Public Warning
Encyclopedia
Public Warning is the title of the debut album from UK hip hop
artist Lady Sovereign
released on 31 October 2006. The album, a mix of grime
and hip hop
, was originally due for release in November 2005 but was pushed back after Lady Sovereign was signed by Island Def Jam.
In a press release, released on Monday, 17 July 2006, the album's track listing was finally confirmed, featuring all three of her singles, tracks from her two EP
s: Vertically Challenged and Blah Blah as well as newly recorded tracks for the release, including "Love Me or Hate Me
", and the latest single, "Those Were the Days". In the 2 November 2006 issue of America's Rolling Stone
magazine (posted its website 10/18/06), Public Warning was given a 3.5/5 rating. This album has so far sold over 250,000 copies in the US.
The CD was released in the U.K on the 5th February 2007 and includes Bonus Track "Pretty Vacant" [Performed Live] & Enhanced CD link to a 15-minute documentary on Lady Sovereign.
, which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average
score of 67, based on 34 reviews.
+ UK Version: Enhanced CD Link To 15-Minute Documentary
Sales and certifications
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
artist Lady Sovereign
Lady Sovereign
Louise Amanda Harman , better known by the stage name Lady Sovereign, is an English rapper & grime artist. She is noted for her professional success in performing styles of music generally dominated by males...
released on 31 October 2006. The album, a mix of grime
Grime (music)
Grime is a style of music that emerged from Bow, East London, England in the early 2000s, primarily as a development of UK garage, dancehall, and hip hop...
and hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
, was originally due for release in November 2005 but was pushed back after Lady Sovereign was signed by Island Def Jam.
In a press release, released on Monday, 17 July 2006, the album's track listing was finally confirmed, featuring all three of her singles, tracks from her two EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
s: Vertically Challenged and Blah Blah as well as newly recorded tracks for the release, including "Love Me or Hate Me
Love Me or Hate Me
"Love Me or Hate Me" is the sixth single from UK hip-hop artist Lady Sovereign and the fourth from her debut album Public Warning. The single was confirmed for release by her and was released in October 2006 in the U.S. and 29 January 2007 in the UK. The video was premiered in the last week of...
", and the latest single, "Those Were the Days". In the 2 November 2006 issue of America's Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine (posted its website 10/18/06), Public Warning was given a 3.5/5 rating. This album has so far sold over 250,000 copies in the US.
The CD was released in the U.K on the 5th February 2007 and includes Bonus Track "Pretty Vacant" [Performed Live] & Enhanced CD link to a 15-minute documentary on Lady Sovereign.
Reception
Initial critical response to Public Warning was generally positive. At MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalized
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
score of 67, based on 34 reviews.
Censored version
A censored version was also released that used backmasking and sound effects over all the swearing. The album booklet still has all the lyrics written out, but the swearing is starred out.Track listing
- "9 to 59 to 5 (Lady Sovereign song)"9 to 5" is the third single from UK hip hop artist Lady Sovereign's debut album Public Warning, following the release of her first UK top 75 single "Random". It was her debut single for Island Records and was released on 8 August 2005. It contains a sample from the British movie Time Bandits.Lady...
" - 3:32 - "Gatheration" - 3:23
- "RandomRandom (Lady Sovereign song)"Random" is the first CD single from UK hip hop artist Lady Sovereign, following the release of her 12" vinyl single "Ch Ching " in 2004. It was her second and last single for Casual Records in 2005....
" - 3:36 - "Public Warning" - 3:46
- "Love Me or Hate MeLove Me or Hate Me"Love Me or Hate Me" is the sixth single from UK hip-hop artist Lady Sovereign and the fourth from her debut album Public Warning. The single was confirmed for release by her and was released in October 2006 in the U.S. and 29 January 2007 in the UK. The video was premiered in the last week of...
" - 3:29 - "My England" - 3:57
- "Tango" - 3:37
- "A Little Bit of Shhh" - 3:45
- "Hoodie" - 3:37
- "Those Were the DaysThose Were the Days (Lady Sovereign song)"Those Were the Days" is the seventh single from UK hip-hop artist Lady Sovereign, and the fifth from her debut album, Public Warning. The single was confirmed for release on her official website and was released to UK download services on 9 April, followed by the physical release on 16 April...
" - 3:49 - "Blah Blah" - 3:57
- "Fiddle with the Volume" - 3:40
- "Love Me or Hate Me" Remix (feat. Missy ElliottMissy ElliottMelissa 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...
) - 3:39 - "Pretty Vacant" (Live at Commodore Ballroom) - 3:38 UK Bonus Track
- "The Broom" - 4:02 Best Buy Download Exclusive
- "Hoodie" (Mizz Beats Remix) (featuring Skepta, JMEJMEJME may refer to:* JME , grime artist from Tottenham, North London,* Java Platform, Micro Edition, a Java platform designed for embedded systems* JME Molecule Editor, a Molecule Editor applet* jMonkey Engine, a Java scenegraph API...
, JammerJammerJammer may refer to:* Jammer keyboard* Jammer, a device used in radar jamming and deception, a technique in electronic warfare to inhibit or halt the transmission of signals* Swim jammer, a type of male competitive swimwear...
, Ears & Baby Blue) - 4:07 iTunes Download Exclusive - "9 to 5" (The Ordinary BoysThe Ordinary BoysThe Ordinary Boys are an English indie rock band from Worthing, in West Sussex, England. Originally named Next in Line, they were influenced by mod revival and Britpop music, as well as the bands Madness, The Specials, The Kinks and The Smiths...
Remix) - 3:25 iTunes Download Exclusive
+ UK Version: Enhanced CD Link To 15-Minute Documentary
Chart positions
| Chart (2006) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Top Rap Albums | 12 |
| 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... |
48 |
| UK Albums Chart | 58 |
| AUS Albums Chart | 97 |
Sales and certifications
| Country | Provider | Certification | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 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... |
Unknown | 250,000+ |
Release history
| Region | Date |
|---|---|
| United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
31 October 2006 |
| 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... |
5 February 2007 |