True Beauty (album)

Untitled

True Beauty is the Grammy-nominated and debut studio album by American Idol contestant Mandisa. The first single, "Only The World", was released on May 22, 2007, and the full album was released on July 31, 2007. The album covers a remake of gospel duo Mary Mary's smash hit song "Shackles (Praise You)" (which Mandisa covered on American Idol in the top 11). Although Mandisa stated that it will be a mixture of contemporary Christian music and R&B, the iTunes Store has mistakenly billed it as a mainstream R&B release while billing "Only the World" (the lead single) as a contemporary Christian song.

The album debuted at at #1 on the Christian charts and #43 on the Billboard 200 with over 17,000 copies sold in its first week. It broke the Billboard chart record for a female debut in Christian music and is the largest female debut in the history of her label (EMI/Sparrow Records). True Beauty sold over 100k units in just 6 months, making it one of, if not the, best selling new artist project in the genre, as well as one of Sparrow Records’ fastest-selling new artists ever. [1] The album has been on Billboard's Christian Albums Chart for 51 weeks (currently at #33), and has been on Billboard's Christian and Gospel Albums Chart for 61 weeks (currently at #42).

Her second single "God Speaking" was released in October 2007 to Christian radio.

Her third single "Voice of a Savior" was released in April 2008 to Christian radio.

Early release

The entire album was released to the iTunes Store a week earlier on July 24, 2007 at 12:00 AM. At 5:00 PM EDT iTunes realized their mistake and the album was completely removed.

Awards and nominations

True Beauty received a Grammy Award nomination in December 2007 for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album.

Track listing

1. Only The World
2. True Beauty
3. God Speaking
4. Voice Of A Savior
5. Love Somebody (Featuring tobymac & Diverse City)
6. Unrestrained
7. Shackles (Praise You)
8. Steal My Joy
9. Oh, My Lord (Featuring The Fisk Jubilee Singers)
10. Only You
11. He Will Come
12. True Beauty (Remix) [iTunes Bonus Track]
13. Only the World (Remix) [CD Bonus Track]
14. Broken Into Beautiful [Verizon VCast Bonus Track]

• Tracks 1 & 10 Produced by Shaun Shankel
• Tracks 2 & 9 Produced by Drew & Shannon
• Tracks 3, 6 & 11 Produced by Brown Bannister
• Tracks 4, 5 & 8 Produced by Doubledutch
• Track 7 Produced by Christoper Stevens

Singles

• "Only The World"
• "God Speaking"
• "Voice Of A Savior"

Rumoured Singles

• "Love Somebody"
• "Unrestrained"
• "Only You"