All Eyez on Me (Monica album)
| All Eyez on Me | ||||||||||
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| Studio album by Monica | ||||||||||
| Released | October 21, 2002 (Japan) | |||||||||
| Recorded | 2001–2002 | |||||||||
| Genre | R&B | |||||||||
| Length | 47:24 | |||||||||
| Label | J | |||||||||
| Producer | Monica Arnold, Clive Davis, Jermaine Dupri (exec.), Dallas Austin, Peter Biker, Bryan Michael Cox, David Foster, Rodney Jerkins, Soulshock & Karlin, Ric Wake | |||||||||
| Monica chronology | ||||||||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Blender |   [1] |
| The Boston Globe | (favorable)[2] |
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 (see 2002 in music) in Japan only, featuring production by Dallas Austin, Bryan Michael Cox, Jermaine Dupri, Rodney Jerkins, and Soulshock & Karlin among others.
Its release was partially scrapped after its first single's failure and an early leak via the internet. The longplayer was then retooled as After the Storm in 2003, and the song "U Should've Known Better" released as its fourth single in 2004.
Contents |
[edit] Background
[edit] Production and title
After dealing with more personal tribulations between the years 2000 and 2001, including the suicide of boyfriend Jarvis "Knot" Weems, an up-and-down relationship with former fiancé Corey "C-Murder" Miller, and a minor heart condition, Monica eventually decided to return to the recording studio to prepare the release of her third album in fall 2001. Over the course of the sessions Clive Davis, who had taken the singer with him from his former label, Arista Records, to his latest venture, J Records, emerged as Monica's new mentor, replacing producer Dallas Austin, while longtime contributor Jermaine Dupri served as the album's executive producer.[3]
Monica primarily focused on working with her usual stable of producers, which also included Austin, production team Soulshock & Karlin, Bryan Michael Cox, and Rodney Jerkins and his Darkchild crew. Though she "had never thought about writing much" by then, her producers encouraged the singer to intensify her work on the album and to write and contribute own lyrics and ideas to the songs. "I didn't have one concept in mind: I just thought about the situations and that they might be worth sharing." In the end Monica came up with nine songs for her third album, which she declared as "quite serious" because of its more adult subject-matter and moreover called her "'coming of age' record" with the view to "establish the kind of fans who will be with me for the next ten years and more ..."[3]
Although the album was tentatively titled I'm Back and Monica at one time or another, the longplayer was eventually named after the album's lead single, "All Eyez on Me."[3]
[edit] Partial delay
The album received a limited release in Japan and commercial release in Europe. The set was initially scheduled for release in July and then pushed back to September, August, and November, but by the time it was being scheduled for American release,[3][4] All Eyez on Me was widely available through Internet file-sharing services and bootleg outlets. As a result, the album was pulled from stores days after the release and Monica's label asked her to substantially reconstruct the record with a host of new producers.
Though "Ain't Gonna Cry No More" was considered to be released as a single at times, the album yielded two singles only: The album's lead single, "All Eyez on Me", was a moderate success in the United States where it barely made it to the top 70 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart and peaked at number 24 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, but it entered the top 30 in New Zealand, and the top 40 in Australia. The second single, "Too Hood", featuring Jermaine Dupri, received a limited vinyl release only since J Records denied to produce a music video for the song. It, however, was included on a limited edition bonus CD with re-worked After the Storm in 2003. It was also featured on the soundtrack for the EA Sports basketball game NBA Live 2003, released in October 2002.
[edit] Track listing
Some songs appear with different titles then the re-tooled release, "After the Storm".[5]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I'm Back" | Monica Arnold, Bryan Michael Cox, Harold Lilly, Andy Armer, Randy Alpert, | Bryan Michael Cox, Jermaine Dupri | 3:35 |
| 2. | "All Eyez on Me" | M. Arnold, LaShawn Daniels, James Ingram, Quincy Jones | Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins | 4:00 |
| 3. | "U Should've Known" | M. Arnold, B. Cox, Jermaine Dupri, H. Lilly | J. Dupri, B. Cox | 4:18 |
| 4. | "Too Hood" (featuring Jermaine Dupri) | M. Arnold, B. Cox, J. Dupri, H. Lilly | J. Dupri, B. Cox | 4:04 |
| 5. | "I Wrote This Song" | M. Arnold, Shamora Crawford, Kenneth Karlin, Shuggie Otis, Carsten Shack, Damon Sharpe | Soulshock & Karlin | 3:48 |
| 6. | "U Deserve" (featuring Hussein Fatal) | M. Arnold, R. Cooper, Katari Cox, Yaleu Fula, H. Lilly, Joseph Paquette, Tupac Shakur, Bruce Washington, Tyrone Wrice | Dallas Austin | 4:24 |
| 7. | "Breaks My Heart" | C. Shack, K. Karlin, Shamora Crawford | Soulshock & Karlin | 4:27 |
| 8. | "Aint Gonna Cry No More" | M. Arnold, Fred Jerkins III, R. Jerkins, L. Daniels | Rodney Jerkins | 4:10 |
| 9. | "If U Were the Girl" | M. Arnold, Calvin Broadus, B. Cox, Jermaine Dupri, Awood Johnson, Craig Lawson, H. Lilly, Corey Miller | J. Dupri, B. Cox | 3:51 |
| 10. | "What Hurts the Most" | C. Shack, Peter Biker, S. Crawford | Soulshock & Karlin, P. Biker | 4:44 |
| 11. | "Searchin'" | M. Arnold, H. Lilly | B. Cox | 4:30 |
| Bonus tracks | |||||||||
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| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length | |||||
| 12. | "Just Another Girl" | Damon Sharpe, Lindy Robbins, Carsten Lindberg, Joachim Svare | Ric Wake | 3:24 | |||||
| 13. | "What My Heart Says" | Diane Warren | David Foster | 3:59 | |||||
[edit] Samples
- "I'm Back" contains a sample of Herb Alpert' 1979 "Rise".
- "All Eyez on Me" contains a sample of Michael Jackson' 1983 "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)".
- "I Wrote This Song" contains a sample of Shuggie Otis' 1970 "Aht Uh Mi Hed".
- "U Dserve" contains a sample of Tupac' 1996 "Hail Mary".
- "If U Were the Girl" contains a sample of C-Murder' 1998 "Down 4 My Niggas".
[edit] Credits and personnel
[edit] Musicians
- Montez Arnold - keyboards
- Shamora Crawford - backing vocals
- DJ Mars - programming
- Eric Jackson - guitar
- Marc Kelly - bass
- New Birth Praise Team - backing vocals
- Tommy Martin - guitar
- William Odum - guitar
[edit] Production
- Vocal producer: LaShawn Daniels, Harold Lilly, Rodney Jerkins
- Engineers: Ralph Cacciurri, Doug Harms, Tim Lauber, Carlton Lynn, Bill Malina
- Mixing: Kevin Davis, Rodney Jerkins, Manny Marroquin, Carsten "Soulshock" Shack, Dexter Simmons, Phil Tan
- Mixing assistance: John Horesco IV
- Mastering: Tony Dawsey
- A&R: Larry Jackson, Keith Naftaly
- Album coordinator: Melinda Dancil
- Art direction: Alexis Yraola
- Photography: Joshua Jordan
- Photos shoot production: Chris LeBeau
[edit] Charts
- These are the peak positions from chart providers.
| Chart (2002) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Swiss Albums Chart | 88[6] |
[edit] References
- ^ Blender review[dead link]
- ^ Endelman, Michael (17 January 2003). "Monica". The Boston Globe (The New York Times Company). ISSN 0743-1791. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=BG&p_theme=bg&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0F8A3C4DAD7CE71D&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
- ^ a b c d "Superstar Monica Selects Self-Titled Album". Business Wire. 27 June 2002. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2002_June_27/ai_87859988. Retrieved 25 November 2007.
- ^ Salomon, Yves Erwin (5 September 2002). "Monica's 'All Eyez On Me' Due In November". Yahoo! Music. http://new.music.yahoo.com/monica/news/monicas-all-eyez-on-me-due-in-november--12033430. Retrieved 25 November 2007.
- ^ "Monica - All Eyez On Me CD - Import". CDUniverse.com. http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/5408067/a/All+Eyez+On+Me.htm#. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
- ^ "Monica - All Eyez On Me". swisschart.com. http://swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Monica&titel=All+Eyez+On+Me&cat=a. Retrieved 13 October 2008.
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