The Sellout
Encyclopedia
The Sellout is the fifth studio album
by American R&B
-soul
singer–songwriter Macy Gray
, released on June 22, 2010 in the United States. The album's lead single, "Beauty in the World" was released in April 2010. Upon its release, The Sellout received generally mixed reviews from most music critics.
.
charts, including the Adult Contemporary and its remix on the Hot Dance Club Songs.
The first UK single is "Lately", released on June 14, but failing to reach the UK Singles Chart
. It charted better on the Billboards Hot Dance Club Play
, so far, reaching the top-ten.
The second U.S. single, "Kissed It" (featuring Velvet Revolver
) was released on May 24, and is the featured song on Bravo's summer campaign.
The title track "The Sellout" will be released as the UK second single (fourth overall) 0n August 30, 2010.
Albums, selling 11,000 copies. It dropped to number #133 on its second week.
gave it 3 out of 5 stars and wrote that it "suffers much of the same frustrating patchiness, that distinctively emotive voice squandered on material that simply doesn't deserve it". Allmusic writer John Bush shared a similar sentiment and panned Gray's songwriting. MusicOMH
writer Talia Soghomonian gave the album 2½ out of 5 stars and wrote "While there is plenty of soul in the sound, there is a lack of body in both delivery and melody". Q
gave it 2 out of 5 stars and called it "her blandest record yet: it drifts from nondescript disco-pop and cloying R&B to woefully ersatz glam stomp".
However, The Boston Globe
s James Reed commended its production and wrote that it "sands off the edges that have been key to Gray’s appeal". Jeremy Allen of NME
gave the album a 7/10 rating and praised Gray for "effortlessly combining classic pop with flamboyant chart-frippery". Entertainment Weekly
s Simon Vozick-Levinson gave The Sellout a B- rating and stated "Nothing here will dramatically alter the arc of Gray's career, but The Sellout yields several jams worth hearing". In his consumer guide for MSN Music
, critic Robert Christgau
gave the album an A- rating, indicating "the kind of garden-variety good record that is the great luxury of musical micromarketing and overproduction. Anyone open to its aesthetic will enjoy more than half its tracks".
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 R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
-soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
singer–songwriter Macy Gray
Macy Gray
Macy Gray is a Grammy Award-winning American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress, famed for her distinctive raspy voice, and a singing style heavily influenced by Billie Holiday and Betty Davis.Gray has released five studio albums, with her fifth studio album, The Sellout,...
, released on June 22, 2010 in the United States. The album's lead single, "Beauty in the World" was released in April 2010. Upon its release, The Sellout received generally mixed reviews from most music critics.
Background
Gray announced the album on her website, stating that it had been a work in progress since 2008. She wrote:
Hello.
Since November 2008, I've been working hard on my fifth album and am so excited for you to hear it.
It is called "The Sellout."
It's about all the mountains I've been climbing to be where I want to be in my personal and professional life.
It is most certainly my best work and we are almost finished.
The album is produced by Myself, Jared and Whitey, Caviar, Kaz James and Rodney Jerkins. It includes a duet with the legendary Bobby Brown and performances by the best musicians I've ever known.
Check in daily for updates on the progress of the record and songs from the record that you will hear here first.
- Macy
Release and promotion
The album was originally intended to be released on May 18, 2010, but for unknown reasons its release was pushed to June 22, 2010. It is her first studio album since 2007's BigBig (album)
Big is the fourth studio album by American recording artist Macy Gray, released in the United States on March 27, 2007 by Geffen Records. It is Gray's first studio album in four years....
.
Singles
The first U.S. single is "Beauty In The World", which has been on three BillboardBillboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
charts, including the Adult Contemporary and its remix on the Hot Dance Club Songs.
The first UK single is "Lately", released on June 14, but failing to reach the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. It charted better on the Billboards Hot Dance Club Play
Hot Dance Club Play
The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...
, so far, reaching the top-ten.
The second U.S. single, "Kissed It" (featuring Velvet Revolver
Velvet Revolver
Velvet Revolver is an American hard rock supergroup consisting of former Guns N' Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum, alongside Dave Kushner formerly of punk band Wasted Youth. Stone Temple Pilots vocalist Scott Weiland was Velvet Revolver's lead singer from their formation until...
) was released on May 24, and is the featured song on Bravo's summer campaign.
The title track "The Sellout" will be released as the UK second single (fourth overall) 0n August 30, 2010.
Commercial Performance
The album debut at number #38 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...
Albums, selling 11,000 copies. It dropped to number #133 on its second week.
Critical response
Upon its release, The Sellout received generally mixed reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 57, based on 15 reviews, which indicates "mixed or average reviews". Andy Gill of The IndependentThe Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
gave it 3 out of 5 stars and wrote that it "suffers much of the same frustrating patchiness, that distinctively emotive voice squandered on material that simply doesn't deserve it". Allmusic writer John Bush shared a similar sentiment and panned Gray's songwriting. MusicOMH
MusicOMH
musicOMH is a United Kingdom-based website which publishes independent reviews, featues and interviews from across all musical genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B.-History:...
writer Talia Soghomonian gave the album 2½ out of 5 stars and wrote "While there is plenty of soul in the sound, there is a lack of body in both delivery and melody". Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
gave it 2 out of 5 stars and called it "her blandest record yet: it drifts from nondescript disco-pop and cloying R&B to woefully ersatz glam stomp".
However, The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
s James Reed commended its production and wrote that it "sands off the edges that have been key to Gray’s appeal". Jeremy Allen of NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
gave the album a 7/10 rating and praised Gray for "effortlessly combining classic pop with flamboyant chart-frippery". Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment 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...
s Simon Vozick-Levinson gave The Sellout a B- rating and stated "Nothing here will dramatically alter the arc of Gray's career, but The Sellout yields several jams worth hearing". In his consumer guide for MSN Music
MSN Music
MSN Music was a part of the MSN web services. It delivered music news, music videos, spotlights on new music, artist information, and live performances of artists. In 2004, Microsoft created an MSN Music download store to compete with Apple's iTunes Music Store, though its sales in comparison were...
, critic Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
gave the album an A- rating, indicating "the kind of garden-variety good record that is the great luxury of musical micromarketing and overproduction. Anyone open to its aesthetic will enjoy more than half its tracks".
Track listing
Charts
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums Chart | 70 |
| Dutch Albums Chart | 76 |
| French Albums Chart | 62 |
| Greek Albums Chart Greek Albums Chart International Federation of the Phonographic Industry Greece or IFPI Greece is the Greek branch of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and is the official charts provider and recording sales certification body for Greece. Currently two charts are compiled, one for sales of... |
10 |
| Polish Album Charts OLiS OLiS is the official list of the highest selling music albums in Poland. The list exists since October 23, 2000 and is provided by ZPAV.... |
42 |
| Swiss Albums Chart | 28 |
| 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... |
128 |
| 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... |
38 |
External links
- The Sellout at MetacriticMetacriticMetacritic.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,...