''Back Again!'' is the second solo studio album by American rapper

Mr. Cheeks Terrance Kelly (born March 28, 1971), known professionally as Mr. Cheeks, is an American rapper best known for his work with the musical group Lost Boyz, and as a solo artist with the single "Lights, Camera, Action!". Biography 1991–2019: L ...

. It was released on March 18, 2003 through Universal Records. Recording sessions took place at Sony Music Studios,

Sound On Sound ''Sound on Sound'' is an independently owned monthly music technology magazine published by SOS Publications Group, based in Cambridge, United Kingdom. The magazine includes product tests of electronic musical performance and recording devices, a ...

and Daddy's House Recording Studio in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, at Circle House Studios and South Beach Studios in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, and at The Hit Factory.

Production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

was handled by Bink!, Mr. Sexxx, Chuckie Madness, Mario Winans,

P. Diddy Sean Combs (born Sean John Combs; November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and record executive. Born in New York City, he worked as a talent directo ...

and Yogi Bear. It features guest appearances from Floetry, Alexander O'Neal, Glenn Lewis,

Journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

, Mario Winans,

M.O.P. M.O.P. (short for Mash Out Posse) is an American hip hop duo composed of East Coast rappers Billy Danze and Lil' Fame. The song " Ante Up", was released on their ''Warriorz'' album in 2000. The group has frequently collaborated with DJ Premi ...

Pete Rock & CL Smooth Pete Rock & CL Smooth were a hip hop duo from Mount Vernon, New York. They made their debut with their 1991 EP, ''All Souled Out'' and followed that with their 1992 LP ''Mecca and the Soul Brother''. Career 1991–1994: The Golden Age As a prod ...

. The album was not as commercially successful as '' John P. Kelly'', peaking at number 75 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number 25 on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...

. Its singles, "Friday Night", "Crush on You"/"The Wire" and "Hands High", also failed to make an impact on the charts, only making it to No. 52 on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart with "Crush on You".

Critical reception

''Back Again!'' was met with generally favorable reviews from music critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

score of 67, based on four reviews.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's Rob Theakston called it "easily his most accomplished record since his days in the Lost Boyz". Lounch.com reviewer found it "full of juicy hip-pop hooks in the grand P. Diddy tradition". '' Blender'' reviewer found it "full of standard-issue street rhymes and treacly R&B hooks, ''Back Again'' makes you want to shout " Cut!" halfway through". '' Vibe'' reviewer stated that the album "falters when it ventures out of party mode".

Track listing

;Sample credits *Track 1 contains elements of "Wildflower" as performed by

Creative Source Creative Source was an American R&B group from Los Angeles, who had several funk and disco hits during the 1970s. History Creative Source was formed in 1972 by several session musician, veterans of the West Coast recording studios. They were man ...

. *Track 2 contains an interpolation of "

They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.) "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)" is a song by Pete Rock & CL Smooth, inspired by the death of their close friend Troy Dixon (better known as "Trouble" T. Roy of Heavy D & the Boyz) in 1990. The song was the lead single off their debut album, ...

". *Track 3 contains elements of "Musical Love" as performed by the Mary Jane Girls. *Track 4 contains elements from " Girl You Need a Change of Mind" as performed by Eddie Kendricks. *Track 5 contains a sample of "Night Song" as performed by

Noel Pointer Noel Pointer (December 26, 1954 – December 19, 1994) was an American jazz violinist and record producer, whose life inspired a music foundation. Career Pointer made his solo debut at the age of 13, performing Vivaldi with the Symphony of the N ...

. *Track 8 contains a sample of "I Found The Spirit" as performed by the

Four Tops The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet from Detroit who helped to define the city's Motown sound of the 1960s. The group's repertoire has included soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, doo-wop, jazz, and show tunes. Founded as the ...

. *Track 9 contains elements from " Car Wash" as performed by

Rose Royce Rose Royce is an American soul and R&B group. They are best known for several hit singles during the 1970s including "Car Wash", " I Wanna Get Next to You", " I'm Going Down", "Wishing on a Star", and "Love Don't Live Here Anymore". Career Th ...

. *Track 10 contains a sample from "Mind Power" as performed by

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

. *Track 11 contains a sample of "Sunshine" as performed by Alexander O'Neal.

Personnel

*Terrance "

" Kelly – vocals, executive producer * Marsha Ambrosius – vocals (tracks: 1, 7) *Natalie "

The Floacist Natalie "the Floacist" Stewart (born 13 February 1979) is an English rapper, singer, songwriter, spoken word artist, poet, and actress. Born in Germany and raised in London, she performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a child, a ...

" Stewart – vocals (tracks: 1, 7) *Peter "

Pete Rock Peter O. Phillips (born June 21, 1970), better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapping, rapper. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, and is often mentioned alongs ...

" Phillips – vocals (track 2) *Corey " CL Smooth" Penn – vocals (track 2) *Rafiek "

" George – vocals (track 2) *Eric "

Billy Danze M.O.P. (short for Mash Out Posse) is an American hip hop duo composed of East Coast rappers Billy Danze and Lil' Fame. The song " Ante Up", was released on their ''Warriorz'' album in 2000. The group has frequently collaborated with DJ Premi ...

" Murray – vocals (track 3) *Jamal "

Lil' Fame M.O.P. (short for Mash Out Posse) is an American hip hop duo composed of East Coast rappers Billy Danze and Lil' Fame. The song " Ante Up", was released on their ''Warriorz'' album in 2000. The group has frequently collaborated with DJ Premi ...

" Grinnage – vocals (track 3) * Glenn Lewis – vocals (track 5) * Mario Winans – vocals & producer (track 6) * Alexander O'Neal – vocals (track 11) *Darryl "Big Baby" McClary – keyboards (tracks: 4, 7) *Tomi Martin – guitar (track 6) *Eric "E-Bass" Johnson – guitar (track 7) *Garfield "Mr. Sexxx" Duncan – producer & engineering (tracks: 1-3), executive producer *Roosevelt " Bink!" Harrell III – producer (tracks: 4, 5, 7, 9) *Charles "Chuckie Madness" Shaw – producer (tracks: 8, 11) *Jeremy "Yogi Bear" Graham – producer (track 10) *Sean "

Puff Daddy Puff may refer to: Science and technology * Puff, a small quantity of gas or smoke in the air ** Puff, a light gust of wind ** Exhalation ** Inhalation * Puff model, volcanic ash tracking model developed at the University of Alaska Fairbanks * PUF ...

" Combs – producer (track 10) *Charles Suitt – executive producer, A&R, management *Charmaine Edwards – associate executive producer, A&R *Jim Caruana – recording & mixing (tracks: 1, 3) *Doug Wilson – recording (tracks: 4, 7, 9), mixing (tracks: 4, 5, 7, 9) *Kamel Abdo – recording (track 5) *Wayne Allison – recording (track 6) *Caleb Shreve – recording (track 6) *Darren Venditti – recording (tracks: 8, 11) *Rob Paustian – recording & mixing (track 10) *Rich Keller – mixing (track 6) *Hernán Santiago – mixing (tracks: 8, 11) *Bennie RM – additional Pro Tools editing (track 8) * James Cruz – mastering *Annalee Valencia-Bruch – art direction, design *Christian Lantry – photography *Sandy Brummels – creative director *Eloise Bryan – A&R *Nina Freeman – A&R *Todd Ellerby – management *Julius Erving III – management *Jackie Rhinehart – markering management *Eric Weissman – sample clearance

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2003 albums Mr. Cheeks albums Universal Records albums Albums produced by Sean Combs Albums produced by Bink (record producer)