The Makings of Me
Encyclopedia
The Makings of Me is the fifth studio album
by American
singer Monica, released by J Records
on October 3, 2006 in the United States
and October 10, 2006 (see 2006 in music
) in Canada
. Following their participation on previous album After the Storm (2003), the singer re-teamed with producers and rappers Jermaine Dupri
and Missy Elliott
to work on the majority of the album, with additional production resulting from collaborations with Bryan Michael Cox
, The Underdogs
, Tank
, Harold Lilly, Swizz Beatz
, Sean Garrett
, and others.
The album garnered a mostly positive reception from music critics, and produced four singles of which all failed to chart or sell noticeably. It reached the top of U.S. Billboard
s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
chart, and number eight on the Billboard 200
, selling 328,000 copies in total domestically to date.
In April 2007, a Deluxe Digital version of the album featuring free ringtones for "The First Night
," a free cellphone wallpaper, and a blow-in card was sold by Walmart.
, Bryan Michael Cox
, and executive producer Jermaine Dupri
. While both Elliott and Dupri contributed most to the album, the singer was anxious to keep the number of collaborators "very close knit and intimate" and thus, settled on working with producers Sean Garrett
, Harold Lilly, Swizz Beatz
, Tank
and The Underdogs
, particularly, resulting into a total of forty finished records. In addition, however, Monica also recorded with Dre & Vidal
, Tricky Stewart
, Scott Storch
, Jazze Pha
, No I.D.
, and rappers Mannie Fresh
, Akon
and Young Jeezy
, but none of the songs written with them eventually made the final track listing. Some of them, however, appeared on her 2007 mixtape Greg Street Present......Monica Made: The Mixtape.
Although the album was tentatively titled Street Butterfly, Raw, or A Dozen Roses at one time or another, the long-player was eventually named after Curtis Mayfield
's "The Makings of You", which is sampled in the album's second single "A Dozen Roses (You Remind Me)": "This album is really the makings of me because it talks about so many different scenarios, both good and bad, that have pretty much brought me to the point where I'm at mentally," Monica told in a 2006 interview with Billboard
, comparing it with a "musical diary where people can really see me in a lot of different lights for once."
(2002) and After the Storm (2003), it was actually the first time she handed the poems over to her songwriters. "That was kind of private [to hand over]," Monica said in an interview with Deseret News. "It was going into the hands of about seven or eight people. It was difficult to do something like that the first time around." Feeling obligated to unveil her true thoughts about past relationships, writers Tank
, Manuel Seal
and others crafted songs such as "Sideline Ho
" and "Why Her," which were inspired by the poems or their backstories.
The album contains several references to Atlanta, Georgia
and alludes to contemporary fashion labels such as Gucci
, and automobile manufacturers Bentley
and Mercedes Benz. In "A Dozen Roses (You Remind Me)," singers R. Kelly
and Gladys Knight
are mentioned. Although Monica intended for the album to include some light recordings, she stated that The Makings of Me "is not an album for kids." "This album is very, very different from the other ones, because of me personally. Now, at 26, the way I look at things, even relationships, I was really able to involve more of my life experiences in the album," Monica said to MTV News
, adding: "I had to tell my story [...] There are too many people who have been in the same situation as me and really don't know their way out. Hopefully through my words, what I say can open a door."
", one of the last songs recorded for The Makings of Me, was chosen as the lead single to show "something that appears on the outside to be different from" Monica and, in addition, represents her hometown Atlanta
. Greatly influenced by snap music
, the track incorporates beats of Nelly
's 2005 single "Grillz
" and a sample of the 2006 single "Lean wit It, Rock wit It
," as performed by Dem Franchize Boyz
. The song received lukewarm reviews, noted as "a decent but ultimately forgettable [...] obligatory club track," and was a mediocre success, reaching the top twenty on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
chart only. The second single, Elliott-penned "A Dozen Roses (You Remind Me)", underperformed. The song, a modern rework of Curtis Mayfield
's 1972 single "The Makings of You", was the last music video
-accompanied release from the album.
"Sideline Ho
", the third track, was written and produced by fellow R&B musician Tank
. Based upon a self-written poem by Monica, the lyrics of the song were inspired by an ex who cheated on her with a video model. It was released as the album's third single, and although the song saw a comparatively successful debut on the charts, J Records
refused to agree on producing a music video for the song, with ideas for a video treatment being eventually scrapped. The fourth track, Jermaine Dupri
-produced "Why Her," serves as a direct follow-up to "Sideline Ho" and was also inspired by a poem. "After all the anger and the smoke cleared, the next one that I wrote was Why Her. And I thought it was really clever [...] to create songs off of my poems like that," Monica said. The song received a generally positive reception from music critics, and was compared to Mariah Carey
's 2005 recording "We Belong Together." "Hell No (Leave Home)
", the fifth track, has Monica trading verses with fast-paced rapper Twista
. The singer commented the recording of the rhymes as comical: "He [Twista] had so much patience with me and allowed me to learn his way of rapping. Of course, rapping isn't what I do, but I did enjoy the experience. The way I learned best was with him in the booth." Released as the final single from the album, it was released to no commercial success.
"Doin' Me Right", built around a sample of The Whispers
' 1976 "Chocolate Girl", was noted as one of the "few songs about good men" on The Makings of Me, alongside Underdogs
-crafted "My Everything". Considered as this album's "Knock Knock
" (the second single from 2003's After the Storm), it was praised by critics who called the track "another sweet twist on a soft-soul classic." The seventh track, "Raw," features production and guest vocals by Swizz Beatz
and was noted the only upbeat track on the album next to "Everytime tha Beat Drop." It chronicles the protagonist's lament on so-called "playas" over a speaker-jarring 808 beat
, and received mixed reviews. "Gotta Move On," the ninth track, incorporates minor elements of oriental music. Featuring backing vocals by singer Tweet
, it was declared "a kiss-off dipped in honey" by Allmusic. The closing track, "Getaway", is an all-piano song, except for a few accents from a snare drum
briefly throughout the tune. It discusses the witnessing of Monica's former boyfriend Jarvis Weems' death in 2000.
" were initially targeted to radio July 24, 2006 (see 2006 in music
) in the United States
. A week later, footage was released by Access Atlanta, featuring photos on the making of the music video
s to "Everytime Tha Beat Drop".
The songs "Why Her" and then titled "Hell No
" from the album was premiered on September 2008 on Monica's MySpace
account.
Prior to its release, she appeared on BET's 106 & Park
in September 2010 to promote the album, and on BET's Blueprint
on October 5, 2006. On October 9, she also performed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show
in promotion of the album. She also performed on the The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
.
s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
chart, and at number eight on the official Billboard 200
, with moderately successful first week sales of 92,935 copies — about half as much as her previous effort, number-one album After the Storm (2003). While it became Monica's first album to reach the top of the R&B Albums Chart, it also scored her her lowest peak position on the Billboard 200 since 1998's The Boy Is Mine
which had also reached number eight. As of December 2008, the album has sold 328,000 copies domestically, making it Monica's lowest selling album and first album to not receive a certification by the Recording Industry Association of America
to date. Outside the States, it opened at number twenty-three on the R&B Top 50 Albums Chart in Canada
and at number seventy-five on the Japanese Album Chart
.
Altogether The Makings of Me spawned four singles: The lead album's first single, Dupri-produced "Everytime tha Beat Drop
" barely made it to top fifty on the U.S. Billboard
Hot 100 chart with a peak position of number fourty-eight only, becoming Monica's least successful lead single since 2002's "All Eyez on Me
." It, however, reached number eleven on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
chart, and number seven on the World R&B Top 30 Singles chart. The second and third singles from the album, "A Dozen Roses (You Remind Me)" and "Sideline Ho
," underquoted this success with peak positions of number fourty-eight and fourty-five respectively on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, never making it to the official Hot 100. A fourth single, "Hell No (Leave Home)
" was serviced to U.S. radios on May 14, 2007, achieving similar success.
declared it "a solid addition" to Monica's discography, and although he saw her faltering on ballads such as "My Everything", he added: "the singer hints at mature contentment on her fourth CD — while retaining some angry edge, [... scoring] tough-talking venom." USA Today
writer Steve Jones, on the other hand, wrote: "Sweet ballads like 'My Everything' and the Curtis Mayfield
-laced 'A Dozen Roses (You Remind Me)' find her nicely contented having found the one. But do her wrong or play her soft and she’ll unleash a torrent of scorn [...] In the mid-90s, she was the sassy 14-year-old Miss Thang
. Now she’s full grown and not to be fooled with. Still, she can get the dancefloor popping [...]."
In his review for About.com
, Mark Edward Nero noted The Makings of Me "a very personal album that listening to it is almost like reading a diary," and while he applauded the songwriting and song production as "excellent," he cited a "lack of emotion" in Monica's voice: "She cuts loose, but for the most part, Monica seems more concerned with pitch-perfect singing than singing with genuine emotion. In addition, he also criticised the relative shortness of the album.
Musicians
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
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer Monica, released by J Records
J Records
J Records was an American record label, owned and operated by Sony Music Entertainment, and was distributed through the RCA Music Group.-Company history:...
on October 3, 2006 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and October 10, 2006 (see 2006 in music
2006 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2006.-January:*January 10 – Eric Burdon releases his album Soul of a Man and begins touring with a new band....
) 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...
. Following their participation on previous album After the Storm (2003), the singer re-teamed with producers and rappers Jermaine Dupri
Jermaine Dupri
Jermaine Dupri Mauldin , known as Jermaine Dupri or JD, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper.- Early life and career :...
and 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...
to work on the majority of the album, with additional production resulting from collaborations with Bryan Michael Cox
Bryan Michael Cox
Bryan-Michael Cox is a GRAMMY award winning American songwriter and record producer.-History:Bryan-Michael Cox was born in Miami and grew up in Houston, where he attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. While in the eleventh grade he met and was mentored by Greg Curtis...
, The Underdogs
The Underdogs (duo)
The Underdogs is an R&B/pop production duo composed of Harvey Mason, Jr. and Damon Thomas.-Biography:Harvey Mason, Jr. is the son of Harvey Mason, Sr., a noted session drummer...
, Tank
Tank (American singer)
Tank is an American R&B singer, songwriter and producer.-Career:Tank was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and moved with his family as a child to the Washington, D.C. suburb of Clinton, Maryland. He was a multi-sport athlete at Crossland High School and was offered the opportunity to play college...
, Harold Lilly, Swizz Beatz
Swizz Beatz
Kasseem Dean , better known by his stage name, Swizz Beatz, is an American record producer, DJ, rapper and painter. At the age of 17, he gained attention in the hip-hop world through his friendship with rapper DMX. Grady Spivey and rapper Cassidy helped launch his label Full Surface Records...
, Sean Garrett
Sean Garrett
Garrett Hamler, better known by his stage name Sean Garrett is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, and record producer. He has produced fifteen number one singles in only seven years of producing music. That number puts him in fifth place on the Billboard list of producers with the most number...
, and others.
The album garnered a mostly positive reception from music critics, and produced four singles of which all failed to chart or sell noticeably. It reached the top of U.S. 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...
s 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...
chart, and number eight 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...
, selling 328,000 copies in total domestically to date.
In April 2007, a Deluxe Digital version of the album featuring free ringtones for "The First Night
The First Night
"The First Night" is a song by American R&B singer Monica. It was written by Jermaine Dupri, Tamara Savage, Marilyn McLeod, Pam Sawyer and produced by rapper-producer Jermaine Dupri, incorporating a sample of Diana Ross's 1976 recording "Love Hangover," penned by Marilyn McLeod and Pam...
," a free cellphone wallpaper, and a blow-in card was sold by Walmart.
Background
Although most of The Makings of Me was not recorded before Monica had given birth to her first child in May 2005, the singer had started work on her then-untitled fourth album with various producers and songwriters during her pregnancy, including Missy ElliottMissy 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...
, Bryan Michael Cox
Bryan Michael Cox
Bryan-Michael Cox is a GRAMMY award winning American songwriter and record producer.-History:Bryan-Michael Cox was born in Miami and grew up in Houston, where he attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. While in the eleventh grade he met and was mentored by Greg Curtis...
, and executive producer Jermaine Dupri
Jermaine Dupri
Jermaine Dupri Mauldin , known as Jermaine Dupri or JD, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper.- Early life and career :...
. While both Elliott and Dupri contributed most to the album, the singer was anxious to keep the number of collaborators "very close knit and intimate" and thus, settled on working with producers Sean Garrett
Sean Garrett
Garrett Hamler, better known by his stage name Sean Garrett is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, and record producer. He has produced fifteen number one singles in only seven years of producing music. That number puts him in fifth place on the Billboard list of producers with the most number...
, Harold Lilly, Swizz Beatz
Swizz Beatz
Kasseem Dean , better known by his stage name, Swizz Beatz, is an American record producer, DJ, rapper and painter. At the age of 17, he gained attention in the hip-hop world through his friendship with rapper DMX. Grady Spivey and rapper Cassidy helped launch his label Full Surface Records...
, Tank
Tank (American singer)
Tank is an American R&B singer, songwriter and producer.-Career:Tank was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and moved with his family as a child to the Washington, D.C. suburb of Clinton, Maryland. He was a multi-sport athlete at Crossland High School and was offered the opportunity to play college...
and The Underdogs
The Underdogs (duo)
The Underdogs is an R&B/pop production duo composed of Harvey Mason, Jr. and Damon Thomas.-Biography:Harvey Mason, Jr. is the son of Harvey Mason, Sr., a noted session drummer...
, particularly, resulting into a total of forty finished records. In addition, however, Monica also recorded with Dre & Vidal
Dre & Vidal
Dre & Vidal is a Multi-Grammy Award Winning songwriting and production duo consisting of Andre Harris and Vidal Davis, who are best known as the main producers for Jill Scott and Glenn Lewis...
, 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...
, Scott Storch
Scott Storch
Scott Storch is an American record producer. He produces a variety of music, particularly hip hop, reggaeton, and R&B. His label, Storch Music Company responsible for signing Brooke Hogan and Nox...
, Jazze Pha
Jazze Pha
Phalon Anton Alexander , also known as Jazze Pha , is an American singer, and songwriter.raised in Memphis, TN; son of James Alexander ....
, No I.D.
No I.D.
No I.D., officially known as Immenslope and also known as Ernest Wilson , is a hip hop and R&B record producer, also the vice-president of Def Jam Recordings, best known for his early work with Chicago rapper Common and is known as "The Godfather of Chicago hip hop".. The nickname No I.D...
, and rappers Mannie Fresh
Mannie Fresh
Byron O. Thomas, better known by his stage name Mannie Fresh, is currently an artist and hip-hop producer who records for Def Jam South and his own division Chubby Boy Records...
, Akon
Akon
Aliaune Damala Badara Thiam, better known as simply Akon , is a Senegalese American R&B recording artist and songwriter.According to Forbes, Akon grossed $21 million in 2010, $20 million in 2009 and $12 million in 2008. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of "Locked Up", the first...
and Young Jeezy
Young Jeezy
Jay Wayne Jenkins , better known by his stage name Young Jeezy, is an American rapper. He is the member of the hip hop group United Streets Dopeboyz of America and a former member of BMF...
, but none of the songs written with them eventually made the final track listing. Some of them, however, appeared on her 2007 mixtape Greg Street Present......Monica Made: The Mixtape.
Although the album was tentatively titled Street Butterfly, Raw, or A Dozen Roses at one time or another, the long-player was eventually named after Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...
's "The Makings of You", which is sampled in the album's second single "A Dozen Roses (You Remind Me)": "This album is really the makings of me because it talks about so many different scenarios, both good and bad, that have pretty much brought me to the point where I'm at mentally," Monica told in a 2006 interview with 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...
, comparing it with a "musical diary where people can really see me in a lot of different lights for once."
Lyrical themes
Although Monica received neither a producing nor a songwriting credit on The Makings of Me, the album was widely addressed as her most personal effort yet. The singer attributed the personal sound of the album to the words of her self-written poetries, she has started writing in the late 1990s and of which about half of the songs on the album are based on. Having used the writings before to inspire the themes of the tracks for previous albums All Eyez on MeAll Eyez on Me (Monica album)
All Eyez on Me is the third studio album by American singer Monica. Named after its leading single, the album was released by J Records on October 21, 2002 in Japan only, featuring production by Dallas Austin, Bryan Michael Cox, Jermaine Dupri, Rodney Jerkins, and Soulshock & Karlin among...
(2002) and After the Storm (2003), it was actually the first time she handed the poems over to her songwriters. "That was kind of private [to hand over]," Monica said in an interview with Deseret News. "It was going into the hands of about seven or eight people. It was difficult to do something like that the first time around." Feeling obligated to unveil her true thoughts about past relationships, writers Tank
Tank (American singer)
Tank is an American R&B singer, songwriter and producer.-Career:Tank was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and moved with his family as a child to the Washington, D.C. suburb of Clinton, Maryland. He was a multi-sport athlete at Crossland High School and was offered the opportunity to play college...
, Manuel Seal
Manuel Seal
Manuel Seal, Jr. is an American Hip-Hop/R&B record producer and songwriter.Formerly a contract songwriter and producer at Jermaine Dupri's So So Def Recordings, Manuel Seal, Jr...
and others crafted songs such as "Sideline Ho
Sideline Ho
"Sideline Ho" is a song by American R&B singer Monica, written by Harvey Mason Jr., Damon Thomas, Antonio Dixon, Eric Dawkins, Steve Russell, and Durrell "Tank" Babbs for her fourth studio album, The Makings of Me . It was co-produced by The Underdogs and Tank, and released as the album's third...
" and "Why Her," which were inspired by the poems or their backstories.
The album contains several references to Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
and alludes to contemporary fashion labels such as Gucci
Gucci
The House of Gucci, better known simply as Gucci , is an Italian fashion and leather goods label, part of the Gucci Group, which is owned by French company PPR...
, and automobile manufacturers Bentley
Bentley
Bentley Motors Limited is a British manufacturer of automobiles founded on 18 January 1919 by Walter Owen Bentley known as W.O. Bentley or just "W O". Bentley had been previously known for his range of rotary aero-engines in World War I, the most famous being the Bentley BR1 as used in later...
and Mercedes Benz. In "A Dozen Roses (You Remind Me)," singers R. Kelly
R. Kelly
Robert Sylvester Kelly , better known by his stage name R. Kelly, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. A native of Chicago, Kelly began performing during the late 1980s and debuted in 1992 with the group Public Announcement. In 1993, Kelly went solo with the album 12 Play...
and Gladys Knight
Gladys Knight
Gladys Maria Knight , known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer-songwriter, actress, businesswoman, humanitarian, and author...
are mentioned. Although Monica intended for the album to include some light recordings, she stated that The Makings of Me "is not an album for kids." "This album is very, very different from the other ones, because of me personally. Now, at 26, the way I look at things, even relationships, I was really able to involve more of my life experiences in the album," Monica said to MTV News
MTV News
MTV News is the news division of MTV, one of the first and most popular music television network in the U.S., as well as some of MTV's related channels around the world. MTV News began in the late 1980s with the program The Week In Rock, hosted by Kurt Loder, the first official MTV News correspondent...
, adding: "I had to tell my story [...] There are too many people who have been in the same situation as me and really don't know their way out. Hopefully through my words, what I say can open a door."
Content
"Everytime tha Beat DropEverytime tha Beat Drop
"Everytime tha Beat Drop" is a song by American R&B singer Monica, composed by Johnta Austin, Jermaine Dupri, Robert Hill, Charles Hammond, Deangelo Hunt, James Phillips, and Dem Franchize Boyz for Monica's fifth studio album, The Makings of Me...
", one of the last songs recorded for The Makings of Me, was chosen as the lead single to show "something that appears on the outside to be different from" Monica and, in addition, represents her hometown Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
. Greatly influenced by snap music
Snap music
Snap music is a dance-centric subgenre of hip hop music, that originated in the South in the late-1990s, in Bankhead, West Atlanta, the United States. Early snap artists include D4L, Dem Franchize Boys, and K-Rab....
, the track incorporates beats of Nelly
Nelly
Cornell Iral Haynes, Jr. , better known by his stage name Nelly, is an Grammy Award winning American rapper and actor. He has performed with the rap group St. Lunatics since 1993 and signed to Universal Records in 1999. Under Universal, Nelly began his solo career in 2000 with his debut album...
's 2005 single "Grillz
Grillz
"Grillz" is a song by American rapper Nelly from his compilation album Sweatsuit. The song features Paul Wall and Ali & Gipp. Brandi Williams also does back-up vocals on the song, but is not officially credited as a featured artist . The song was produced by Jermaine Dupri. The song is about...
" and a sample of the 2006 single "Lean wit It, Rock wit It
Lean wit It, Rock wit It
"Lean wit It, Rock wit It" is a song by Atlanta rap group Dem Franchize Boyz from their album On Top of Our Game. It features Lil Peanut and Charlay and it is produced by Maurice "Parlae" Gleaton....
," as performed by Dem Franchize Boyz
Dem Franchize Boyz
Dem Franchize Boyz was a Southern Rap group from Atlanta signed to E1 Music. The group comprises four members: Parlae , Pimpin' , Jizzal Man , and Buddie .-History:...
. The song received lukewarm reviews, noted as "a decent but ultimately forgettable [...] obligatory club track," and was a mediocre success, reaching the top twenty on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
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,...
chart only. The second single, Elliott-penned "A Dozen Roses (You Remind Me)", underperformed. The song, a modern rework of Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...
's 1972 single "The Makings of You", was the last music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
-accompanied release from the album.
"Sideline Ho
Sideline Ho
"Sideline Ho" is a song by American R&B singer Monica, written by Harvey Mason Jr., Damon Thomas, Antonio Dixon, Eric Dawkins, Steve Russell, and Durrell "Tank" Babbs for her fourth studio album, The Makings of Me . It was co-produced by The Underdogs and Tank, and released as the album's third...
", the third track, was written and produced by fellow R&B musician Tank
Tank (American singer)
Tank is an American R&B singer, songwriter and producer.-Career:Tank was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and moved with his family as a child to the Washington, D.C. suburb of Clinton, Maryland. He was a multi-sport athlete at Crossland High School and was offered the opportunity to play college...
. Based upon a self-written poem by Monica, the lyrics of the song were inspired by an ex who cheated on her with a video model. It was released as the album's third single, and although the song saw a comparatively successful debut on the charts, J Records
J Records
J Records was an American record label, owned and operated by Sony Music Entertainment, and was distributed through the RCA Music Group.-Company history:...
refused to agree on producing a music video for the song, with ideas for a video treatment being eventually scrapped. The fourth track, Jermaine Dupri
Jermaine Dupri
Jermaine Dupri Mauldin , known as Jermaine Dupri or JD, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper.- Early life and career :...
-produced "Why Her," serves as a direct follow-up to "Sideline Ho" and was also inspired by a poem. "After all the anger and the smoke cleared, the next one that I wrote was Why Her. And I thought it was really clever [...] to create songs off of my poems like that," Monica said. The song received a generally positive reception from music critics, and was compared to Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
's 2005 recording "We Belong Together." "Hell No (Leave Home)
Hell No (Leave Home)
"Hell No " is a song by American singer Monica. It was written by Bryan Michael Cox, Sean Garrett, and Carl Mitchell and co-produced by Cox and Garrett, and features guest vocals by rapper Twista for her fourth studio album The Makings of Me...
", the fifth track, has Monica trading verses with fast-paced rapper Twista
Twista
Carl Terrell Mitchell , better known by his stage name Twista, is an American rapper. He is known for once holding the title of fastest rapper in the world according to Guinness World Records in 1992, being able to pronounce 598 syllables in 55 seconds...
. The singer commented the recording of the rhymes as comical: "He [Twista] had so much patience with me and allowed me to learn his way of rapping. Of course, rapping isn't what I do, but I did enjoy the experience. The way I learned best was with him in the booth." Released as the final single from the album, it was released to no commercial success.
"Doin' Me Right", built around a sample of The Whispers
The Whispers
The Whispers are a long-established R&B-dance vocal group from Los Angeles, California, with a consistent track record of hit records dating back to the late 1960s.-Career:...
' 1976 "Chocolate Girl", was noted as one of the "few songs about good men" on The Makings of Me, alongside Underdogs
The Underdogs (duo)
The Underdogs is an R&B/pop production duo composed of Harvey Mason, Jr. and Damon Thomas.-Biography:Harvey Mason, Jr. is the son of Harvey Mason, Sr., a noted session drummer...
-crafted "My Everything". Considered as this album's "Knock Knock
Knock Knock (song)
"Knock Knock" is a song by American recording artist Monica. It was written and produced by Missy Elliott for Monica's fourth studio album After the Storm and contains excerpts from 1976's "It's a Terrible Thing to Waste Your Love" as written by Lee Hatim and performed by The Masqueraders...
" (the second single from 2003's After the Storm), it was praised by critics who called the track "another sweet twist on a soft-soul classic." The seventh track, "Raw," features production and guest vocals by Swizz Beatz
Swizz Beatz
Kasseem Dean , better known by his stage name, Swizz Beatz, is an American record producer, DJ, rapper and painter. At the age of 17, he gained attention in the hip-hop world through his friendship with rapper DMX. Grady Spivey and rapper Cassidy helped launch his label Full Surface Records...
and was noted the only upbeat track on the album next to "Everytime tha Beat Drop." It chronicles the protagonist's lament on so-called "playas" over a speaker-jarring 808 beat
Roland TR-808
The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer was one of the first programmable drum machines . Introduced by the Roland Corporation in early 1980, it was originally manufactured for use as a tool for studio musicians to create demos. Like earlier Roland drum machines, it does not sound very much like a real...
, and received mixed reviews. "Gotta Move On," the ninth track, incorporates minor elements of oriental music. Featuring backing vocals by singer Tweet
Tweet (singer)
Tweet is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter.-Early years:The youngest child of Tom and Shirley Keys, Tweet was born in Rochester, New York on January 21, 1972, and grew up singing in the church along with her parents and her four older siblings...
, it was declared "a kiss-off dipped in honey" by Allmusic. The closing track, "Getaway", is an all-piano song, except for a few accents from a snare drum
Snare drum
The snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
briefly throughout the tune. It discusses the witnessing of Monica's former boyfriend Jarvis Weems' death in 2000.
Releases and promotion
The first singles "Everytime Tha Beat DropEverytime tha Beat Drop
"Everytime tha Beat Drop" is a song by American R&B singer Monica, composed by Johnta Austin, Jermaine Dupri, Robert Hill, Charles Hammond, Deangelo Hunt, James Phillips, and Dem Franchize Boyz for Monica's fifth studio album, The Makings of Me...
" were initially targeted to radio July 24, 2006 (see 2006 in music
2006 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2006.-January:*January 10 – Eric Burdon releases his album Soul of a Man and begins touring with a new band....
) in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. A week later, footage was released by Access Atlanta, featuring photos on the making of the music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s to "Everytime Tha Beat Drop".
The songs "Why Her" and then titled "Hell No
Hell No (Leave Home)
"Hell No " is a song by American singer Monica. It was written by Bryan Michael Cox, Sean Garrett, and Carl Mitchell and co-produced by Cox and Garrett, and features guest vocals by rapper Twista for her fourth studio album The Makings of Me...
" from the album was premiered on September 2008 on Monica's MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
account.
Prior to its release, she appeared on BET's 106 & Park
106 & 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...
in September 2010 to promote the album, and on BET's Blueprint
Blueprint
A blueprint is a type of paper-based reproduction usually of a technical drawing, documenting an architecture or an engineering design. More generally, the term "blueprint" has come to be used to refer to any detailed plan....
on October 5, 2006. On October 9, she also performed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show, often shortened to Ellen, is an American television talk show hosted by comedian/actress Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it is produced by Telepictures and airs in syndication, including stations owned by NBC Universal. For its first five seasons, the show...
in promotion of the album. She also performed on the The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson is a Peabody Award-winning American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish American comedian Craig Ferguson. Ferguson, the third regular host of the Late Late Show franchise, follows Late Show with David Letterman in the CBS late-night lineup...
.
Commercial performance
One week after its release, The Makings of Me debuted at number-one on the U.S. BillboardBillboard (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...
s 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...
chart, and at number eight on the official 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...
, with moderately successful first week sales of 92,935 copies — about half as much as her previous effort, number-one album After the Storm (2003). While it became Monica's first album to reach the top of the R&B Albums Chart, it also scored her her lowest peak position on the Billboard 200 since 1998's The Boy Is Mine
The Boy Is Mine
"The Boy Is Mine" is a duet by American recording artists Brandy and Monica. It was written by LaShawn Daniels, Fred Jerkins III, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins and Brandy with co-production by Darkchild and Dallas Austin, and released as the lead single from both singers' second albums during the...
which had also reached number eight. As of December 2008, the album has sold 328,000 copies domestically, making it Monica's lowest selling album and first album to not receive a 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...
to date. Outside the States, it opened at number twenty-three on the R&B Top 50 Albums Chart 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 at number seventy-five on the Japanese Album 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...
.
Altogether The Makings of Me spawned four singles: The lead album's first single, Dupri-produced "Everytime tha Beat Drop
Everytime tha Beat Drop
"Everytime tha Beat Drop" is a song by American R&B singer Monica, composed by Johnta Austin, Jermaine Dupri, Robert Hill, Charles Hammond, Deangelo Hunt, James Phillips, and Dem Franchize Boyz for Monica's fifth studio album, The Makings of Me...
" barely made it to top fifty on the U.S. 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...
Hot 100 chart with a peak position of number fourty-eight only, becoming Monica's least successful lead single since 2002's "All Eyez on Me
All Eyez on Me (song)
"All Eyez on Me" is a dance-pop song written by American R&B singer Monica, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins and LaShawn Daniels for her original third studio album, All Eyez on Me . It was produced by Jerkins, incorporating excerpts of Michael Jackson's 1983 hit "P.Y.T...
." It, however, reached number eleven on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
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,...
chart, and number seven on the World R&B Top 30 Singles chart. The second and third singles from the album, "A Dozen Roses (You Remind Me)" and "Sideline Ho
Sideline Ho
"Sideline Ho" is a song by American R&B singer Monica, written by Harvey Mason Jr., Damon Thomas, Antonio Dixon, Eric Dawkins, Steve Russell, and Durrell "Tank" Babbs for her fourth studio album, The Makings of Me . It was co-produced by The Underdogs and Tank, and released as the album's third...
," underquoted this success with peak positions of number fourty-eight and fourty-five respectively on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, never making it to the official Hot 100. A fourth single, "Hell No (Leave Home)
Hell No (Leave Home)
"Hell No " is a song by American singer Monica. It was written by Bryan Michael Cox, Sean Garrett, and Carl Mitchell and co-produced by Cox and Garrett, and features guest vocals by rapper Twista for her fourth studio album The Makings of Me...
" was serviced to U.S. radios on May 14, 2007, achieving similar success.
Critical response
The Makings of Me received generally positive to mixed reviews from most professional music critics. Andy Kellman of Allmusic gave the album four stars out of five and called it a "concise and mostly sweet (if occasionally unremarkable) set of songs," especially praising Elliott's input on the album. Ryan Dombal of Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
declared it "a solid addition" to Monica's discography, and although he saw her faltering on ballads such as "My Everything", he added: "the singer hints at mature contentment on her fourth CD — while retaining some angry edge, [... scoring] tough-talking venom." USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
writer Steve Jones, on the other hand, wrote: "Sweet ballads like 'My Everything' and the Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...
-laced 'A Dozen Roses (You Remind Me)' find her nicely contented having found the one. But do her wrong or play her soft and she’ll unleash a torrent of scorn [...] In the mid-90s, she was the sassy 14-year-old Miss Thang
Miss Thang
Miss Thang is the debut studio album by American R&B recording artist Monica Arnold. It was released by Rowdy and Arista Records on July 18, 1995 in the United States, featuring main production by mentor Dallas Austin protégés from his DARP production camp such as Tim & Bob, Darryl Simmons, Colin...
. Now she’s full grown and not to be fooled with. Still, she can get the dancefloor popping [...]."
In his review for About.com
About.com
About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....
, Mark Edward Nero noted The Makings of Me "a very personal album that listening to it is almost like reading a diary," and while he applauded the songwriting and song production as "excellent," he cited a "lack of emotion" in Monica's voice: "She cuts loose, but for the most part, Monica seems more concerned with pitch-perfect singing than singing with genuine emotion. In addition, he also criticised the relative shortness of the album.
Track listing
Samples- "Everytime tha Beat Drop" contains a samples of Dem Franchize BoyzDem Franchize BoyzDem Franchize Boyz was a Southern Rap group from Atlanta signed to E1 Music. The group comprises four members: Parlae , Pimpin' , Jizzal Man , and Buddie .-History:...
' 2006 "Lean wit It, Rock wit ItLean wit It, Rock wit It"Lean wit It, Rock wit It" is a song by Atlanta rap group Dem Franchize Boyz from their album On Top of Our Game. It features Lil Peanut and Charlay and it is produced by Maurice "Parlae" Gleaton....
". - "A Dozen Roses (You Remind Me)" contains a samples of Curtis MayfieldCurtis MayfieldCurtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...
's 1972 "The Makings of Me". - "Doin' Me Right" contains a samples of The WhispersThe WhispersThe Whispers are a long-established R&B-dance vocal group from Los Angeles, California, with a consistent track record of hit records dating back to the late 1960s.-Career:...
' 1976 "Chocolate Girl".
Chart positions
| Chart (2006) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian R&B Top 50 Albums | 23 |
| Japanese Oricon Albums | 75 |
| 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... |
8 |
| U.S. Billboard Top Digital Albums | 8 |
| 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... |
1 |
Chart procession and succession
Release history
| Region | Date | Label |
|---|---|---|
| United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
October 3, 2006 | J J Records J Records was an American record label, owned and operated by Sony Music Entertainment, and was distributed through the RCA Music Group.-Company history:... |
| 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... |
October 10, 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... |
December 9, 2006 |
Credits and personnel
Production- Album Producers: Clive DavisClive DavisClive Davis is an American record producer and music industry executive. He has won five Grammy Awards and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer. From 1967 to 1973 he was the President of Columbia Records. He was the founder and president of Arista Records from 1975...
, Monica, Lary Jackson - Executive producerExecutive producerAn executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
s: Monica ArnoldMonica (singer)Monica Denise Brown , and professionally known as Monica, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, Monica began performing as a child and became part of a traveling gospel choir, by the time she was ten...
, Jermaine DupriJermaine DupriJermaine Dupri Mauldin , known as Jermaine Dupri or JD, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper.- Early life and career :... - Assoctiate executive producer: Melinda Dancil
- Vocal assistance: Missy Elliott, TweetTweet (singer)Tweet is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter.-Early years:The youngest child of Tom and Shirley Keys, Tweet was born in Rochester, New York on January 21, 1972, and grew up singing in the church along with her parents and her four older siblings...
- 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: Angelo Aponte, Corte Ellis, Paul J. Falcone, John Horesco IV, Samuel "Vaughan" Merrick, Tadd Mingo, Vernon Mungo, Sam Thomas - Mastering: David Kutch
- DesignDesignDesign as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
: Jane Morledge - Art Direction: Chris Lebeau
- 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...
: Markus Klinko and Indrani - StylingFashionFashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...
: GK Reid
Musicians
- Adelaide Federici — 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....
- Karen Freer — 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...
- P. David Hancock — cello
- Helen Kim — violin
- Tom Knight — 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 ....
- Alice Lord — 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...
- PJ Morton — piano, keyboardsKeyboard 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...
- Tania Maxwell Clements — viola
- Jackie Pickett — double bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
External links
- Monica.com — official website