''Get Lifted'' is the debut

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

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and record producer. He began his musical career by working behind the scenes, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Ever ...

. It was released by

GOOD Music GOOD Music (also known simply as GOOD, stylized as G.O.O.D. Music; a backronym for Getting Out Our Dreams) is an American record label founded by rapper Kanye West in 2004. The label signed an exclusive long-term worldwide label agreement with t ...

Sony Urban Music Sony Urban Music was a division of Sony BMG, active from 2004 to 2006, The division handled R&B, soul, and hip hop releases by artists nominally signed to Sony's Columbia and Epic labels. During its existence, Sony Urban managed releases by a ...

, and

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

on December 28, 2004 in the United States. The production on the album was handled by Legend's then-manager,

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 ...

, who also served as the album's executive producer, as well as

Dave Tozer Dave Tozer is an American Grammy Award-winning record producer, songwriter, and musician. He has worked with several R&B, hip-hop, rock and pop artists including John Legend, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake, Bruno Mars, John Mayer, Snoop Do ...

will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "Will-I-am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is the founding and lead member of the musical group Black Eyed Peas. ...

, and

Devo Springsteen DeVon "Devo" Harris (born December 9, 1977), also known as Devo Springsteen, is an American producer and songwriter. Harris launched the career of EGOT winner John Legend by signing him to Kanye West’s GOOD Music in 2003. Harris produced and c ...

. The album also features guest appearances by Kanye West,

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

and

Miri Ben-Ari Miri Ben-Ari ( he, מירי בן-ארי; born December 4, 1978) is an American–Israeli musician, producer, and humanitarian, known as "the hip-hop violinist". Life and career Ben-Ari was born in Tel Aviv District, Israel. She grew up playing ...

. ''Get Lifted'' supported by four singles: "

Used to Love U "Used to Love U" is the debut single by American singer John Legend. It was written and produced by Legend and rapper-producer Kanye West for his debut album ''Get Lifted'' (2004). Released as Legend's debut single as well as the album's leading ...

", "

Ordinary People ''Ordinary People'' is a 1980 American drama film directed by Robert Redford in his directorial debut. The screenplay by Alvin Sargent is based on the 1976 novel of the same name by Judith Guest. The film follows the disintegration of an upper ...

", "

Number One Number One most commonly refers to: * 1 (number) Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song * ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song * ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC * ''n.1' ...

" and " So High". The album received generally positive reviews from music critics. It debuted at number seven on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, selling 116,000 copies in its first week. The album later peaked at number four on the chart. At the

48th Annual Grammy Awards The 48th Annual Grammy Awards took place on February 8, 2006, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning from October 1, 2004 through September 30, 2005. Irish rock band U2 were ...

, the album won the award for

Best R&B Album The Grammy Award for Best R&B Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works on albums in the R&B music genre. Honors ...

, and earned Legend another two awards, for

Best New Artist The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1959. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967. The official guidelines are as ...

and

Best Male R&B Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance was awarded between 1968 and 2011. The award has had several minor name changes: *In 1968 it was awarded as Best R&B Solo Vocal Performance, Male *From 1969 to 1994 it was awarded as Best R&B V ...

for his single "Ordinary People".

Singles

The album was supported by four singles. The first single "

" was released on August 31, 2004. The single received moderate commercial success, peaking at number 74 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. The second single "

" was released on April 7, 2005. This became Legend's first breakthrough hit. The song peaked at number 24 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming Legend's first top 40 hit. It also received success outside of the US. In the United Kingdom, it was peaked at number four on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and number one on the UK R&B Singles chart. The song also received three nominations at the

for Song of the Year,

Best R&B Song The Grammy Award for Best R&B Song (sometimes known as the R&B Songwriter's Award) has been awarded since 1969. From 1969 to 2000, it was known as the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm and Blues Song. Beyoncé has won it a record four times, while Bab ...

and

, ultimately winning the latter. The third single "

" was released on August 23, 2005. Unlike the last two singles, the song failed on the Billboard Hot 100. But it still managed to peak at number 63 on the UK Singles Chart. The final single " So High" was released on December 8, 2005. The song also failed to peaked on the Billboard Hot 100. But it still managed to peak at number 3 on the US

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

chart.

Critical reception

'' Get Lifted'' received generally positive reviews from music critics.

BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio o ...

gave the album a favorable review and called it "an album that not only lived up to the hype, but rose squarely above it. Yes, at times it is a patchwork of the past filtered through Legend’s ever-present influences, but the quality of his writing and performance, and his collaborators’ contributions, make it worthy of the awards and plaudits it rightly received." ''

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 ...

'' gave it an A− and said that Legend's voice "leans on subtlety more than melisma, and his sound has a crisp live-band jump, rather than canned neo-soul static." ''

Uncut Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...

'' gave it three stars out of five and stated that Legend "introduces some intriguing new variations on the retro R&B template....Jeff Buckley is surprisingly brought to mind in Legend's passionately fragile delivery."

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 ...

gave it a score of 9.3 out of ten and called it "a refreshing record that fans of music will adore." ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' gave it four stars out of five and called it "a real gem."

Entertainment.ie ''Entertainment.ie'' is an Irish web company based in Dublin. The company provides news and reviews of programs and films for TV and the cinema. It also provides information on upcoming comedy, comedies, festivals, theater shows and music in Ir ...

also gave it four stars and said of Legend, "it's probably not surprising that he's got such a big head, seeing as his producer, hip-hop guru Kanye West, has described him as simply 'the future'. Actually, it would be much more accurate to say that he does a pretty good job of updating the past." In his Consumer Guide,

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

gave it a three-star honorable mention (); he picked out two of the songs from the album ("I Can Change" and "Live It Up") and said of Legend, "For an ordinary soul man, he has excellent tunes."

musicOMH MusicOMH (stylized as musicOMH) is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B. History MusicOMH was founded and launched by ...

gave it an average review and stated that "Certain albums have the power to open the mind into different forms of music, and certainly those who pick up the Get Lifted with the pretence of it being a hip-hop album will have a rude awakening. I approached with trepidation after the opening Prelude but with an open mind or just an appreciation for the finer things in life Get Lifted could find itself being an essential album in anyone’s collection." '' Paste'' gave it a positive review and stated that it "has as much in common with the classic funk and soul of Isaac Hayes, Stevie Wonder and The Delfonics as it does with today’s best R&B, hip-hop and neo-soul." ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' gave it an average review and stated that the album "suffers from a surplus of slickness, but it's also seductive, and at just over 52 minutes, mercifully free from the excess and filler that characterize many rap and R&B albums." ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'', however, gave it an unfavorable review and said, "The early line on Legend is that the heat this album will undoubtedly generate guarantees that Legend’s apparent fidelity issues will get worse before they get better. ''Get Lifted'' indeed." ''

Plugged In Focus on the Family (FOTF or FotF) is a fundamentalist Protestant organization founded in 1977 in Southern California by James Dobson, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The group is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations t ...

'' gave it a mixed review and stated that "Legend is a talented singer and piano player but fails to maintain his moral focus. It doesn't take much profanity, infidelity and sexual inappropriateness to sink an otherwise decent effort." ''

Rhapsody Rhapsody may refer to: * A work of epic poetry, or part of one, that is suitable for recitation at one time ** Rhapsode, a classical Greek professional performer of epic poetry Computer software * Rhapsody (online music service), an online m ...

'' ranked the album #10 on its "Best R&B Albums of the Decade" list, declaring, "John Legend was all over the Top 40 the entire decade—even before he released one of the decade’s biggest R&B debuts—having worked with

Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. She is often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, as well as being one of the most influential musicians of her generation. ...

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

and

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

, to name a few. Get Lifted, his first proper release, is an infectious cross between old-school

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

and

neo-soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contempo ...

Commercial performance

''Get Lifted'' debuted at number seven on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, selling 116,000 copies in its first week. This became Legend's first US top-ten debut on the chart. In its second week, the album climbed to number four on the chart, selling an additional 75,000 copies. In its third week, the album remained to number four on the chart, selling 73,000 more copies. In its fourth week, the album dropped to number five on the chart, selling 62,000 copies. On October 13, 2020, the album was certified

double platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

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 two million units in the United States. To date, the album has sold a total of 2.1 million copies in the US and over three million units worldwide.

Track listing

Notes * signifies co-

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

* signifies additional

Sample credits *"She Don't Have to Know" contains replayed elements from the composition "Just Like a Baby" as written by Sylvester Stewart. *"Number One" contains samples from the composition " Let's Do It Again" as written by

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music.

. *"So High" contains samples from the composition "I Don't Need No Reason" as written by

Leon Ware Leon Ware (February 16, 1940 – February 23, 2017) was an American songwriter, producer, composer, and singer. Besides a solo career as a performer, Ware was best known for producing hits for other artists including Michael Jackson, Quincy ...

and

Pam Sawyer Pamela Joan Sawyer (born 1938) is a British songwriter/lyricist, who started writing songs in the mid-1960s and whose credits as a co-writer at Motown included " Love Child", " If I Were Your Woman", "My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left ...

. *"Live It Up" contains interpolations from the composition "Love Is Missing from Our Lives" as written by Anthony Hester.

Personnel

Credits adapted from album's liner notes. * Candice Anderson — additional vocals (tracks 2, 4, 6) * Pablo Arraya — assistant engineer (tracks 2–4, 6, 8, 13) * Jose Barboza, Jr. — tuba (track 4) *

— strings (tracks 3, 14), string production and arrangements (14) *

Printz Board Priese Prince Lamont "Printz" Board (born September 11, 1982) is an American record producer, songwriter, and singer best known for his work with Black Eyed Peas and being a member of the production group Bucky Johnson. In addition, Board has ...

— trumpet (track 3) * Val Brathwaite — assistant engineer (tracks 2–4, 6, 8) * Jason Carson — assistant engineer (tracks 9, 10) * Paul Cho — additional production (track 12) * Shvona Chung — additional finger snaps and hand claps (track 13) * Ted Chung — additional finger snaps and hand claps (track 13) * Jimmy Coleman — live drums (track 9) * Tom Craskey — bass (tracks 7, 9, 10) * Karesha Crawford — trombone (track 4) * Jay Curtis — guitar (track 5) * Andrew Dawson — engineer (tracks 7, 11, 14) * Jenee Dixon — trumpet (track 4) * Pete Donelly — engineer (track 9) * Jeremy Dyen — ARP synthesizer (track 9) * Mike Eleopoulos — assistant engineer (tracks 1–4, 6, 8, 13) * Aaron Fessel — engineer (track 7) * Michael Harmon — engineer (track 9) * DeVon "Devo" Harris — producer (tracks 11, 12, 14) * Sharief Hobley — guitar (track 11) * Corey Hogan — saxophone (track 4) * The Horn Dogs — horns (track 3) * Matt Hueneman — engineer (track 13) * Jun Ishizeki — engineer (tracks 9, 10) * Tim Izo — saxophone (tracks 3, 5), flute (3) * Glenn Jeffery — guitar (track 6) *

Anthony Kilhoffer Anthony Kilhoffer is an American hip hop record producer, songwriter and engineer, best known for his collaborations with Kanye West, Kid Cudi, Keyshia Cole and John Legend. Select discography Albums 2020s *'' Free The Beast(album)'' - B-Free 201 ...

— engineer (tracks 1–4, 6, 8, 11–14) * Elizabeth Lea — trombone (track 5) *

— vocals (all tracks), piano (1-8, 11, 13), organ (4, 5, 11), keyboards (9, 12, 14), Rhodes (11), producer (1, 8, 13), co-producer (2-4, 6, 7, 14), co-executive producer * Andy Manganello — engineer (tracks 2–4, 6, 8, 13) *

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 (tracks 1–9, 11–14) * Tara Michel — additional vocals (tracks 2, 4, 6) * Na2 — additional vocals (track 7) * George Pajon, Jr. — guitar (tracks 3, 5) * Michael Peters — engineer (tracks 2–4, 6, 8, 11), assistant engineer (7, 14) * Lenesha Randolph — additional vocals (track 7) * Jared Robbins — assistant mix engineer (tracks 1–6, 8) * James Roston — additional vocals (track 7) * M'balia Singley — background vocals (track 9) *

— rap vocals and spoken ad-libs (track 7) * Mcgowan Southworth — engineer (track 9) * A. Wayne Stephens — additional lead and backup vocals (track 13) * Brandy Stephens — additional backup vocals (track 13) * Brett Stephens — additional backup vocals (track 13) * Dionne Stephens — additional backup vocals (track 13) * Doris Stephens — additional backup vocals (track 13) * H. Anthony Stephens — additional lead and backup vocals (track 13) * Kashaan Stephens — additional lead and backup vocals (track 13) * Marjorie Stephens — additional backup vocals (track 13) * Phyllis E. Stephens — additional backup vocals (track 13) * Phyllis Y. Stephens — additional backup vocals (track 13) * Ronald Stephens II — additional lead and backup vocals (track 13) * Ronald "Bumper" Stephens II — additional finger snaps and hand claps (track 13) * Vada Stephens — additional backup vocals (track 13) * Vaughan Stephens — additional lead and backup vocals (track 13) * Swiss Chris — live drums (track 11) * Steve Tirpak — trumpet (track 7) * Tarrey Torae — additional lead and background vocals (track 14) *

— producer and engineer (tracks 7, 9, 10), mixing (10), guitars (2, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14), bass (2, 11, 14), keyboard programming (7, 10), drum programming (7, 9, 10) * Jason Villaroman — engineer (track 5) *

— producer (tracks 2–4, 6), co-producer and drum programming (14), rap vocals (6), executive producer * Melanie Williams — additional backup vocals (track 13) *

— producer, clav, moog bass, and drum programming (track 5)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* at

Yahoo! Music Yahoo! Music was a brand under which Yahoo! provided a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming. Previously, users with Yahoo! accounts could gain access to hundreds of ...

JohnLegend.com
— official site * {{Authority control 2004 debut albums John Legend albums Columbia Records albums Albums produced by Kanye West Albums produced by will.i.am Albums produced by John Legend Albums produced by Dave Tozer GOOD Music albums Grammy Award for Best R&B Album