Natural Brown Prom Queen
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''Natural Brown Prom Queen'' is the second album from
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
-born singer-songwriter and violinist Brittney Parks under her stage name
Sudan Archives Brittney Denise Parks (born January 29, 1994), better known by her stage name Sudan Archives, is an American violinist, singer, and songwriter based in Los Angeles, California. Parks learned to play the violin by ear as a young child in Cincinna ...
. The album, released on September 9, 2022, by
Stones Throw Records Stones Throw Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. Under the direction of founder Peanut Butter Wolf, Stones Throw has released music ranging from hip hop to experimental psychedelic rock. '' LA Weekl ...
, received widespread acclaim from music critics, with many publications ranking it as one of the best albums of 2022.


Background

She had originally planned to call the album ''Homesick'' after her feelings of missing Cincinnati and her mom during the
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. The title of closing track "#513" is a reference to
area code 513 Area code 513 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the southwest of the U.S. state of Ohio, including Cincinnati and surrounding cities, such as Forest Park, Hamilton, Lebanon, West Chester, Mason, Maineville ...
which includes Cincinnati and that song also features writing and production work from Cincinnati rapper-producer Hi-Tek. Per Parks, the album's title references the project's allowing her to relive moments of her youth which she missed out on, saying she "didn't go to my prom in high school, so the idea behind calling this album ''Natural Brown Prom Queen'' is to make it my homecoming" where she "can be my natural self and it feels like I've come full circle to embrace my roots."


Writing and recording

Parks wrote and recorded the album in a home studio she built in her basement with her partner, the rapper Nocando. Parks was more heavily involved in the production process of the album. Due to most of her collaborators having to work remotely, they all had to send
stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...
s to her, enabling her to be "the person overseeing all of the ideas. So I'd pick and choose what I like, and I get to manipulate it in any way that I want without anybody being there, being confused." During the process of creating "Freakalizer", Parks almost deleted the song out of frustration, but Nocando convinced her to save it after changing the arrangement.


Release

''Natural Brown Prom Queen'' was first announced July 6. In the announcement, the album was described as following Parks as she assumed the character of Britt, "the girl next door from Cincinnati who drives around the city with the top down and shows up to high-school prom in a pink furry bikini with her thong hanging out her denim skirt." The album, "fittingly" named after a homecoming event, is all about home, both Cincinnati where Parks was born and raised as well as her adopted hometown of
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, and also features "themes of race, womanhood, and the fiercely loyal, loving relationships at the heart of Sudan's life with her family, friends, and partner." Prior to the album's release, Parks released four singles: "Home Maker" released March 15, "Selfish Soul" released May 18, "NBPQ (Topless)" released June 29, and "OMG Britt" released September 7. All four singles also came with music videos: "Home Maker" was directed by Jocelyn Anquetil and sees Parks starting a pillow fight in a furniture store. "Selfish Soul" was directed by Trey Lyons and features Parks playing her violin while hanging upside down from a pole as well as standing on a roof and dancing in mud with her girlfriends. "NBPQ (Topless)", directed by Augusta YR, features Parks going through a series of outfit changes and surreal, colorful scenarios, and "trippy" visuals said to be "reminiscent of
David Lynch David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, visual artist and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Be ...
's take on ''
Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatur ...
''". "OMG Britt", directed by Zach Sulak, finds the singer performing the song in a series of futuristic rooms where she also smashes her violin.


Live

Parks made her television debut on the September 20 episode of ''
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' is an American late-night news and liberal political satire talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015. Produced by Spartina Productions and CBS Studios, it is the second it ...
'', performing "Selfish Soul" with a backing band including bassist Growth Eternal and three backup singers, including
Keiyaa Chakeiya Camille Richmond (born 28 July 1992), known professionally as Keiyaa (stylized as KeiyaA), is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and a record producer. She independently released her debut album ''Forever, Ya Girl'' in ...
.


Reception

''Pitchfork'' called the album the best new music of the week.


Accolades


Awards


Year-end lists


Track listing

Sudan Archives has writing credits on all tracks but 3 and 10, and producing credits on all tracks but 8. Ben Dickey has writing credits on all tracks but 3, 4, 10, and 13, and producing credits on all tracks but 10. Other writers and producers named below.


Personnel

Musicians *
Sudan Archives Brittney Denise Parks (born January 29, 1994), better known by her stage name Sudan Archives, is an American violinist, singer, and songwriter based in Los Angeles, California. Parks learned to play the violin by ear as a young child in Cincinna ...
– vocals, violin, drums, synthesizer, bass, keyboards, percussion * Ben Dickey – bass, drums, sound effects, synthesizer, keyboards, percussion * Simon on the Moon – bass, drums, bouzouki, keyboards, sound effects, synthesizer,
zither Zithers (; , from the Greek word ''cithara'') are a class of stringed instruments. Historically, the name has been applied to any instrument of the psaltery family, or to an instrument consisting of many strings stretched across a thin, flat bo ...
, guitar * Andre Elias – bass, drums, guitar, synthesizer * Orlando Higginbottom – bass, drums, guitar, keyboards * Chris James – guitar, keyboards, bass *
Nosaj Thing Jason W. Chung (born January 27, 1985), better known as Nosaj Thing, is an American artist, record producer, and DJ based in Los Angeles, California. He has produced tracks for Kendrick Lamar, Chance the Rapper, Kid Cudi, Julianna Barwick, and i ...
– synthesizer * Ahya Simone – harp * Brandon Woody – trumpet * Kafari – keyboards * Kesswa – backing vocals * Qur'an Shaheed – keyboards * Queens D. Light – vocals * Lafemmebear – drums, drum machine * Ciara Parks – spoken word * Dexter Story – bass * Cary Allison – synthesizer * Joel Ford – bass, drums, synthesizer * King Oliver – trumpet * JD Reid – drums, synthesizer * MonoNeon – bass, drums, keyboards * Reginald Parks – vocals * Silas Short – drum machine, guitar, percussion * Jackson Shepard – percussion, strings, synthesizer * Cheryl Ladd – spoken word * Richard Lawrence – synthesizer * Egyptian Lover – drum machine *
Jim-E Stack James Harmon Stack, (born January 21, 1992) known professionally as Jim-E Stack, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and DJ born in San Francisco, CA, and based in Los Angeles, CA. His solo releases have featured Bon Iver, Empr ...
– bass, drums, synthesizer * Steve Francell – guitar, keyboards, synthesizer * Hi-Tek – bass, drums, keyboards Technical *
Mike Bozzi Mike Bozzi is an American mastering engineer at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, California. He won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year for mastering Donald Glover, Childish Gambino's "This Is America (song), This ...
– mastering engineer * Blue May – mixing engineer * Sudan Archives, Ben Dickey, Andre Elias, Matt Emonson, JD Reid, Dexter Story, Lafemmebear, Simon on the Moon, Joel Ford, Silas Short, Egyptian Lover, Jim-E Stack, Steve Francell, Hi-Tek – recording engineers * Ben Dickey, Andre Elias, Lafemmebear – programming * Wei Prior – artwork


References

{{authority control 2022 albums Sudan Archives albums Stones Throw Records albums Albums recorded in a home studio