''Love Me Back'' is the second studio album by American R&B singer

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 ...

, released on November 29, 2010, by

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 ...

. Sullivan co-wrote the album with producers Missy Elliott,

Ne-Yo Shaffer Chimere Smith (born October 18, 1979), known professionally as Ne-Yo, is an American singer, songwriter, actor, dancer, and record producer. He gained fame for his songwriting abilities when he penned Mario's 2004 hit " Let Me Love You ...

No I.D. Ernest Dion Wilson (born June 23, 1971), professionally known as No I.D. (formerly Immenslope), is an American hip hop and R&B producer from Chicago, Illinois. Wilson is also a disc jockey (DJ), music arranger and former rapper, having relea ...

, Los da Mystro, and

Salaam Remi Salaam Remi Gibbs (born May 14, 1972) is a Grammy winning American record producer known for his association with Nas, Amy Winehouse, Robby, Fugees, Fergie, Estelle, Black Thought, and Miguel, and for his reggae-tinged (often referred to as ...

, among others. The album debuted at number 17 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and sold 57,000 copies in its first week. It produced two singles, including the lead single "

Holding You Down (Goin' in Circles) "Holding You Down (Goin' In Circles)" is a song by American singer Jazmine Sullivan. It was written by Sullivan, Cainon Lamb, and Missy Elliott for her second album, '' Love Me Back'' (2010), while production was helmed by Elliott, with Lamb cre ...

", which peaked at number three 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. ''Love Me Back'' received universal acclaim from music critics, who praised its songwriting and Sullivan's singing.

Background

The album is the follow-up to Sullivan's debut album '' Fearless'' (2008), which was well received by music critics, sold 517,000 copies, and earned Sullivan seven

Grammy Award 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 pr ...

nominations. Recording sessions for the album took place at various recording locations, including Carrington House Studios, Goldmind Studios, and Lostas Studi in Atlanta, Georgia, CNSO Recording Studio in Czech Republic, Cutting Room Studios, Germano Studios, KMA Studios, and MSR Studios in New York, New York, Instrument Zoo in Miami, Florida, Metropolis Studios in London, Waya Flow Studios and Westlake Studios in Los Angeles, California, Strawberrybee Studios in California, and The Studio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Marketing and sales

''Love Me Back'' was released by

on November 29, 2010, in the United Kingdom, November 30 in the United States, and December 8 in Japan. Prior to its release, Sullivan accompanied R&B recording artist

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

on the latter's Music Saved My Life concert tour during October 2010. ''Love Me Back'' was also promoted with two singles: "Holding You Down (Goin' in Circles)" was released on July 10,Staff (November 19, 2010)
Jazmine Sullivan's New Album Available For Preview

RTTNews RTTNews was founded in the U.S. in the late 1990s by Andrew Mariathasan as a financial news ''Financial News'' is a financial newspaper and news website published in London. It is a weekly newspaper, published by eFinancial News Limited, ...

. Retrieved on 2010-11-27. and "

10 Seconds ''10 Seconds'' is a television game show that aired on The Nashville Network from March 29, 1993 to September 24, 1993. After the last episode aired, the show went in reruns until March 25, 1994. The show was hosted by Dan Miller and announced by ...

" on October 15. The album's cover was premiered on September 21, 2010 and features Sullivan dressed in all black, leaning against a vintage model

Chevrolet Impala The Chevrolet Impala () is a full-size car built by Chevrolet for model years 1958 to 1985, 1994 to 1996, and 2000 to 2020. The Impala was Chevrolet's popular flagship passenger car and was among the better-selling American-made automobiles in ...

, a reference to her hit single "

Bust Your Windows "Bust Your Windows" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Jazmine Sullivan from her debut album '' Fearless''. The song was available as a digital download on Amazon in the U.S. on September 16, 2008. The song was then later released as ...

". ''Love Me Back'' debuted at number 17 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, with first-week sales of 57,000 copies in the United States. It also entered at five on '' Billboard''s R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and at number 12 on its

Digital Albums The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...

chart. The album ultimately spent six weeks on the ''Billboard'' 200.

Critical reception

''Love Me Back'' was met with widespread critical acclaim. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional critics, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

score of 82, based on 11 reviews. Reviewing for

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 databa ...

, Andy Kellman said the album "sprawls and stuns in equal measure". In '' Spin'' magazine,

Maura Johnston Maura K. Johnston (born May 28, 1975) is a writer, editor and music critic. A member of Boston College's journalism faculty, she has written for ''Rolling Stone'', ''The Boston Globe'', ''Pitchfork'', ''The Awl'', ''The New York Times'', ''Spin' ...

found Sullivan "both feisty and classy", while Michael Cragg of ''

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 ...

'' said her singing is marked by experience and accommodates each song.

Jon Pareles Jon Pareles (born October 25, 1953) is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of ''The New York Times''.The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', said Sullivan sounds "narrow and jagged" on the album, "with more grain and more tears as she applies gospel dynamics to her venting".Pareles, Jon (November 26, 2010)
Review: ''Love Me Back''
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. Retrieved on 2010-11-27. '' New York'' magazine's Nitsuh Abebe described her voice as "warm, well-textured, and big — authentically, naturally ''big''", and stated, "the warmth and weight of the songwriting and production live up to the singing".Abebe, Nitsuh (December 8, 2010)
Review: ''Love Me Back''
'' New York''. Retrieved on 2010-12-08. Alex Macpherson of

The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quietu ...

commended Sullivan for "letting erideas run riot while staying true to genre values" on the "most creative R&B album of the year".Macpherson, Alex (December 23, 2010)
Review: ''Love Me Back''

. Retrieved on 2010-12-24. In his review for ''

MSN Music ''MSN Music'' was a part of MSN's web services. It delivered music news, music videos, spotlights on new music, artist information, and live performances of artists. The website also served as a digital music store from 2004 to 2008. History I ...

'', Robert Christgau felt that the songwriting is "a big extra difference maker, with enough pop moves to lighten the overall mood" amid "the soulful melodrama". He believed Sullivan role-plays "with unflinching intelligence" on each song and, although the lyrics could be based on personal history, "it's simpler just to wish every pro was such an astute student of the female condition."Christgau, Robert (February 8, 2011).
Consumer Guide: ''Love Me Back''
.

. Archived fro
the original
on 2011-02-11. Some reviewers were less receptive. Jon Dolan of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' expressed ambivalence about Sullivan's decision to play "a little nicer, adhering to the

school of gritty, nuanced

hip-hop soul Hip hop soul is a subgenre of contemporary R&B music, most popular during the early and mid 1990s, which fuses R&B or soul singing with hip hop musical production. The subgenre had evolved from a previous R&B subgenre, new jack swing, which ha ...

". '' Slant Magazine''s Sal Cinquemani felt that the album "fails to reprise many of its predecessor's themes or explore any overarching new ones". Margaret Wappler of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' said that Sullivan "walks herself to the precipice of emotion without falling off", but lamented what she believed to be not enough "experimentation".

Track listing

Notes * denotes vocal producer

Personnel

Credits are adapted from

. Credits: ''Love Me Back'' AllMusic. Retrieved on 2010-11-27. * Guy Aroch – photography * Christian Baker – engineer * Anthony Bell – instrumentation, producer, programming * Ricky Blaze – drum programming, producer * Jesse Bonds – guitar * Anita Marisa Boriboon – art direction, design * Cary Clark – engineer * Los DaMystro – conductor, producer * Gleyder "Gee" Disla – engineer * DJ Showoff – vocals * Peter Edge – producer * Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott – engineer, executive producer, producer * Paul J. Falcone – engineer * Rick Frederick – engineer * Toby Gad – engineer, piano, producer * Anthony "Rocky" Gallo – engineer * Erwin Gorostiza – creative director * Chuck Harmony – producer * Brandon Henderson – assistant * Vincent Henry – flute, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone, wah wah guitar * Trevor Jerideau – producer * Mike "TrakGuru" Johnson – engineer * Rob Kinelski – engineer * StayBent KrunkaDelic – keyboards * Dave Kutch – mastering * Lamb – drum programming, engineer, producer * Erik Madrid – assistant, mixing engineer * Bei Maejor – producer * Manny Marroquin – mixing * Scott Naughton – engineer * Ne-Yo – producer, vocals * No I.D. – producer * Brandon Parks – engineer * Calvin Parmer – bass * Christian Plata – assistant * Prolyfic – additional production * Questlove – drums, engineer * Kevin Randolph – keyboards * Rebel One – management * Geno Regist – engineer * Salaam Remi – bass, drum programming, drums, executive producer, Fender rhodes, keyboards, producer, strings * Harold Robinson – bass * Andros Rodriguez – engineer * Davide Rossi – cello, string arrangements, strings, viola, violin * Ashunta Sheriff – make-up * Jazmine Sullivan – producer, vocals * Pam Sullivan – management * Pamela Watson – stylist * Sam Wheat – engineer * Yusef Williams – hair stylist * Steve Wyreman – guitar

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 2010 albums Jazmine Sullivan albums Albums produced by Chuck Harmony Albums produced by Missy Elliott Albums produced by No I.D. Albums produced by Salaam Remi Albums produced by Toby Gad J Records albums