000's Fear of Flying
Fear of Flying (album)
Fear of Flying is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Mýa, released April 25, 2000 on Interscope Records. Recording sessions for the album took place during late 1999 to early 2000...
.
Moodring debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 album chart, with first-week sales of 113,000 copies. In its second, the album dropped 6 spots to number 9, selling 59,700 copies. In its third week, the album dropped 4 spots to number 13, selling 39,690 copies. In its fourth week, the album dropped 10 spots to number 23, selling 34,638.
In its fifth week, the album dropped to 17 spots to number 40, selling 25,891 copies. In its sixth week, the album dropped to 2 spots to number 42, selling 20,041. In its seventh week, the album moved up 3 spots to number 39, selling 22,197 copies. In its eighth week, the album dropped to number 64 and fell out of Billboard
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...
for shipments of 500,000 copies to retailers on September 25, 2003. On the Billboard 200 album chart, the album spent a total of 18 non-consecutive weeks.
Internationally, the album reached four countries. It debuted and peaked at number 74 on the Australian Albums Chart. It failed to move up on United Kingdom's Top 75 album chart, spending one week below the chart; peaking at number 197. It debuted and peaked at number 25 on the Canadian Albums Chart
Canadian Albums Chart
The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS...
. It debuted and peaked at number 53 on the Japanese Albums Chart
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
.
Singles
- The first single from the album, "My Love Is Like...WoMy Love Is Like...Wo"My Love Is Like...Wo" is a song by American recording artist Mýa from her third studio album, Moodring . Written and produced by Missy Elliott and brothers Charles and Kenneth Bereal, it was released as the album's lead single in June 2003....
", peaked at number thirteen on the Billboard Hot 100Billboard Hot 100The 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...
and number seventeen on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop SongsHot R&B/Hip-Hop SongsHot 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,...
. The single was a commercial success due to its success on mainstream radio and became Mýa's fifth top forty hit (solo). It was a moderate success internationally, reaching the top forty in the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia.
- The second single "Fallen" peaked at number fifty-one on the Billboard Hot 100 and number thirty-five on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. The single was a commercial failure due to poor radio airplay and lack of promotion.
Tracklisting
Musicians
- Alex Al – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Romeo Antonio – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- Kyle Armbrust – violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
- Ravi Best – trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
- Sandra Billingslea – violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
- Krystyana Chelminski – violin
- Eddie Cole & His Gang – bass, guitar
- Luis Conte – percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
- James Czeiner – violin, hornHorn (instrument)The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
- Earl Flemming – keyboardKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
- Steve Ferrone – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- Eileen Folson – viola, celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
- Clark Gayton – tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
- G.A. Grant – horn
- Gary Grant – horn
- Darryl Harper – keyboard
- O.J. Harper – keyboard
- Jerry HeyJerry HeyJerry Hey is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Thriller and the distinctive flugelhorn solo on Dan Fogelberg's hit Longer....
– horn - Dan Higgins – horn
- Cecelia Hobbs Gardner – violin
- Jun Jensen – cello
- Natalie Leggett – violin, viola
- Jerry Ney – horn
- Joel Peskin – horn
- Bill Reichenbach Jr. – horn
- Kris Ricat – guitar, horn
- Maxine Roach – viola
- Derek Scott – guitar
- Carl "Butch" Small – percussion
- Michael Valerio – bass
Production
- Vocal production: Ron Fair, Mark Harrison
- Vocal assistance: Patrice Bowie, Sue Ann Carwell, Eric Dawkins, Laurie Evans, Katrina Willis
- 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,...
s: Mike Anzel, Dylan Dresdow, Bruce Buechner, Randy Bugnitz, Ian Cross, Jimmy Douglass, David Guerrero, Tal Herzberg, Troy Hightower, Pete Karam, Brian Summerville, Brian "B Luv" Thomas, Ryan West, Doug Wilson, Frank Wolf - Assistant engineers: Matt Marrin
- 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...
: Dave Pensado - Mixing assistance: Ethan Willoughby
- Mastering: Eddy Schreyer
- A&R: Kathryn Keller Moss
- Art Direction: Drew FitzGerald
- 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...
: Marc Baptiste, Sheryl Nields
Charts
| Chart (2003) | Peak position |
Certification |
|---|---|---|
| Australian 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... |
74 | — |
| Canadian Albums Chart Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS... |
25 | — |
| Japanese Albums Chart Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... |
53 | — |
| 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... |
197 | — |
| 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... |
3 | Gold |
Year-end charts
| Chart (2003) | Rank position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 157 |
| 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... |
86 |
Release history
| Region | Date | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 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... |
July 16, 2003 | Interscope Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:... |
| 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... |
July 21, 2003 | |
| United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
July 22, 2003 | |
| Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... |
July 28, 2003 | |
| 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... |
September 8, 2003 | |
| Austria Austria Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the... |
October 29, 2003 | |
| Switzerland Switzerland Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition.... |