''Congo Square'' is the thirteenth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American singer and songwriter

Teena Marie Mary Christine Brockert (March 5, 1956 – December 26, 2010), known professionally as Teena Marie, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, composer, arranger, and producer. She was known by her childhood nickname Tina before taking the sta ...

. Released in the United States on June 9, 2009, it would be her only album for the revived Stax label and the final album released before her death in late December 2010. ''Congo Square'' peaked at #4 on the US R&B Albums chart and #20 on the ''Billboard'' 200. Lead single "Can't Last a Day", a duet with

Faith Evans Faith Renée Evans (born June 10, 1973) is an American singer and actress. Born in Lakeland, Florida, and raised in New Jersey, she relocated to Los Angeles in 1991 for a career in the music business. After working as a backing vocalist for Al B ...

, peaked at #41 on the US R&B singles chart, followed by "You Baby". The album features collaborations with Teena Marie's daughter Alia Rose—who records under the name of Rose LeBeau—and rapper

MC Lyte Lana Michele Moorer (born October 11, 1970), better known by her stage name MC Lyte, is an American rapper, DJ, actress and entrepreneur. Considered one of the pioneers of female rap, Lyte first gained fame in the late 1980s, becoming the first ...

, as well as Faith Evans,

George Duke George M. Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as a pr ...

and

Shirley Murdock Shirley Murdock (born May 22, 1957) is an American R&B singer-songwriter, who is best known for her 1986 R&B hit single "As We Lay" and for her vocals on Zapp and Roger's hit single " Computer Love". Her lead vocal special guest appearance w ...

Background

The album title references

Congo Square Congo Square (french: Place Congo) is an open space, now within Louis Armstrong Park, which is located in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, just across Rampart Street north of the French Quarter. The square is famous for its ...

, in the

Tremé Tremé ( ) is a neighborhood in New Orleans, Louisiana. "Tremé" is often rendered as Treme, and the neighborhood is sometimes called by its more formal French name, Faubourg Tremé; it is listed in the New Orleans City Planning Districts as Trem ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, an area in which, during times of slavery, slaves were "allowed to dance and sing in the wardrobe of their mother country on Sundays." Teena Marie said of the album:

"I've been through quite a few trials and tribulations over the last two years. I spent many of those hours in prayer and felt like God was putting his arms around me. I started thinking about the music I grew up on—how inspired it was. Each song I was coming up with began to sound like the style of some favorite artist of mine from the past... Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye, Billie Holliday, the old Chicago soul of The Emotions and the new Chicago vibe of Kanye West... Ice Cube's bumpin' in the trunk vibe and of course, Rick James. It's all in there."

Teena Marie also expressed her appreciation for Faith Evans, saying, "I've always loved Faith and her vocal style. She reminds me of me. Her correlation with Biggie—having a career with him and without him—reminds me of me and Rick

ames Ames may refer to: Places United States * Ames, Arkansas, a place in Arkansas * Ames, Colorado * Ames, Illinois * Ames, Indiana * Ames, Iowa, the most populous city bearing this name * Ames, Kansas * Ames, Nebraska * Ames, New York * Ames, Ok ...

I feel like she's a younger me. Of the younger ladies, she's the one I love most."

Track listing

All songs written by Teena Marie, except where noted. # "The Pressure" (featuring

) (Marie, James Allen, Doug Grigsby) – 5:32 # "Can't Last a Day" (featuring

) – 5:05 # "Baby I Love You" (Marie, Nairobi Williams) – 4:57 # "Ear Candy 101" – 4:48 (Ben Del Giorgio, Doug Grigsby) # "Lover's Lane" (featuring

Howard Hewett Howard Hewett Jr. (born October 1, 1955) is an American singer–songwriter. Hewett rose to fame as the lead vocalist of the group Shalamar. In 1985, he left the group to pursue his solo career, but he later returned to the group in 2001. He sig ...

) – 5:07 # "Marry Me" – 5:31 # "You Baby" – 4:15 # "Milk N' Honey" (featuring Gail Gotti and Rose LeBeau) (Marie, Rose LeBeau) – 5:26 # "What U Got 4 Me" (Marie, Allen) – 4:42 # "Rovleta's Jass" – 0:31 # "Congo Square" (featuring

) – 4:55 # "Harlem Blues" – 5:17 # "Black Cool" – 1:59 # "Ms. Coretta" – 5:19 # "Soldier Boy" (featuring

) – 4:25 # "The Rose N' Thorn" – 5:30

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles

References

External links

''Congo Square''
on

Concord Music Group Concord Music Group was an American independent music company based in Beverly Hills, California, with worldwide (including the U.S.) distribution through Universal Music Group. The company specialized in recordings ( Fearless Records, Concord R ...

{{Authority control 2009 albums Stax Records albums Teena Marie albums