''Joe Thomas, New Man'' is the seventh album by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

recording artist

Joe Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

, released on September 23, 2008 in the United States. It marked his debut on longtime collaborator

Kedar Massenburg William "Kedar" Massenburg (born 1963) is an American record producer and record label executive, who was the president of Motown Records from 1997 to 2004. Massenburg is best known for bringing Erykah Badu to fame. He trademarked the term "neo so ...

's independent record label

Kedar Entertainment William "Kedar" Massenburg (born 1963) is an American record producer and record label executive, who was the president of Motown Records from 1997 to 2004. Massenburg is best known for bringing Erykah Badu to fame. He trademarked the term "neo so ...

, following his split with

Jive Records Jive Records was an American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary to the Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chicago. Jive was best known for its successes with hip hop, R&B, an ...

in 2007. The album debuted at number eight on the US ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart, and reached the top of the

Independent Albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by '' Billboard'' maga ...

chart.

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...

carried a special edition of ''Joe Thomas, New Man'', including the songs "Triple Black Room", "I Will Again" and "Approach". These songs also appear on the UK edition of the album. The song "We Need to Roll", was set to feature

Mario is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creat ...

and

Trey Songz Tremaine Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), known professionally as Trey Songz, is an American R&B singer and rapper. His debut album, '' I Gotta Make It'', was released in 2005 through Atlantic Records. His follow-up album, ''Trey Day'', ...

. However, the pair did not appear on the standard edition of the album. Instead it was placed as a bonus track on the Japan edition of the album as a remix.

Background

In April 2007, following several delays, Joe released his sixth studio album '' Ain't Nothin' Like Me''. It received generally positive reviews from music critics and debuted at number two on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and on top of the

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 Jan ...

chart, selling about 98,000 copies in its first week. The album marked his highest-charting album since ''

My Name Is Joe ''My Name Is Joe'' is a 1998 British romantic drama film directed by Ken Loach. The film stars Peter Mullan as Joe Kavanagh, an unemployed recovering alcoholic in Glasgow, Scotland who meets and falls in love with a health visitor, played by ...

'' (2000), which reached the same position of both charts. Soon after, Joe left longtime record company

to sign with

's independent record label

and resumed work on his seventh studio album. Set to have contributions from

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...

, The Game,

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after NFL and CFL wide receiver ...

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

P. Diddy Sean Combs (born Sean John Combs; November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and record executive. Born in New York City, he worked as a talent directo ...

,Joe has a new cd coming
/ref> production on ''Joe Thomas, New Man'' was eventually helmed by

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 ...

Stereotypes In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example ...

, Mack Mckinney and

D'Mile Dernst "D'Mile" Emile II (born January 24, 1985) is an American record producer and songwriter from Brooklyn, New York City. He was sometimes referred to as D. Emile, Dernst Emile II, or Dee'Mile and is most commonly known and accredited as D'Mil ...

, among others.

Critical reception

Upon release, ''Joe Thomas, New Man'' received generally mixed to positive reviews from music critics. Thomas Inskeep from

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 ...

gave the album three stars out of five and wrote that "on his seventh album, R&B crooner Joe keeps doing what he's always done best: sings sexy, woman-centric midtempo jams. There are no dramatic change-ups here – much as the likes of

Barry White Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer and songwriter. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came ...

Teddy Pendergrass Theodore DeReese Pendergrass (March 26, 1950 – January 13, 2010) was an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter. He was born in Kingstree, South Carolina. Pendergrass spent most of his life in the Philadelphia area, and initially rose to musi ...

, and

Keith Sweat Keith Sweat (born July 22, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and an early figure in the new jack swing musical movement. He is known for his collection of hits including "I Want Her", " Make It Last Forever", "I'll Give A ...

before him, Joe's not even trying to cross over to any audience other than adult black women .. The best thing about ''Joe Thomas, New Man'' is its consistency, which it's got in spades. Mark Edward Nero, writing for

About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, l ...

, remarked that "And although his latest album is called ''Joe Thomas, New Man'', this is for the most part the same singer whose music women have gone wild over for more than a decade. What's different though, is that Joe sounds rejuvenated on this album ..To be honest, there's not a whole lot of new ground covered on the album, but Joe's the type of artist who doesn't need to reinvent himself to be or stay successful."

Commercial performance

''Joe Thomas, New Man'' debuted at number eight on the US ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart on the week of September 29, 2008. 54,000 copies were sold in the first week. In addition, it also charted on top of ''Billboard''s

chart, while reaching the top three on the

chart. In its second week on the charts, sales increased, with 112,725 copies sold. The first single, "E.R. (Emergency Room)" was released on July 15, 2008 and the second single, "Why Just Be Friends" was released on July 30.Joe sues & leves Jive; moves to Kedar/Universal;working on 2 new cds!
/ref>

Track listing

The Deluxe edition was released on November 25, 2008 and includes 3 new tracks in addition to the bonus snippets from ''

Signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. The writer of a ...

''.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control Joe (singer) albums 2008 albums Albums produced by Bryan-Michael Cox