''Black Pearl'' is the second studio album by American rapper

Yo-Yo A yo-yo (also spelled yoyo) is a toy consisting of an axle connected to two disks, and a string looped around the axle, similar to a spool. It is an ancient toy with proof of existence since 500 BCE. The yo-yo was also called a bandalore in ...

. It was released on June 23, 1992, through EastWest Records America/

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

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

DJ Pooh A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...

Sir Jinx Anthony Wheaton, professionally known by his stage name Sir Jinx, is an American hip hop producer and rapper from Los Angeles. He is a cousin of multi-platinum producer Dr. Dre. He began his career as a member of the C.I.A. in the mid-80s with ...

, Down Low Productions,

DJ Muggs Lawrence Muggerud (born January 28, 1968), professionally known by his stage name DJ Muggs, is an American DJ, audio engineer and record producer. He is a member of Cypress Hill, a member of the trip hop band Cross My Heart Hope To Die and the l ...

, Rashad Coes and

DJ Bobcat Bobby "Bobcat" Ervin (born December 13, 1967), professionally known as Bobcat or DJ Bobcat, is an American Grammy Award winner and multi-platinum producer, songwriter, DJ, artist and music executive. He has worked with Clive Davis, Russell Simm ...

, with Ice Cube serving as executive producer. The album peaked at number 145 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number 32 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 ...

. The album spawned two singles: "Black Pearl" and "Home Girl Don't Play Dat". "Black Pearl" reached number 11 on the

Hot Rap Singles Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stati ...

chart and number 74 on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks 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 p ...

chart, and "Home Girl Don't Play Dat" peaked at number 3 on the Hot Rap Singles chart and number 53 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. The song "I Can't Take No More" was included in the '' Girls Town''

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

Critical reception

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 databa ...

Ron Wynn Ron Wynn is a music critic, author, and AllMusic editor. Wynn was the editor of the first edition of '' The All Music Guide to Jazz'' (1994), and from 1993 to 1994 served as the jazz and rap editor of the ''All Music Guide''. Wynn is the former e ...

wrote that: "Yo-Yo's positive (but not simplistic or naive) messages regarding female sexuality, self-esteem and achievement were grounded in hard raps and thudding beats on this album, still her most complete, and effective production." Robert Christgau commented that "the nervous propulsion and unreleased tension of her funk agitates mind-body-spirit, only to be put right by a voice that's gotten kinder without even thinking about going soft. Advising the downpressed or dissing fools, her lyrics are smarter throughout and stunning on one that makes a battered wife's bizness its own."

Track listing

;Sample credits *Track 2 contains a sample from "Joy" by Isaac Hayes from the 1973 album ''

Joy The word joy refers to the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune, and is typically associated with feelings of intense, long lasting happiness. Dictionary definitions Dictionary definitions of joy typically include a sense of ...

'' *Track 3 contains a sample of " Be Alright" by Zapp *Track 6 contains a sample of "Scratch My Back" by

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

from the 1966 album ''

The Soul Album ''The Soul Album'' is the fourth studio album by American soul singer-songwriter Otis Redding, released in 1966. It features Redding performing songs that he co-wrote, as well as covers of songs by such musicians as Sam Cooke, Eddie Floyd, Roy He ...

'' and "Disco Queen" by

Hot Chocolate Hot chocolate, also known as hot cocoa or drinking chocolate, is a heated drink consisting of shaved chocolate, melted chocolate or cocoa powder, heated milk or water, and usually a sweetener like whipped cream or marshmallows. Hot chocolate ...

from the album '' Cicero Park'' *Track 8 contains a sample of "

Strawberry Letter 23 "Strawberry Letter 23" is a 1971 song written and composed by Shuggie Otis from his 1971 album '' Freedom Flight''. It is also widely known by the 1977 cover version recorded by the Brothers Johnson and produced by Quincy Jones. History The ...

" by

The Brothers Johnson The Brothers Johnson were an American funk and R&B band consisting of American musicians and brothers George ("Lightnin' Licks") and Louis E. Johnson ("Thunder Thumbs"). They achieved their greatest success from the mid-1970s to early 1980s, ...

from the 1977 album '' Right on Time'' *Track 9 contains a sample of "Humpin'" by the

Bar-Kays The Bar-Kays are an American funk band formed in 1964. The band had dozens of charting singles from the 1960s to the 1980s, including "Soul Finger" (US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number 17, R&B number 3) in 1967, "Son of Shaft" (R&B number 10) in ...

from the album ''Best of the Bar-Kays'' *Track 10 contains a sample of "Voices Inside (Everything Is Everything)" by Donny Hathaway from the 1972 album '' Live'' *Track 11 contains a sample of "Hey Jerome" by

Bo Diddley Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, inc ...

from the 1972 album '' Where It All Began'' *Track 12 contains a sample of "Walk From Regio's" by Isaac Hayes from the 1971 album '' Shaft''

Personnel

* Yolanda M. Whitaker – main artist * Shawn McLemore –

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 us ...

(track 3) * Frederick Lee Drakeford – featured artist (track 4) * Marsha McClurkin – additional background vocals (track 4) * Kymberli Armstrong – background vocals (tracks: 10, 12) * Joyce Tolbert – background vocals (tracks: 10, 12) * DeMonica Santiago – background vocals (track 10) *

Shireen Crutchfield Shireen Elaine Crutchfield is an American actress and singer. best known as the lead singer of the R&B trio The Good Girls from 1989 to the present. Crutchfield is also known for her acting roles as Jace in '' Dark Angel'' and '' Hot Boyz''. ...

– background vocals (track 10) * Craig A. Miller – background vocals (track 11) * Torrence Woods – background vocals (track 12) * Joseph "DJ Wildstyle" Mann – scratches (track 5) * Mark Jordan –

drum programming Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices and computer software, such as sequencers and workstations or hardware synthesizers, sampler and sequencers, to generate sounds of musical instruments. These ...

(track 7), recording engineer (track 3), producer (tracks: 2, 3, 8, 9, 11) * David Foreman –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

bass guitar 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 and ...

(tracks: 7, 10, 12) * Jason White –

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 ...

(tracks: 7, 10, 12) * James Perry – bass guitar (track 10) * Bob Morris – recording engineer (tracks: 2, 11) * Down Low Productions – mixing & producer (tracks: 4, 5) * Prince Charles Alexander – recording engineer (tracks: 4, 5) * Mike Green – recording engineer (track 6) * Jason Roberts – engineering (track 6) * Bob Drake – engineering (tracks: 7, 10, 12) * Darryl Dobson – recording engineer (tracks: 8, 9) * Lawrence Muggerud – producer (track 6) * Anthony Wheaton – producer (tracks: 7, 10, 12) * Bobby Ervin – producer (track 8) * James Rashad Coes – producer (track 8) * O'Shea Jackson – executive producer * Carlton Batts – mastering * David Provost – photography

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1992 albums Yo-Yo (rapper) albums East West Records albums Albums produced by DJ Pooh Albums produced by DJ Muggs