''Mr. Wonderful'' is the second

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 hip hop recording artist Action Bronson, released on March 23, 2015, by Vice Records and

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

. The album is Bronson's first for a

major label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produc ...

, after signing to Atlantic and Vice, in August 2012. It was preceded by several mixtapes and

EPs EPS, EPs or Eps may refer to: Commerce and finance * Earnings per share * Electronic Payment Services, in Hong Kong, Macau, and Shenzhen, China * Express Payment System, in the Philippines Education * Edmonton Public Schools, in Edmonton, Al ...

, including the ''Blue Chips'' series and '' Saaab Stories'' (2013). The album, recorded throughout 2014, was

produced 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 ...

by several high-profile record producers, such as The Alchemist, Mark Ronson and Noah "40" Shebib. The album has guest appearances by

Chance the Rapper Chancelor Johnathan Bennett (born April 16, 1993), known professionally as Chance the Rapper, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Chicago, Bennett released his debut mixtape '' 10 Day'' in 2012. He ...

, Meyhem Lauren, Chauncy Sherod,

Party Supplies Party Supplies are an American record production and songwriting team, composed of Justin Nealis and Sean Mahon. On August 27, 2013, Justin Nealis and Sean Mahon released their first album as a group, titled ''Tough Love'', on Fool's Gold Record ...

and Big Body Bes. Upon its release, ''Mr. Wonderful'' received generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised Bronson's lyricism and production choices. The album debuted at number seven on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and was supported by four singles: "Easy Rider", "Actin Crazy", "Terry" and " Baby Blue".

Background

Bronson began attracting major attention after collaborations with American music producers, Statik Selektah (''

Well-Done Doneness is a gauge of how thoroughly cooked a cut of meat is based on its color, juiciness, and internal temperature. The gradations are most often used in reference to beef (especially steaks and roasts) but are also applicable to other type ...

'') and The Alchemist ('' Rare Chandeliers''). In August 2012, Bronson signed a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

with the Warner Bros. Records and Atlantic Records' imprint Vice Records. His first release for Vice was an extended play (EP) titled '' Saaab Stories'', released on June 11, 2013. After announcing the title of his first

for Vice, in May 2014, Bronson spoke with ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' about the album, "The album is sounding incredible. The whole album is a standout. I don't care about individual songs, I'm trying to make a complete, classic project. I just do my music uninfluenced by anybody else, or current trends, and it comes together at the end. Nothing needs to have a fucking theme all the time. This is just rap. I'm not trying to make people think I'm some sort of scientific wizard or inspirational poet. Fuck that! It's just happy, funny, rugged, rough rap." On November 24, 2014, Bronson revealed he had finished recording the album.

Release and promotion

On May 16, 2014, Bronson announced the title of the album in a Twitter update, when he tweeted: "MY ALBUM BEEN NAMED. THE ONLY THING TO DESCRIBE ME.. MR. WONDERFUL. THATS BEEN ME SINCE I STEPPED IN THIS BULLSHIT.." On November 28, 2014, Bronson revealed there would be a worldwide concert tour upon the album's release. On December 24, 2014, he took to Twitter to reveal the album would have guest appearances by Meyhem Lauren, Big Body Bes,

, Chauncy Sherod and

. Later that day, after exposing several fake track lists, Bronson tweeted 13 song titles, unveiling the album's official track listing. On January 7, 2015, Bronson revealed the album would be released on March 24. The following day, after releasing a song from the album titled "Actin Crazy", Bronson posted which artists would be featured on which song. On January 14, 2015, Bronson made an appearance on the New York City radio station Hot 97's '' Funkmaster Flex'' show, to promote ''Mr. Wonderful'' and performed a

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott La ...

, which prompted Flex to declare Bronson the "nicest in the game right now". On March 11, 2015, Bronson announced on Twitter that his album would be released one day sooner than originally scheduled.

Singles

On August 5, 2014, Bronson released "Easy Rider" as the album's first single. The song was produced by Bronson's long time producer

. On August 20, 2014, the music video for "Easy Rider", directed by Tom Gould, was released. The video pays homage to the 1969

Peter Fonda Peter Henry Fonda (February 23, 1940 – August 16, 2019) was an American actor. He was the son of Henry Fonda, younger brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget Fonda. He was a prominent figure in the counterculture of the 1960s. Fond ...

Dennis Hopper Dennis Lee Hopper (May 17, 1936 – May 29, 2010) was an American actor, filmmaker and photographer. He attended the Actors Studio, made his first television appearance in 1954, and soon after appeared in ''Giant'' (1956). In the next ten years ...

film '' Easy Rider''. After premiering the song on January 7, 2015, Bronson officially released "Actin Crazy", via digital distribution, as the album's second single on January 20, 2015. On February 16, 2015, "Terry" was released as the third single alongside the pre-order for the album. On March 3, 2015, " Baby Blue" was released as the album's fourth single. The song features Chicago-bred recording artist

. Bronson confirmed on Twitter that they were pushing this single to radio stations and that they were filming a music video for the song.

Critical reception

''Mr. Wonderful'' received positive reviews from

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

s. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 77, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 17 reviews. Writing for ''

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 ...

'', Samantha O'Connor noted that Bronson has become "a more serious artist focused on experimentation" with the record, further noting that the project's "varying production clashes throughout the disorganized project." Jay Balfour of '' HipHopDX'' said, "Tellingly and thankfully, the most out-of-pocket moves on ''Mr. Wonderful'' aren’t uncharacteristic appeals to radio but cases of its artist leaning further into the territory he’s been hinting at. Unlike the rest of his albums and mixtapes up to this point though, ''Mr. Wonderful'' is a multi-producer affair and it jumps around noticeably as a result." Kellan Miller of '' XXL'' said, "But aside from a few problematic miscues, the majority of ''Mr. Wonderful'' can be maneuvered without the skip button in tow, culminating in "Easy Rider," a fittingly assertive statement realized through unfurled rhymes that don't require a chorus to stick in the imagination. Unshaved, donned in sweatpants, and with a compelling major label debut to his credit, Action Bronson is appropriately attired as hip-hop's latest star." Colin Fitzgerald of '' PopMatters'' said, "''Mr. Wonderful'' may not come off as the sweeping epic its coda hints at, but it's an entertaining and unique experience that only Bronson could give us. Few rap albums can be this different and still satisfying."

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 7 on the US ''Billboard'' 200, his total sales accounted for 48,540 streams and sales (43,564 traditional album sales). It was the third highest selling album in the United States that week.

Track listing

Notes * signifies a 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 ...

Personnel

Credits for ''Mr. Wonderful'' adapted from AllMusic. *88-Keys – producer *Action Bronson – executive producer, rapping *The Alchemist – engineer, producer *AntMan Wonder – musician *Antoine "Audioblk" Baldwin – producer *Big Body Bes – featured artist *Nick Bilardello – package design *BlackAtlass – featured artist *Tommy "TNT" Brenneck – guitar *Sidney "Omen" Brown – producer *Noel Cadastre – engineer *Curt Chambers – guitar *Chance the Rapper – featured artist, backing vocals *Ricky Damien – engineer *Ezra Dowery – featured artist *Rhys Downing – engineer *Tom Elmhirst – mixing *Nick Hook – engineer *Leon Kelly – assistant *Dave Kutch – mastering *Meyhem Lauren – featured artist *Gloria Lovett – vocals *Zane Lowe – backing vocals *Leon Michels – engineer, Mellotron, vibraphone *Richard "FRKO" Montgomery – art direction, illustrations *Riggs Morales – A&R *Justin Nealis – engineer, mixing *Joya Nemley – A&R *Oh No – producer *Party Supplies – featured artist, guitar, producer *Mark Ronson – bass, drums,

Fender Rhodes The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, th ...

, guitar, piano, producer, programming, scratching *Andrew Sarlo – engineer *Gabriel Schuman – assistant *Noah Shebib – engineer, mixing, producer *Chauncy Sherrod – featured artist, vocals *Justin Smith – mastering *Statik Selektah – engineer, mixing, producer, programming *Evan Stewart – engineer *Jared Tauben – engineer *Carolyn Tracey – package production *Donnie trumpet – trumpet *Cas Weinbren – piano *Ryan West – mixing *Danny Zook – sample clearance

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mister Wonderful (Action Bronson album) 2015 albums Action Bronson albums Atlantic Records albums Albums produced by 88-Keys Albums produced by the Alchemist (musician) Albums produced by Mark Ronson Albums produced by Noah "40" Shebib Albums produced by Oh No (musician) Albums produced by Statik Selektah