''Based on a T.R.U. Story'' is the debut studio album by American rapper

2 Chainz Tauheed K. Epps (born September 12, 1977), known professionally as 2 Chainz (or Tity Boi), is an American rapper. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, he initially gained recognition as one-half of the Southern hip hop duo Playaz Circle, al ...

. It was released on August 14, 2012, by

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The ...

. The album features

guest appearance In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or other p ...

s from fellow rappers

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman (rapper), ...

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accent ...

and

Playaz Circle Playaz Circle is an American hip hop duo signed to the Def Jam Recordings record label, composed of rappers 2 Chainz and Dolla Boy. History 1997–2010: Beginnings and debut album The duo was formed in 1997 by childhood friends Tity Boi (late ...

cohort Dolla Boy, along with singer-songwriters

The-Dream Terius Youngdell Nash (born September 20, 1977), better known by his stage name The-Dream, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. His co-writing credits include songs with "Me Against the Music" (2003) for Britney Spears, "Ride ...

Mike Posner Michael Robert Henrion Posner ( ; born February 12, 1988) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer.For Posner's full name, see He released his debut album, '' 31 Minutes to Takeoff'', in 2010. The album includes the US ''Billboa ...

The Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Known for his sonic versatility and dark lyricism, his music explores escapism, Romance (love), ...

and

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to '' Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempo ...

. The album's

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

Brick Squad Monopoly The New 1017 Records, also known as 1017 Global Music, LLC and formerly 1017 Brick Squad, So Icey Entertainment, & 1017 Eskimo, is an American record label founded by Gucci Mane after his departure from Mizay Entertainment and the closing of So ...

Southside Southside or South Side may refer to: Places Australia * Southside, Queensland, a semi-rural locality in the Gympie Region Canada * South Side, Newfoundland and Labrador, a community in the St. George's Bay area on the southwest coast of New ...

, Mike Will Made It,

Sonny Digital Sonny Corey Uwaezuoke (born March 5, 1991), better known by his stage name Sonny Digital, is an American record producer, rapper, and DJ.

Hit-Boy Chauncey Alexander Hollis Jr. (born May 21, 1987), better known by his stage name Hit-Boy, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. In May 2011, he had signed a two-year deal with Kanye West's GOOD Music production branch. ...

Drumma Boy Christopher James Gholson (born August 11, 1983), better known by his stage name Drumma Boy, is an American record producer. Early life Born in Memphis, Tennessee, and raised in Cordova, Tennessee, he was exposed to music at a young age. His mot ...

DJ Mustard Dijon Isaiah McFarlane (born June 5, 1990), known professionally as Mustard (also known as DJ Mustard), is an American record producer and beatmaker. He is a frequent collaborator of fellow California-bred artists YG and Ty Dolla Sign; among var ...

, Mr. Bangladesh and DJ Spinz, among others. The album was nominated for

Best Rap Album The Grammy Award for Best Rap Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums with rapping at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors in several categories ...

at the

55th Grammy Awards The 55th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 10, 2013, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. E ...

, but lost to '' Take Care'' by

. The album was officially certified

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

on March 22, 2016.

Background

In 2007, 2 Chainz began releasing solo material, while he still was in the group

with Dolla Boy. During the year, he released a

mixtape A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...

titled ''Me Against the World!'', while he still was under his former stage name Tity Boi. In 2011, he changed his moniker to 2 Chainz, as he perceived it to be more "family friendly", before his career began to take off. Following his name change, 2 Chainz released a mixtape titled '' T.R.U. REALigion'' (2011), which became his first solo full-length project to appear on a music chart, peaking at number 58 on the US ''Billboard''

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 ...

chart. He has also made guest appearances on songs by recording artists since the name change, including the singles "

Mercy Mercy (Middle English, from Anglo-French ''merci'', from Medieval Latin ''merced-'', ''merces'', from Latin, "price paid, wages", from ''merc-'', ''merxi'' "merchandise") is benevolence, forgiveness, and kindness in a variety of ethical, relig ...

" by

and " Beez in the Trap" by

. The album was originally set to be titled ''T.R.U. 2 My REALigion'', as he revealed to

AllHipHop AllHipHop is a hip hop news website founded by Greg Watkins and Chuck Creekmur in 1998. History The website was founded in 1998 by Greg Watkins and Chuck Creekmur. In 1997, Watkins registered the allhiphop.com domain to promote the artists on ...

at his sold-out show in New York City's live music venue

SOB's SOB's is a live world music venue and restaurant in the Hudson Square neighborhood of Manhattan. S.O.B.’s is an abbreviation of Sounds of Brazil. Larry Gold started SOBs in June 1982, and he currently still owns the space. Gold opened the ven ...

, on January 30, 2012. On March 15, 2012, it was revealed, while in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

for

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

, 2 Chainz announced his Def Jam debut, which would no longer be titled ''T.R.U. 2 My REALigion''. Instead, during an interview with

FUSE Fuse or FUSE may refer to: Devices * Fuse (electrical), a device used in electrical systems to protect against excessive current ** Fuse (automotive), a class of fuses for vehicles * Fuse (hydraulic), a device used in hydraulic systems to protect ...

, the former member of Playaz Circle announced a new title for his LP: "I recently changed the album and the new title of my album is ''Based on a T.R.U. Story''."

Release and promotion

On March 24, 2 Chainz announced, via his Twitter feed, the album would be released on August 14, 2012. On July 17, 2012, the album's

deluxe edition The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, or collector's edition, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints, r ...

cover art Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper ( tabloid), comic book, video game (box art), music album (album art), ...

was unveiled. Designed by Kanye West's creative agency DONDA, the album cover was ranked the second best of 2012 by ''

Complex Magazine Complex Networks is an American media and entertainment company for youth culture, based in New York City. It was founded as a bi-monthly magazine, ''Complex'', by fashion designer Marc (Ecko) Milecofsky. Complex Networks reports on popular a ...

''. On July 24, 2 Chainz announced he would embark on a

tour Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

following the album's release, which would begin August 30 in Norfolk, Virginia at The Norva and concludes on September 27 in Austin, Texas at La Zona Rosa. On February 12, 2013, the album's chopnotslop version by OG Ron C was released on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

Singles

The album's

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

, " No Lie" premiered on May 1, 2012, and was released to

on May 8, 2012. The song features guest vocals from Canadian recording artist

, while it was produced by Mike WiLL Made It. It was sent to urban radio on May 15, 2012. The music video (directed by

Director X Julien Christian Lutz (born October 31, 1975), known professionally as Director X, is a Canadian filmmaker, commercial director, music video director, and television director. Having directed more than 100 music videos, he is widely known as a pr ...

) was released June 21, 2012. The album's second single, "Birthday Song" featuring

, was released on July 24, 2012. It officially impacted urban radio on August 7, 2012. The album's third single, " I'm Different" was released on November 8, 2012. The music video for "I'm Different" premiered December 23, 2012 on

MTV Jams BET Jams is an American pay television network controlled by BET Networks and owned by Paramount Media Networks. The channel features hip-hop and urban contemporary music videos. The network, formerly known as MTV Jams, was rebranded under the ...

Other songs

On August 12, 2012, the music video for "I Luv Dem Strippers" featuring

, was released. On March 17, 2013, the music video for "Crack" was released. On April 15, 2013, the music video for "Yuck!" featuring

, was released. On April 24, 2013, the music video for "Like Me" was released.

Critical reception

''Based on a T.R.U. Story'' received mixed reviews from

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

s. 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

weighted mean The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, 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 55, based on 19 reviews, which indicates "mixed or average reviews". David Jeffries of

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 ...

praised the high-powered production on the lead track "Yuck" and felt that overall 2 Chainz "almost delivers on his official debut." Jody Rosen of

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

felt 2 Chainz has "irrepressible enthusiasm" and also praised the guest artists and producers. Phillip Mlynar of HipHopDX affirmed 2 Chainz' enthusiasm but disliked his lyrics, stating "throughout the album, Chainz kicks a series of amazingly flimsy rhymes" and concluded "2 Chainz has revealed himself as the weakest guest on his own album." In a very negative review, Jesal Padania of RapReviews.com panned 2 Chainz' lyrics with the lowest possible score 1 out of 10 points, commenting "Can 2 Chainz rap? Yes, of course. But is he saying anything? No, not even once... Albums like "Based On a T.R.U. Story" really make you wonder just how they even come about to existence."

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

reviewer Randall Roberts also disliked Chainz' lyrics, and while he praised the guest verses on the album, he felt that "2 Chainz drags them down." In a lengthy review,

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

's David Drake felt the album offers "nothing beyond the one-dimensional caricature Chainzs crafted on countless other verses" and called it "a cynical example of the bare minimum of creativity required for that level of success."

Accolades

Despite being met with mixed reviews from critics, ''Based on a T.R.U. Story'' was nominated for Best Rap Album at the

. The album was named the 25th best Hip Hop album of 2012 by ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

''.

Commercial performance

''Based on a T.R.U. Story'' debuted at number one on the US ''Billboard'' 200, selling 147,000 copies in its first week. As of August 2013, the album sold 623,000 copies in the United States. On March 30, 2016, the album was certified

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) for combined sales and

album-equivalent unit The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, is a measurement unit in music industry to define the consumption of music that equals the purchase of one album copy. This consumption includes streaming and song downloads in addition to traditi ...

s of over a million units in the United States.

Track listing

Credits adapted from liner notes. Notes * signifies a co-producer * signifies an additional producer * signifies a vocal producer Samples credits * "Yuck!" contains a sample of "Down for My Niggaz", performed by

C-Murder Corey Miller (born March 9, 1971), better known by his stage name C-Murder, is an American rapper and songwriter. He initially gained fame in the mid-1990s as a part of his brother Master P's label No Limit Records, primarily as a member of the ...

. * "Dope Peddler" contains a sample of "

The Old Dope Peddler "The Old Dope Peddler" is a satirical song by Tom Lehrer. It was on Lehrer's first album ''Songs by Tom Lehrer'' from 1953, and a new live recording on '' Tom Lehrer Revisited'' in 1960. The song is a parody of a popular tune well known at the ...

", performed by

Tom Lehrer Thomas Andrew Lehrer (; born April 9, 1928) is an American former musician, singer-songwriter, satirist, and mathematician, having lectured on mathematics and musical theater. He is best known for the pithy and humorous songs that he recorded in ...

. * "I Luv Dem Strippers" contains a sample of "

Mr. Telephone Man "Mr. Telephone Man" is a song by New Edition, and the second single from their eponymous second album, ''New Edition''. Released as a single, by December 8, 1984, it was being added to the most "Hot Black" radio station playlists. Overview "Mr ...

", performed by

New Edition New Edition is an American R&B/Pop group from the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1978 by Bobby Brown. Their name is taken to mean a 'new edition' of the Jackson 5. The group reached its height of popularity in the 198 ...

. * "Stop Me Now" contains a sample of "Nothing Can Stop Me", performed by

Cissy Houston Emily "Cissy" Houston ( ''née'' Drinkard; born September 30, 1933) is an American soul and gospel singer. After a successful career singing backup for such artists as Roy Hamilton, Dionne Warwick, Elvis Presley, and Aretha Franklin, Houston embar ...

. * "Like Me" contains a sample of "The Birds Part 1", performed by

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2012 debut albums Def Jam Recordings albums 2 Chainz albums Albums produced by Bangladesh (record producer) Albums produced by Drumma Boy Albums produced by Kanye West Albums produced by Mike Posner Albums produced by The-Dream Albums produced by Mike Will Made It Albums produced by DJ Mustard Albums produced by Southside (record producer) Albums produced by Noah "40" Shebib Albums produced by Mike Dean (record producer) Albums produced by Mike Free