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In a Perfect World...

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For the album by Aquarium Rescue Unit, see In a Perfect World.
Untitled

In a Perfect World... is the debut album by American singer-songwriter Keri Hilson.[3] The album was originally slated for release in 2007 but was pushed back multiple times into 2009, as Hilson stated herself, mainly due to failed single releases.[1][4] After numerous delays the album was released on March 24, 2009.[5] The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at number four, selling over 94,000 copies in its first week.[6]

Background

Hilson explained the title as the following,

It’s my way of saying nothing in the world is perfect and no person in it is, either. None of us is exempt from certain hardships and heartbreaks. It was really important for me to write songs that women can relate to from real situations. I didn’t want to do an album that painted myself as perfect because no matter how things look, no one is.[3]

The album includes production by Timbaland, Polow Da Don, Danja, The Runawayz, King Logan & Cory Bold with others yet to be confirmed. Writing contributions have been provided by from Jim Beanz, Justin Timberlake, Ne-Yo and The Clutch. In an interview Hilson said that it had always been an ambition to work with Kanye West and Ne-yo but it was a complete coincidence that their vocals featured on the same track. West met Hilson in the studio at the 11th hour and was given an exclusive preview of the album to see where he would like to make his contribution. He chose to feature on "Knock You Down".[7] The album contains guest appearances from Akon, Lil Wayne, Timbaland, Keyshia Cole, Trina, Kanye West, and Ne-Yo.

In March during the run up to the album release, Hilson filmed a short promotional movie to promote the album. The video which is only several minutes long features Kanye West as Hilson's love interest. The track "Make Love" is played in the background. The video can be found on the official Keri Hilson YouTube channel along with Hilson's video blog countdown to the album release.

Promotion and releases

Hilson said in an interview with blog Concrete Loop in 2007 that the first single off of her long-awaited debut would be the Danja-produced "Happy Juice". The single release was shelved, as Interscope encountered budget cuts and projects were set back, including Hilson's release.

Hilson later went on to perform "Return the Favor" at Verizon/People Pre-Grammy party dedicated to Timbaland, this was supposed to be the first release from the album.[8] However as you can see below the it was released as the second single.

Hilson recently performed singles "The Way I Are", "Knock You Down", "Energy", "Turnin' Me On" and what she referred to as her new single "Get Your Money Up" although performances can be watched on popular video sharing websites it has not been officially confirmed from the label. [citation needed]

Singles

  • The midtempo ballad "Energy" eventually became the first world single (not for the UK) and was released as a digital download on May 27, 2008. The video premiered on July 14, 2008. It charted at number 78 on the Billboard Top 100, number 21 and 72 on R&B 100 and Pop 100 respectively. The single performed best in New Zealand where it charted at number 2 but failed to significantly chart elsewhere. The UK release never materialised.
  • "Return the Favor" was released officially as the second worldwide single (first UK single) on October 7, 2008 and the video, premiered on October 23, 2008. The single failed to chart within any of the top 100 charts of the major music markets. However its video was released to UK music channels on March 16, 2009 to serve as the first UK single, it is receiving good airplay on UK radio.
  • "Turnin' Me On" (featuring Lil Wayne) was released as the third worldwide single (not confirmed for UK or Australia) on November 25, 2008.[9] The single has been Hilson's most successful solo offering to date as it peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Top 100, number 2 and 28 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Pop 100 respectively. It was also the first single to chart in Canada although it did only reach number 80.
  • "Knock You Down" (featuring Kanye West and Ne-Yo) is scheduled to be the "fourth US single" from the album as confirmed by Hilson on her YouTube video blog. The video was premiered on March 23, 2009 on Ne-Yo's official YouTube channel. So far the single has reached number 42 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.

Reception

Hilson's music has been favorably received, appearing on list of "Top Year Singles" with the songs, "Energy" and "Turnin' Me On". The first was on Blender magazine list of the "The Top 144 Songs of 2008", at #61,[10] and the latter was on Vibe magazine's "The 80 Best Songs of '08" at #67. Vibe also praised her voice and called her "ridiculously hot".[11]

The album itself also received positive reviews. Allmusic gave the album four out five stars and Hip Hop Galaxy gave four and a half out of five stars[12]. Amazon.com also gave the album a positive review, saying "Speaking up for all the ladies, In A Perfect World . . . also looks to empower women to be strong, independent and determined".[13] PrefixMag said "This album will melt your face with truth, justice and hooks."[14] The famous hip-hop site HipHopDx gave it a mixed review, three stars out five and said that "Any one of her artist friends would lend a helping hand to her debut, and they have, but not in the way she anticipated."[15] Giving the album a B+, Entertainment Weekly said "With assists from talented friends like Timbaland, Lil Wayne, and Kanye West, Keri Hilson — who's penned songs for Britney Spears and Usher, among others — gracefully emerges from behind the scenes with In a Perfect World..., a seductive debut CD full of slick, radio-friendly cuts."[16] The album has peaked at number #3 on the USA iTunes Store Top 10.[17]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Intro"Keri HilsonTimbaland, Danja1:30
2."Turnin' Me On (featuring Lil Wayne)"Jamal Jones, Dwayne Michael Carter, Zak Wallace, Ryan XzavierPolow da Don; Danja (additional production)4:08
3."Get Your Money Up (featuring Keyshia Cole & Trina)"Jamal Jones, Eddie Hayes, Keyshia Cole, Katrina TaylorPolow da Don; Danja3:17
4."Return the Favor (featuring Timbaland)"The Clutch, Timothy Mosley, Walter E-Knock Millsap IIITimbaland; Walter E-Knock Millsap III (additional)5:29
5."Knock You Down (featuring Kanye West & Ne-Yo)"Nathaniel Hills, Marcella Araica, Kevin "KC" Cossom, Shaffer Smith, Kanye WestDanja5:26
6."Slow Dance"King Soloman Logan, Johnkenum Deon Spivery, Leslie Jerome Harmon, Justin Timberlake, Jim BeanzKing Logan, Johnkenum Sir John Spivery (co-production) [18]4:24
7."Make Love"Jamal Jones, Jason Perry, Esther Dean ^Polow da Don; Jason Perry (co-production)5:24
8."Intuition"Timothy MosleyTimbaland; Danja (additional)4:12
9."How Does It Feel"Timothy Mosley, Jim BeanzTimbaland; Danja3:58
10."Alienated"Cory Bold, Timothy Attitude ClaytonCory Bold, Danja (additional)4:32
11."Tell Him the Truth"Nathaniel Hills, Marcella AraicaDanja4:48
12."Change Me (featuring Akon)"Jamal Jones, Aliaune Thiam, Esther Dean, Jason Perry, M. Goss ^Polow da Don4:54
13."Energy"Louis Biancaniello, Richard Butler, Jr., Sam Watters, Wayne Wilkins ^The Runaways3:29
14."Where Did He Go"Timothy Mosley, Nathaniel HillsTimbaland; Danja4:58


Bonus Tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
15."Quicksand" (US Amazon.com MP3 Download Bonus)Nathaniel HillsDanja3:03
16."Do It" (iTunes Bonus)Durrell "Tank" Babbs, Joseph A Bereal Jr., Luke Boyd, Roy Hamilton, Anthony M. JonesRoy "Royalty" Hamilton & Anthony M.4:17
17."Hurts Me" (Wet Seal Exclusive Bonus)  3:56


^ All tracks have writing credits from Keri Hilson other than the ones marked with an asterisk. (Tracks 7, 12 and 13)

Personnel

Charts

Charts (2009) Peak
position 		Certification Sales
U.S. Billboard 200[19] 4 131,527[20]
U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[19] 1
Canadian Albums Chart[21] 27

Release history

Region Date Label
United States March 24, 2009 Interscope
Canada
France March 31, 2009 Universal
Switzerland April 17, 2009
Poland April 24, 2009[22]
United Kingdom 1 May 11, 2009[23]
Germany May 27, 2009[24]

1 despite not being officially released yet the album has been available to purchase through Amazon.com and HMV as an import release since March 24, 2009.

References

  1. ^ a b http://popculturefix.com/2009/01/keri-hilson-not-your-average-girl-next-door/
  2. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rl2JKSihbI&feature=channel_page
  3. ^ a b Shaheem Reid (July 2, 2007). Timbaland Protege Keri Hilson: You Need to Know Me. MTV. Accessed August 6, 2008
  4. ^ Concepcion, Mariel (2008-11-04). "Keri Hilson's 'Perfect World' Pushed To 2009". Billboard. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
  5. ^ http://www.rap-up.com/2009/01/26/keri-hilsons-perfect-world-set-for-spring/
  6. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/now-30-hannah-montana-lead-busy-week-on-1003957552.story
  7. ^ http://www.rap-up.com/ Accessed March 24, 2009 In The Take-over Video Blog from Hilson
  8. ^ Keri Hilson Debuts First Single Rap-Up (February 8, 2008). Accessed February 9, 2008.
  9. ^ Amazon MP3 - Turnin' Me On
  10. ^ [1]
  11. ^ http://www.vibe.com/news/online_exclusives/2008/12/the_80_best_songs_of_08_the_first_hot_16/
  12. ^ [2]
  13. ^ [3]
  14. ^ http://www.prefixmag.com/reviews/keri-hilson/in-a-perfect-world/22007/
  15. ^ [4]
  16. ^ [5]
  17. ^ http://www.apple.com/euro/itunes/charts/top10albums.html
  18. ^ http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/3739/img0003o.jpg
  19. ^ a b "Artist Chart History - Keri Hilson - Albums". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved 2009-04-03.
  20. ^ http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.8927/title.hip-hop-album-sales-the-week-ending-4-5-2008
  21. ^ http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Charts/ALBUMS.html
  22. ^ http://merlin.pl/In-A-Perfect-World_Keri-Hilson/browse/product/4,661107.html
  23. ^ http://www.play.com/Music/CD/4-/9509943/New-Album-TBC/Product.html
  24. ^ http://www.amazon.de/Perfect-World-Hilson-Keri/dp/B001V52PGU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1239036768&sr=8-2
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