''Free Yourself'' is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter

Fantasia Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcore ...

, which was released on November 23, 2004. The album sold 240,000 units in its first week, reaching number eight on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. The album is certified platinum in the United States and has been nominated for ten awards, including three

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

Background and development

After winning ''American Idol,'' Fantasia signed to

J Records J Records was an American record label owned and operated by Bertelsmann Music Group until it was transferred to Sony Music Entertainment when they acquired all of BMG’s record labels in late 2008. It was distributed through the RCA Music Gro ...

with

19 Entertainment 19 Entertainment is a producer of entertainment properties for television with a focus on music. Founded by Simon Fuller in London in 1985, the company co-produced ''Pop Idol'' in the United Kingdom with Thames Television in 2001. The ''Idol serie ...

and began work on her debut album. The album was released on November 23, 2004. Its first single, "Truth Is," was released in December 2004. On June 29, 2004, her debut single "I Believe" was released and included as the closing track on ''Free Yourself''. The album was recorded in 2003 and 2004, while Fantasia was a contestant on ''American Idol.'' She worked with various producers, including

Louis Biancaniello Louis John Biancaniello is an American songwriter and record producer. Career Biancaniello's skills were developed while working alongside producer Narada Michael Walden with whom he produced hits for Shanice ''I Love Your Smile'', Whitney Ho ...

Craig Brockman Craig Xavier Brockman (born May 16, 1973) is a hip hop and R&B record producer, arranger, keyboardist, and instrumentalist. He mostly works with Missy Elliott, Timbaland, Terrace Martin, Warren G. He is also a member of The Soul Seekers. Pr ...

Bryan-Michael Cox Bryan-Michael Paul Cox (born December 1, 1977) is an American record producer and songwriter who is notable for his work with artists such as Usher, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, and Toni Braxton. Among his most notable productions are "Be Wit ...

Clive Davis Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer, in 2000. From 1967 to 1 ...

Jermaine Dupri Jermaine Dupri Mauldin (born September 23, 1972) is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, record executive, entrepreneur, and DJ. Early life Jermaine Dupri Mauldin was born on September 23, 1972, the son of Tina (Mosley) and Michael ...

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette Elliott (born July 1, 1971), better known as Missy Elliott or Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliot, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She embarked on her music career with R&B girl group Sista in the earl ...

Sean Garrett Garrett Robin Hamler, known professionally as Sean Garrett, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is responsible for a series of chart-topping compositions, most notably Usher's " Yeah!" which ranks second on the ''Billboa ...

Jazze Pha Phalon Anton Alexander, (born April 15, 1974), professionally known as Jazze Pha ( ), is an American record producer, singer, songwriter and rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. He is the founder and chief executive officer of Sho'nuff Records, to wh ...

Darkchild Rodney Roy Jerkins (born July 29, 1977), also known by his stage name Darkchild, is an American record producer, rapper, and songwriter. He has collaborated with a broad range of popular artists. Jerkins has won multiple Grammy Awards. Among hi ...

, Harold Lilly, Ric Rude,

Soulshock & Karlin Soulshock & Karlin is a duo of Danish record producers and songwriters, Carsten Schack and Kenneth Karlin. They have produced many successful songs, including Monica's "Before You Walk out of My Life", Whitney Houston's "Heartbreak Hotel", JoJo' ...

, The Underdogs,

Sam Watters Samuel Joshua Watters (born July 23, 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and record executive. Watters was a member of the multi-platinum selling 1990s R&B group Color Me Badd and co-authored many of their hits including "I ...

and Nigel Wright.

Critical reception

''Free Yourself'' received mixed reviews. It got three out of five stars by both

AllMusic.com 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 ...

and ''

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 ...

'' magazine. It also received 2.5/5 stars by

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...

of AllMusic said: "''Free Yourself'' is looser and hipper than any previous American Idol album. Gone is

Matthew Wilder Matthew Wilder ( Weiner; January 24, 1953) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. In early 1984, his single "Break My Stride" hit No. 2 on the ''Cash Box'' chart and No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 ...

, who contributed to Kelly's debut; gone are

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

and

Aldo Nova Aldo Nova (born Aldo Caporuscio on November 13, 1956) is a Canadian guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist, and producer. He initially gained fame and popularity with the release of his 1982 debut album ''Aldo Nova'' which peaked to ''Billboards n ...

, who featured heavily on Clay's album. In their place are

and

Rodney Jerkins Rodney Roy Jerkins (born July 29, 1977), also known by his stage name Darkchild, is an American record producer, rapper, and songwriter. He has collaborated with a broad range of popular artists. Jerkins has won multiple Grammy Awards. Among hi ...

, hip-hop hitmakers who give a good indication that this album is striving to seem fresh and hip, something that no other American Idol album has even attempted. Of course, the show-biz trappings haven't been completely abandoned -- Fantasia's showstopping rendition of Gershwin's "Summertime" has been revived, and it's been given an overwrought treatment that's slicker and more mannered than either of her performances of it on the show. And that reveals Fantasia's biggest weakness, which is part of the inherent flaw of American Idol: it rewards contestants who put on a show of being a great singer instead of actually being a great singer."

Commercial performance

In its first week of release, ''Free Yourself'' sold over 240,000 copies. It has sold over one million copies in United States. It debuted at number eight on the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart in US. It was certified Platinum by

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). ''Free Yourself'' also peaked at number two 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. " Truth Is" and "

Free Yourself ''Free Yourself'' is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Fantasia, which was released on November 23, 2004. The album sold 240,000 units in its first week, reaching number eight on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. The album is certi ...

" were number one singles on the Hot Adult R&B Airplay Songs chart and top three hits 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. The latter peaked at number forty-one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. "

Baby Mama A baby mama (also baby mother, or hyphenated baby-mama) is a slang term for a mother who is not marriage, married to her child's father, although the term often carries other connotations as well. This term is associated with African Americans or ...

" peaked on number sixty on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number sixteen on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. "Truth Is" was the most successful single from ''Free Yourself'', also peaking at number twenty-one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Two more singles were released from the album: "It's All Good" and "Ain't Gon' Beg You".

Singles

The album had a series of hit singles with " Truth Is", "

" and "

". "Truth Is" achieved a record stay at number on the

Adult R&B Airplay The Adult R&B Songs chart (formerly called Adult R&B Airplay) is an airplay chart that is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on urban adult contemporary radio stations, whose playl ...

chart for a female artist at fourteen weeks. "It's All Good" was a club hit reaching the top ten, and "Ain't Gonna Beg You" received radio airplay. *"Truth Is" was released as the lead single on December 7, 2004. It peaked at number twenty-one on Billboard Hot 100, number two on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and number one on

. It was the most successful single from the album. *"It's All Good" was released as the second single on April 12, 2005 on

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

and

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...

in an EP format (Dance Vault Mixes EP). It was a top ten club hit. *"Baby Mama" was released on May 9, 2005 as the third single. It peaked at number sixty on Billboard Hot 100 and number sixteen on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. *"Free Yourself", the title track, was released on June 1, 2005 as the fourth single, peaking at number forty-one on Billboard Hot 100, number three on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and number one on Adult R&B Airplay. *"Ain't Gon' Beg You" was released on August 8, 2005 as the fifth and final single, receiving radio airplay.

Track listing

Notes * signifies co-producer * signifies additional producer Sample credits *"Truth Is" contains a sample from "

The Highways of My Life "The Highways of My Life" is a song by The Isley Brothers. It was released in 1974 as a single from their album ''3 + 3''. The song was released as the b-side of "What It Comes Down To", though the song attracted UK fans of the group enough to p ...

", performed by

The Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American musical group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decades, ...

. *"Selfish (I Want You to Myself)" contains a sample from "Dil Aaj Shair Hai", performed by

Kishore Kumar Kishore Kumar (born as Abhas Kumar Ganguly (); 4 August 1929 – 13 October 1987) was an Indian playback singer and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest, most influential and dynamic singers in the history of Indian music. He ...

. *"Baby Mama" contains a sample from "There Will Never Be Any Peace (Until God Is Seated at the Conference Table)", performed by

The Chi-Lites The Chi-Lites (, ) are an American R&B/soul vocal quartet from Chicago, Illinois, United States. Forming at Chicago's Hyde Park High School in 1959, The group's original lineup consisted of singers Robert Lester, Eugene Record, Creadel Jones, ...

Personnel

*Kamel Abdo - engineer, mixing *

Gerald Albright Gerald Albright is an American jazz saxophonist. He earned Grammys for 24/7 in 2012 and Slam Dunk in 2014 and has been nominated for New Beginnings in 2008 and for Sax for Stax in 2009. Biography Born in Los Angeles, Albright grew up in its ...

- saxophone *Maxi Anderson - choir, chorus *Carlos Bedoya - engineer, mixing, programming *Charile Bereal - drum programming *

- arranger, keyboards, mixing, producer, programming *Leslie Brathwaite - mixing *

- keyboards, producer *

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 ...

- assistant *

Eric Butler Eric Dudley Butler (7 May 1916 – 7 June 2006) was an Australian political activist and journalist, who in 1946 founded the far-right Australian League of Rights, which he led until 1992. He was known as a staunch anti-communist and virulent ...

- choir, chorus *

Debra Byrd Debra Byrd (born 19 July 1951, Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland, Ohio) is an Americans, American Singing, vocalist who has worked with Barry Manilow in and after Lady Flash and Bob Dylan, appeared on Broadway theatre, Broadway, and serves as the head vo ...

- choir, chorus * David Campbell - string arrangements, string conductor *Darius Campo - violin *Vadim Chislov - assistant *

Steve Churchyard Steve Churchyard is an English record producer, recording engineer and mixer who began his career at Sir George Martin’s AIR Studios in London. He currently resides in the United States. He has been nominated for 15 Grammy awards. In 2008 he wo ...

- audio engineer, engineer *Nicholas Cooper - choir, chorus *Larry Corbett - cello *

- producer *Eric Dawkins - main personnel, backing vocals *

Joel Derouin Joel Derouin is a Canadian violinist, concert master, composer and music director. In addition to having worked with many popular musicians, he is also known for his work in film, television and theatre. Biography Born in Cornwall, Ontario, Can ...

- violin *Kevin Dorsey - choir, chorus *Laura Marie Duncan - stylist *

- producer *

- audio production, main personnel, producer, backing vocals *

Fantasia Barrino Fantasia Monique Barrino-Taylor (born June 30, 1984), known professionally by her mononym Fantasia, is an American R&B singer and actress. She rose to fame as the winner of the third season of the reality television series ''American Idol'' in ...

- vocals *Angela Fisher - choir, chorus *Gloria Elias Foeillet - make-up *Matthew Funes - viola *Armen Garabedian - violin *Berj Garabedian - violin *

- engineer, producer, vocal producer *Jon Gass - mixing *

Tamyra Gray Tamyra Monica Gray (born July 26, 1979) is an American actress, singer and songwriter, who finished fourth place on the first season of the musical reality competition ''American Idol'' in 2002. Post ''American Idol'', Gray has begun acting on B ...

- main personnel, backing vocals *Laurence Greenfield - violin *Julian Hallmark - violin *Dabling Harward - editing, engineer *David Heuer - assistant *Ross Hogarth - engineer *John Horesco IV - engineer * Bill Hughes - orchestra contractor *Jun Ishizeki - assistant engineer *

- main personnel, producer, rap *

- mixing, producer *Jeff Kanan - assistant * Karlin - arranger, instrumentation, producer *Mark Kiczula - assistant engineer *

Darlene Koldenhoven Darlene Koldenhoven (born October 9, 1950) is an American musician. Darlene won a Grammy Award for her singing. Career Grammy recipient and is a three-time Grammy nominee for the lead soprano in Clare Fischer's 2+2. She was the featured sopra ...

- choir, chorus *Chris LeBeau - artwork *Natalie Leggett - violin *Mario de León - violin *Lil' Steve - main personnel, backing vocals *Allison Lilly - backing vocals * Harold Lilly - producer *Bill Malina - audio engineer, engineer *

Manny Marroquin Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is an American mixing engineer.Daley, Dan (May 2005).Manny Marroquin. ''Sound on Sound''. Retrieved February 10, 2007 He has received ten Grammy awards for his professional audio work. Life and career M ...

- mixing *Yolanda McCullough - digital editing, engineer *Byron Motley - choir, chorus *Neeko - hair stylist *Bobbi Page - choir, chorus *Alyssa Park - violin *Sara Parkins - violin *Michael Parnin - mixing *Bob Peterson - violin *Charles Pettaway - guitar, main personnel *

Greg Phillinganes Gregory Arthur Phillinganes (born May 12, 1956) is an American keyboardist, singer-songwriter, and musical director based in Los Angeles, California. A prolific session musician, Phillinganes has contributed the role of keyboards to numerous alb ...

- piano * Ric Rude - producer *

Tom Ranier Thomas John Ranier (born July 13, 1949) is an American instrumentalist who primarily plays piano but also saxophone and clarinet. As a jazz artist he has recorded widely under his own name and as a sideman for Warner Bros., Concord Records and se ...

- orchestration *Aaron Renner - assistant *Brian Scheuble - engineer *Robin Sellars - engineer *Gabe Sganga - assistant engineer *Deborah Sharpe-Taylor - choir, chorus * Dan Smith - cello *Isabel Snyder - photography *Nico Solis - engineer *

Soulshock Carsten Schack (born 1968 in Gug, Denmark) and better known by his stage name Soulshock is a Danish record producer and songwriter. Beginnings Carsten Schack was born in the Aalborg suburb of Gug, the son of economics professor Bent Schack and p ...

- arranger, instrumentation, producer *

- audio production *

Nisan Stewart Nisan Cumming Stewart (born 31 March 1974) is a noted drummer, record producer and songwriter. Having worked with Timbaland and Missy Elliott on Missy Elliott's earlier work (''This Is Not a Test!''), he co-produced Karen Clark Sheard's 2002 album ...

- drums *

Jazmine Sullivan Jazmine Marie Sullivan (born April 9, 1987) is an American R&B and soul singer. Born and raised in Philadelphia, her debut album, ''Fearless'' was released in 2008. The record topped ''Billboards Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and was certifie ...

- main personnel, backing vocals *

Phil Tan Phil Tan is a Malaysian-American music and audio engineer. Early life and education Tan was born in Malaysia. He attended Full Sail University in Florida in the U.S., where he attained a degree in Recording Arts in 1990. Afterwards he moved to Atla ...

- mixing *

Tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

- main personnel, various instruments *Melanie Taylor - choir, chorus * The Underdogs - audio production, instrumentation, main personnel, producer, various instruments *

- arranger, producer, backing vocals *Tony Wilkins - choir, chorus *Yvonne Williams - choir, chorus *Evan Wilson - viola *

John Wittenberg John Wittenberg (2 October 1939 – 3 November 2005) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer. A front-row forward with the St. George Dragons, he was a representative in the Australian national team in 1966 and from 1968 to 197 ...

- violin *Terry Wood - choir, chorus * Nigel Wright - producer *Alexis Yraola - art direction, design

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Awards and nominations

References

{{Authority control 2004 debut albums Fantasia Barrino albums J Records albums Albums produced by Bryan-Michael Cox Albums produced by Missy Elliott Albums produced by the Underdogs (production team) 19 Recordings albums