''Free Yourself'' is the debut

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

album by American singer

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 ...

, released by on November 23, 2004. After winning ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

,'' Fantasia signed to J Records 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 recording her debut album, working with a variety of writers and producers, including Louis Biancaniello, Craig Brockman, Bryan-Michael Cox,

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,

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,

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, 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. The album earned largely mixed reviews from music critics, most of whom praised her voice but were critical with the production on the album. Upon its release, ''Free Yourself'' debuted and peaked at number eight on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, selling 240,000 units in its first week. It went on to sell 1.8 million copies in the United States and was nominated for a number of 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 ...

. The album produced several singles, including ''American Idol'' winner's single " I Believe," Fantasia's first number-one hit on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 as well as the R&B hit singles "

Truth Is Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth 2005 In everyday language, truth is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it, such as beliefs, ...

" and " Free Yourself."

Promotion

In June 2004, Fantasia released her debut single, " I Believe", which later debuted at number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, making her the first artist in history to achieve this with a first single. On the sales chart, the song spent eleven consecutive weeks at number one, giving it the longest consecutive stay on top of that chart for an ''American Idol'' contestant. The CD single, "I Believe", went on to become the top selling single of 2004 in the United States. The song was later included as the closing track on ''Free Yourself''. "

," produced by Soulshock and Karlin, was the second single to precede ''Free Yourself''. Released on December 7, 2004 as the album's lead single, it peaked at number twenty-one on ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and number two on

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 ...

. The most successful single taken from the album, it topped the Adult R&B Songs chart for 13 weeks. "It's All Good" was released as the second single digitally on April 12, 2005 in a

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

EP format. Due to its remixes, produced by The Scumfrog and Nate Skaten, it reached number 21 on the

Dance Club Songs Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

chart. "

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 ...

," co-written and produced by Harold Lilly, was released on May 9, 2005 as the third single from ''Free Yourself''. It peaked at number sixty on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number sixteen on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It was followed by " Free Yourself" which was released on June 1, 2005 as the fourth single. The song peaked at number forty-one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number three on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, also becoming Fantasia's second number-one hit on the Adult R&B Songs chart. "Ain't Gon' Beg You," penned by The Underdogs, was released as the albums's fifth and final single on August 8, 2005 and reached the top 40 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

Critical reception

''Free Yourself'' was released to largely mixed reviews from music critics.

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 ...

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 ...

rated the album three out of five stars and wrote: "''Free Yourself'' is looser and hipper than any previous ''American Idol'' album. Gone is Matthew Wilder, who contributed to

Kelly Kelly may refer to: Art and entertainment * Kelly (Kelly Price album) * Kelly (Andrea Faustini album) * ''Kelly'' (musical), a 1965 musical by Mark Charlap * "Kelly" (song), a 2018 single by Kelly Rowland * ''Kelly'' (film), a 1981 Canadi ...

's debut; gone are Neil Sedaka and Aldo Nova, who featured heavily on

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

's album. In their place are

, Jermaine Dupri 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." ''

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

'' critic Chris Carle "note that "there are a few missteps on ''Free Yourself'', but the album as a whole is solid, old-fashioned R&B featuring thee best voice yet to come from America's most popular show." Christian Hoard from ''

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 ...

'' found that ''Free Yourself'' "leaves too much room for the pyrotechnics that constitute vocal talent on the show. But Barrino has gotten crucial help from a cavalcade of top urban songwriters and producers. The result is solid, up-to-date R&B; that puts some sexy bounce into its soccer-mom pop and bookends a cover of "Summertime" with a Missy Elliott jam." Sal Cinquemani, writing for

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 ...

, described the album as "a smattering of everything that’s going on in mainstream R&B right now." He added: "These are artists we’ve gotten to know in a live context, and like most of the albums by the ''Idols'' before her, ''Free Yourself'' doesn't fully capture the Fantasia we watched make Paula weep on TV week after week." Neva Chonin from ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'' felt that Fantasia's "first CD doesn't do her justice ..Layered vocals pour like waterfalls, Fantasia's skills are extolled in sundry shout-outs, and faux-vinyl scratchiness lends touches of nostalgic verite. Even the Elliott-produced title track is clinically smooth and forgettable."

Accolades

Commercial performance

''Free Yourself'' debuted and peaked at number eight on the US ''Billboard'' 200 in the week ending November 12, 2004, with first week sales of 240,000 copies. It also reached number two on ''Billboard''s

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. A steady seller, it remained 42 weeks on the chart and was eventually 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) on January 6, 2005. By August 2010, ''Free Yourself'' had sold 1.8 million copies in the United States, according to

Nielsen Soundscan Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...

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. *"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.

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 * Louis Biancaniello – arranger, keyboards, mixing, producer, programming *Leslie Brathwaite – mixing * Craig Brockman – 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 – audio engineer, engineer *Nicholas Cooper – choir, chorus *Larry Corbett – cello * Bryan-Michael Cox – producer *Eric Dawkins – main personnel, backing vocals * Joel Derouin – violin *Kevin Dorsey – choir, chorus *Laura Marie Duncan – stylist * Jermaine Dupri – producer *

– audio production, main personnel, producer, backing vocals * Fantasia Barrino – 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 * Jazze Pha – 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 – 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 * Soulshock & Karlin – audio production * Nisan Stewart – 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

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