Love vs. Money

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Love vs. Money
Studio album by The-Dream
Released March 10, 2009 (2009-03-10)
Recorded 2008
Genre R&B, pop
Length 56:05
Label Radio Killa/Def Jam
Producer The-Dream, Carlos "Los Da Mystro" McKinney, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, Lil Jon
The-Dream chronology
Love Hate
(2007)		 Love vs. Money
(2009)		 Love King
(2010)
Singles from Love vs. Money
  1. "Rockin' That Shit"
    Released: December 9, 2008
  2. "My Love"
    Released: February 24, 2009
  3. "Walkin' on the Moon"
    Released: April 28, 2009
  4. "Sweat It Out"
    Released: August 11, 2009

Love vs. Money is the second studio album by American R&B and pop artist The-Dream, released March 10, 2009 on Radio Killa and Def Jam Recordings. It is the follow-up to his debut album Love Hate (2007), and it was written and produced primarily by The-Dream and Christopher "Tricky" Stewart. The album debuted at number two on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling 151,000 copies in its first week. It spawned four singles that achieved moderate Billboard chart success. Upon its release, Love vs. Money received general acclaim from music critics. Rolling Stone named it the eighth best album of 2009.[1] Time ranked the album number six on its year-end list for 2009.[2]

Contents

[edit] Background

The album is the follow-up to The-Dream's gold-selling debut album, Love Hate (2007).[3] He re-teamed with his production partner Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, who produced most of the tracks on the album, and Los Da Maestro.[3] He also enlisted the help of Lil Jon for the song "Let Me See the Booty".[4] He initially stated that he had collaborated with Ludacris and Fabolous, however they failed to appear on the final track listing.[5] At an album listening event, a song booklet was given showing the album's initial track listing, including the unreleased "Touch & Feel" and "Nothing but Love".[6]

[edit] Music and lyrics

Primarily an R&B album, Love vs. Money heavily incorporates elements of electro and pop music, while its lyrics mostly concern themes of love, sex, and money.[7][8][9][10] Its musical structure features the "stream-of-consciousness" song transition of The-Dream's debut album.[11] On his use of melody, repetition, and catchiness, The-Dream discussed these musical elements and related them to child discipline, stating "Americans are not the biggest listeners. I didn't listen, which is why my granddaddy beat me half the time. It's only when the belt is swinging at you in the same repetitive manner that you actually start to listen. So it's all about creating a belt on the song that repetitiously swings at you. It doesn't mean that in between the belt swinging, I'm not saying stuff that means something".[11] The Washington Post's Allison Stewart wrote that the album "cribs heavily from vintage R. Kelly in the same way its predecessor,... 'Love Hate', borrowed from 'Purple Rain'-era Prince".[8] In an interview for DJBooth.net, he discussed his musical approach to the album, stating "This album's gonna be the same thing - a little more beefed up, I'm just gonna give you more. Every album I'm just gonna try to give you more of me, and what I think about certain things... This album is just gonna be the first album on some out of this world crack, basically".[12]

[edit] Release and promotion

Originally set for release by the end of 2008,[3] the album was released on March 10, 2009 in the United States through The-Dream's imprint label Radio Killa and Def Jam Recordings.[6] On August 31, 2009, Love vs. Money (Deluxe Edition) was released to iTunes, featuring bonus tracks, including "Hit It On The Road".[13] The first official single is "Rockin' That Thang" (explicitly "Rockin' That Shit"). The single peaked at number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number 2 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.[14] The second official single, "My Love" featuring Mariah Carey, peaked at number 82 on the Hot 100 and at number 36 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[15] Billboard's Chris Williams called it "a sumptuous love anthem for couples this spring".[16] The album's third single, "Walkin' on the Moon" featuring Kanye West, peaked at number 87 on the Hot 100 and at number 38 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.[17] The album's fourth and final single "Sweat It Out" peaked at number 32 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[18] The-Dream took part in a 21-city tour with R&B artist Keyshia Cole that started on May 13, 2009 at the Aronoff Center in Cincinnati and concluded at Paramount Theater in Oakland on June 21, 2009.[19]

[edit] Reception

[edit] Commercial performance

Love vs. Money debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling 151,000 copies in its first week.[20] It also entered at number one on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and at number three on its Top Digital Albums chart in March 2009.[21][22] In its second week, the album fell two positions to number four on the Billboard 200 with 56,000 copies sold.[23] In its third week, the album fell nine spots and sold an additional 35,967 copies,[24] and in its fourth week, it fell to number 19 and sold 27,972 more copies.[25] Love vs. Money spent a total of 17 weeks on Billboard 200 chart.[26] By May 2009, it had sold 331,000 copies in the United States, according to SoundScan.[19]

[edit] Critical response

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 4.5/5 stars....[27]
Blender 3.5/5 stars....[28]
Entertainment Weekly (C+)[29]
The Observer (favorable)[30]
PopMatters (6/10)[9]
Rolling Stone 4.5/5 stars....[31]
Slant Magazine 4/5 stars....[32]
Tiny Mix Tapes 4.5/5 stars....[10]
USA Today 3.5/4 stars...[33]
The Village Voice (favorable)[11]

Love vs. Money received general acclaim from music critics.[30] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 83, based on 13 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim".[30] Allmusic editor Andy Kellman gave it four-and-a-half out of five stars and called it "Love/Hate's equal, stuffed with hooks, ceaselessly absorptive productions, and clever and often funny wordplay".[27] Sean Fennessey of Vibe praised The-Dream's production and musicianship, stating "The craft is meticulous, and the sound so epic, and at times, operatic [...] that moments on this album comprise some of the best pop music of the decade".[34] Giving it four-and-a-half out of five stars, Ajitpaul Mangat of Tiny Mix Tapes complimented his interpretation of the "pop formula" and described the album as "a fascinating and at-times sonically remarkable post-structuralist-esque move".[10] The Boston Globe's Ken Capobianco called it "a seamless, brilliantly produced affair featuring his unmatched contemporary pop technique and songwriting craftsmanship".[35] Steve Jones of USA Today complimented The-Dream's sexual balladry and stated "The salacious influences of R. Kelly and Prince are evident, but the Dream sets his own standard for audio eroticism".[33] Slant Magazine's Wilson McBee gave the album four out of five stars and viewed it as an improvement over the "flawed but wholly entertaining" Love Hate, writing that it "keeps to the same aesthetic touchstones of broad synthesizer lines, punchy drumbeats, and computerized vocals while cranking up the gears of ambition".[32] McBee called the album "a cohesive, front-to-back artistic statement" and commented on its "behind-the-boards wizardry and hook-laden songcraft", stating:

Love vs. Money hardly shies away from the attitude that The-Dream has entered the realm of pop royalty. More than anything, this album sounds busy. It seems that Nash and frequent collaborator Christopher "Tricky" Stewart have absorbed nearly every musical meme flittering across the landscape of urban radio, excised the ones they hate and exaggerated the ones they love, added their own idiosyncratic flourishes, and recast the whole concoction as their own personal present-tense. [...] What keeps all this over-production from being distracting is Nash's intelligent arrangements and a keen avoidance of clutter. The seemingly incongruous elements rarely fail to complement each other or Nash's vocals.[32]
—Wilson McBee

However, Entertainment Weekly's Mikael Wood gave Love vs. Money a C+ rating and commented unfavorably of The-Dream's lyrics, writing that it contains "material obsession" and his "vision of romance mostly plays like a nightmare".[29] In his review for Blender, music critic Robert Christgau gave the album three-and-a-half out of five stars and commented that "The-Dream will turn on only the many hopeful ladies who consider Patrón the most exquisite of aphrodisiacs".[28] In his consumer guide for MSN Music, Christgau gave it an honorable mention ((2-star Honorable Mention)) rating,[36] indicating a "likable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well enjoy".[37] Tyler Fisher of PopMatters found its weaknesses to be "cliché love songs, too many similar beats and melodies, and a lack of energy", but ultimately called it "an R&B pop album with great production, composition, and lyricism".[9] Okayplayer's Sean Deezill gave it a 74 out of 100 rating and commented that it offers "impressive, yet, familiar production, unorganized structure, catchy radio tracks, and laughable lyrics".[38] Delusions of Adequacy's Bryan Sanchez stated, "These are immediately affecting songs, complete with stories of love, money getting in the way, bliss, inspiration and affection in between. And fused with catchy music, talent-filled production, honest songwriting and some of the best beats in the industry, Love vs. Money wins on all levels".[39] Rolling Stone writer Jody Rosen found most of its songs "unforgettable", adding that "the combination of classicist songcraft, wild sound collage and a muse that partakes equally of the sensual and the silly makes Love vs. Money far more than just an accomplished genre piece".[31]

[edit] Track listing

# Title Composer(s) Time
1 "Money Intro" The-Dream 0:09
2 "Rockin' That Shit" The-Dream, Tricky Stewart, Hall, S. 3:41
3 "Walkin' on the Moon" (feat. Kanye West) The-Dream, Los da Mystro, Kanye West 4:14
4 "My Love" (feat. Mariah Carey) The-Dream, Los da Mystro, Mariah Carey 3:24
5 "Put It Down" The-Dream, Los da Mystro 5:01
6 "Sweat It Out" The-Dream, Tricky Stewart 4:24
7 "Take U Home 2 My Mama" The-Dream, Tricky Stewart 3:39
8 "Love vs. Money" The-Dream, Tricky Stewart 4:11
9 "Love vs. Money, Pt. 2" The-Dream, Tricky Stewart 4:12
10 "Fancy" The-Dream, Tricky Stewart 6:29
11 "Right Side of My Brain" The-Dream, Tricky Stewart 4:26
12 "Mr. Yeah" The-Dream, Tricky Stewart 4:53
13 "Kelly's 12 Play" The-Dream, Los da Mystro 4:17
14 "Let Me See the Booty" (listed as bonus track)*
(feat. Lil Jon)		 The-Dream, Lil Jon 3:34
15 "Hater" (iTunes bonus track) The-Dream, Tricky Stewart 5:29
16 "Rockin' That Shit (Remix)" (iTunes bonus track)
(feat. DJ Khaled, Fabolous, Juelz Santana, Rick Ross, Ludacris)		 The-Dream, Los da Mystro, Hall, S. 5:00
Deluxe edition
# Title Composer(s) Time
17 "Hit It on the Road" (iTunes bonus track) The-Dream, Tricky Stewart 4:13
18 "Walkin' on the Moon" (iTunes bonus track)
(feat. Kanye West)
(Seamus Haji & Paul Emanuel Radio Edit)		 The-Dream, Los da Mystro, Kanye West 4:05

[edit] Personnel

Credits for Love vs. Money adapted from Allmusic.[40]

  • Chris Bellman – mastering
  • Lee Blaske – strings
  • Dre Bowman – bass
  • Mariah Carey – vocals
  • Joseph Cultice – photography
  • Steven Dennis – assistant engineer
  • The-Dream – audio production, vocals
  • Mark Grey – mixing assistant
  • Christy Hall – production assistant
  • Terese Joseph – A&R
  • Ryan Kelly – assistant engineer
  • Karen Kwak – A&R
  • Giancarlo Lino – mixing assistant
  • Pamela Littky – cover photo, inlay photography
  • Scott Marcus – A&R
  • Chris "TEK" O'Ryan – engineer, production engineer
  • Dave Pensado – mixing
  • J. Peter Robinson – art direction
  • Jason Sherwood – assistant engineer
  • Chris "Tricky" Stewart – producer, audio production
  • Brian "B Luv" Thomas – engineer
  • Pat Thrall – engineer, production engineer
  • Randy Urbanski – assistant engineer
  • Kanye West – vocals
  • Ryan West – vocal recording
  • Andrew Wuepper – engineer, mixing assistant

[edit] Charts

Chart (2009) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard 200[20] 2
U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[21] 1
U.S. Billboard Top Digital Albums[22] 3

[edit] References

  1. ^ Staff. The 25 Best Albums of 2009. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2009-12-27.
  2. ^ Tyrangiel, Josh. Top 10 Albums: 6) Love vs. Money. Time. Retrieved on 2010-02-18.
  3. ^ a b c Crosley, Hillary. The Dream's New Album Bumped To March. Billboard. Retrieved on 2010-02-17.
  4. ^ "The-Dream Spreads The 'Love' On New Album". Billboard. 2008-10-10. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003873089. Retrieved 2008-10-11. 
  5. ^ "The-Dream talks about his upcoming collabo album with Kanye West". morrisvideos. 2009-01-26. http://www.morrisvideos.com/watch_video.php?v=48d92f3f4882f09. Retrieved 2009-01-26. 
  6. ^ a b The-Dream 'Love vs. Money' Album Listening. Rap-Up.Accessed January 30, 2009.
  7. ^ Carter, Lauren. Review: Love vs. Money. Boston Herald. Retrieved on 2010-02-17.
  8. ^ a b Stewart, Allison. Review: Love vs. Money. The Washington Post. Retrieved on 2009-09-29.
  9. ^ a b c Fisher, Tyler. Review: Love vs. Money. PopMatters. Retrieved on 2009-09-29.
  10. ^ a b c Mangat, Ajitpaul. Review: Love vs. Money. Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved on 2009-09-29.
  11. ^ a b c Hope, Clover. Review: Love vs. Money. The Village Voice. Retrieved on 2009-09-29.
  12. ^ "The-Dream & Tricky Stewart Interview". DJBooth.net. 2008. http://www.djbooth.net/index/interviews/entry/the-dream-tricky-stewart-interview-0829081/. Retrieved 2008-09-17. 
  13. ^ Love vs. Money. iTunes Store. Retrieved on 2010-05-04.
  14. ^ Chart History: 'Rockin' That Thang'. Billboard. Retrieved on 2010-02-17.
  15. ^ Chart History: 'My Love'. Billboard. Retrieved on 2010-02-17.
  16. ^ Williams, Chris. Singles Reviews: 'My Love'. Billboard. Retrieved on 2010-02-17.
  17. ^ Chart History: 'Walkin' on the Moon'. Billboard. Retrieved on 2010-02-17.
  18. ^ Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs: Week of 10/13/09. Billboard. Retrieved on 2010-02-17.
  19. ^ a b Concepcion, Mariel. The-Dream, Keyshia Cole Plan Tour. Billboard. Retrieved on 2010-02-17.
  20. ^ a b Caulfield, Keith. Kelly Clarkson Tops Billboard 200. Billboard. Retrieved on 2010-02-17.
  21. ^ a b Widow, Black. R&B Chart Movement: The Dream Takes The Crown, J-Holiday Grabs Second Place. SixShot. Retrieved on 2010-02-17.
  22. ^ a b Digital Albums: Week of March 28, 2009. Billboard. Retrieved on 2010-02-18.
  23. ^ Caulfield, Keith. Kelly Clarkson Stays On Top Of Billboard 200. Billboard. Retrieved on 2010-02-17.
  24. ^ Paine, Jake. Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 3/29/2009. HipHopDX. Retrieved on 2010-02-17.
  25. ^ Jason. Album Sales Charts - Week Ending 4/5. Rap Basement. Retrieved on 2010-02-18.
  26. ^ Music Charts: Love vs. Money. acharts.us. Retrieved on 2010-02-17.
  27. ^ a b Kellman, Andy. Review: Love vs. Money. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2009-09-29.
  28. ^ a b Christgau, Robert. Review: Love vs. Money. Blender. Retrieved on 2009-09-29.
  29. ^ a b Wood, Mikael. Review: Love vs. Money. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2009-09-29.
  30. ^ a b c Love vs. Money (2009): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2009-09-29.
  31. ^ a b Rosen, Jody. Review: Love vs. Money. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2009-09-29.
  32. ^ a b c McBee, Wilson. Review: Love vs. Money. Slant Magazine. Retrieved on 2009-09-29.
  33. ^ a b Jones, Steve. Review: Love vs. Money. USA Today. Retrieved on 2009-09-29.
  34. ^ Fennessey, Sean. Review: Love vs. Money. Vibe. Retrieved on 2009-09-29.
  35. ^ Capobianco, Ken. Review: Love vs. Money. The Boston Globe. Retrieved on 2009-09-29.
  36. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Consumer Guide: Love vs. Money". MSN Music: April 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-09-29.
  37. ^ Christgau, Robert. CG 90s: Key to Icons. Robert Christgau. Retrieved on 2009-06-15.
  38. ^ Deezill, Sean. Review: Love vs. Money. Okayplayer. Retrieved on 2010-02-17.
  39. ^ Sanchez, Bryan (March 17, 2009). Review: Love vs. Money. Delusions of Adequacy. Retrieved on 2011-03-05.
  40. ^ Credits: Love vs. Money. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2010-02-17.

[edit] External links

The-Dream
Albums
Singles
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