''Bitter'' is the third album by

Meshell Ndegeocello Michelle Lynn Johnson, better known as Meshell Ndegeocello (; born August 29, 1968), is a German-born American singer-songwriter, rapper, and bassist. She has gone by the name Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur which is used as a writing credit on so ...

. It was released on August 24, 1999, on

Maverick Records Maverick was an American entertainment company founded in 1992 by Madonna, Frederick DeMann, and Veronica "Ronnie" Dashev, and formerly owned and operated by Warner Music Group. It included a record label (Maverick Records), a film production ...

. The album peaked at #105 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Top 200 in 1999. The album also peaked at #13 on ''Billboard's'' Top Internet Albums chart and #40 on ''Billboard's'' R&B Albums chart.

Critical reception

'' called the album "a modern masterpiece," writing that it "shines for its sonic presence as well as its inherent musical quality." ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote that "its rhythms flow in circulatory patterns guided by Ms. Ndegeocello's bass playing; guitars, strings and her guarded vocals intertwine like brain waves." The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' called it "one long bittersweet downer." ''

Vibe ''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down productio ...

'' called ''Bitter'' the "Album of the Year." The ''

Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is considered to be the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven ...

'' wrote that "though ''Bitter'' attempts to explore ambitious life themes about loyalty, faith, love and beauty, it instead commits the mortal sin of dullness."

Track listing

#"Adam" ( Meshell Ndegéocello) – 2:24 #"Fool of Me" (Ndegéocello, Federico González Peña) – 3:30 #"Faithful" (Ndegéocello,

David Gamson David Gamson is an American keyboardist/musician (also a producer, songwriter, arranger, engineer). Originally hailing from New York, he has worked with, among others, Kesha, Kelly Clarkson, Jessie J, Adam Lambert, Chaka Khan, Charli XCX, Meshell ...

) – 4:46 #"Satisfy" (Ndegéocello, Peña) – 4:05 #"Bitter" (Ndegéocello) – 4:15 #"May This Be Love" (

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

) – 5:17 #"Sincerity" (Ndegéocello,

Doyle Bramhall II Doyle Bramhall II (born December 24, 1968) is an American guitarist, producer and songwriter best known for his work with Eric Clapton and Roger Waters. He is the son of the songwriter and drummer Doyle Bramhall. Early life Bramhall was born ...

) – 5:30 #"Loyalty" (Ndegéocello, Allen Cato) – 4:20 #"Beautiful" (Ndegéocello) – 2:44 #"Eve" (

David Torn David M. Torn (born May 26, 1953) is an American guitarist, composer, and producer. He is known for combining electronic and acoustic instruments and for his use of looping. Background Torn has contributed to recordings by artists as diverse ...

, Roger Moutenot) – 1:23 #"Wasted Time" (Ndegéocello) – 4:55 #"Grace" (Ndegéocello) – 4:27

Personnel

Musicians

(instruments are not stated in the booklet) * Meshell Ndegéocello -

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

electric bass The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck The ...

, additional instruments * Lisa Coleman -

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

Wendy Melvoin Wendy Ann Melvoin (born January 26, 1964) is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Prince as part of his backing band The Revolution, and for her collaboration with Lisa Coleman as one half of the duo Wendy ...

- guitar *Chris Bruce - (guitar, bass?) *

- guitar *

Ronny Drayton Ronny Drayton (May 19, 1953 – February 7, 2020) was a guitarist based in the New York City area and Monroe, New York. Born and raised in South Jamaica, Queens, New York City, Drayton started out playing drums at St. Clement The Pope Middl ...

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

Greg Leisz Gregory Brian Leisz ( ; born September 18, 1949) is an American musician. He is a songwriter, recording artist, and producer. He plays guitar, dobro, mandolin, lap steel and pedal steel guitar. Biography Leisz grew up in the garage band cu ...

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...

(11 at least) *

- guitar *

Abraham Laboriel Jr. Abraham Laboriel Jr. (born March 23, 1971) is an American session musician, session drummer. He is the son of Mexican bass guitarist Abraham Laboriel, nephew of Mexican rocker Johnny Laboriel, and brother of record producer, songwriter, and film ...

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

*Daniel Sadownick -

*Biti Straug -

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

*Arif St. Michael - background vocals *

Joe Henry Joseph Lee Henry (born December 2, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. He has released 15 studio albums and produced multiple recordings for other artists, including three Grammy Award-winning albums. Early life H ...

- vocals (11), (keyboards?) *Sandra Park -

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

*Sharon Yamada - violin *Robert Rinehart -

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

*Alan Stepansky -

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

*Steve Barber – string arrangements

Technical

Craig Street Craig Street, born in Oakland, California, is a noted record producer. Street moved with his family to Los Angeles at the age of 11, but returned to the Bay Area for his high school years. He began playing guitar at age 14, and was in a number ...

– producer *

Dusty Wakeman Donald "Dusty" Wakeman is an American rock/country music producer and engineer based in Burbank, California. Wakeman is also credited as a bass player on many recordings. Dusty has worked with Dwight Yoakam, Lucinda Williams, Jim Lauderdale, Buc ...

–

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

(Mad Dog Studios, Burbank, Ca.) *

S. Husky Höskulds S. Husky Höskulds (born in Iceland) is an audio engineer based in Los Angeles, California. Biography Husky Höskulds moved to Los Angeles in 1991 to study audio engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles. He began his career wo ...

- engineer for additional recordings (

Sunset Sound Factory The Sound Factory (also known as Sunset Sound Factory) is a recording studio in Los Angeles, California. The Sound Factory was built in the 1960s on Selma Avenue in Hollywood. At the time, it served as the home of Moonglow Records and the Moon ...

, Los Angeles, Ca.) *Tom Schick – engineer for additional recordings (Sear Sound, New York, N.Y.) *Elijah Bradford, Rafael Serrano, Chris Ribando, Joseph Turner – second engineers *Roger Moutenot – mixing (Sunset Sound Factory, L.A.) *Joseph Turner – mixing assistant *

Greg Calbi Gregory Calbi (born April 3, 1949) is an American mastering engineer at Sterling Sound, New Jersey. Biography Greg Calbi was born on April 3, 1949, in Yonkers, New York, and raised in Bayside, Queens, New York. He graduated in 1966 from Bisho ...

– mastering (

Sterling Sound George Marino (April 15, 1947 – June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s. Biography Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He at ...

, N.Y.) *Paul Thompson – production assistant *Kai Morrison – project coordination *

Kevin Reagan Kevin Reagan is a three-time Grammy Award-winning graphic designer/art director, also honored by the AIGA, ''Print'', and ''Communication Arts''. He has created artwork for critically and commercially acclaimed albums by Madonna, The Foo Fig ...

– art direction, design * Gail Swanlund – design *

Sheryl Nields Sheryl Nields is an American portrait photographer. Life Nields grew up in Los Angeles, California. She attended Parsons School of Design, and then worked as an assistant to Patrick Demarchelier and Walter Chin. She started photographing mus ...

–

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

References

{{Authority control Meshell Ndegeocello albums 1999 albums Albums produced by Craig Street Maverick Records albums