Sincerely Yours (Iamsu! Album)
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''Sincerely Yours'' is the debut
studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
by American rapper
Iamsu! Sudan Ameer Williams (born November 16, 1989), better known by his stage name Iamsu! (stylized as IamSu! or IAMSU!), is an American rapper and record producer from Richmond, California. He is the co-founder and lead member of the hip-hop group ...
. The album was released on May 13, 2014, by HBK Gang and
Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...
's
Alternative Distribution Alliance Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA) is a music distribution company owned by Warner Music Group, which represents the rights to various independent record labels. ADA provides "independent artist and label partners with access to the resource ...
. Recording for the album took place during 2013 and 2014. The album's
production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...
was handled by members of The Invasion,
Tha Bizness Tha Bizness is an American record production and songwriting duo from Seattle, Washington, composed of Justin "Henny" Henderson and Christopher John "Dow Jones" Whitacre. Tha Bizness have produced songs for several prominent artists, including ...
,
Jake One Jacob Brian Dutton (born May 11, 1976), known professionally as Jake One, is an American record producer and songwriter.Palermo, Thomas (2008)Jake One Readies New Album, XLR8R, September 5, 2008Matos, Michaelangelo (2004)Rocketship Blowing Up", ...
, Trackademicks and Chase N. Cashe, among others. Iamsu! collaborated with various artists on the album including
2 Chainz Tauheed K. Epps (born September 12, 1977), known professionally as 2 Chainz (formerly Tity Boi), is an American rapper and actor. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, he gained recognition as one-half of the Southern hip-hop duo Playaz Ci ...
,
Wiz Khalifa Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter and actor. Raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he signed with the local independent label Rostrum Records to re ...
,
Too Short Todd Anthony Shaw (born April 28, 1966), better known by his stage name Too Short (stylized as Too $hort), is an American rapper. A pioneer of West Coast hip-hop, Shaw was among the first acts to receive recognition in the genre during the late ...
,
E-40 Earl Tywone Stevens (born November 15, 1967), better known by his stage name E-40, is an American rapper. Stevens is a founding member of the rap group The Click (band), The Click and the founder of Sick Wid It Records. He has released 27 stud ...
, Berner,
Dizzy Wright La'Reonte Wright (born November 26, 1990), known professionally as Dizzy Wright, is an American rapper and record producer. In December 2011, Wright signed to rapper Hopsin's independent record label, Funk Volume. After signing, he released his ...
, along with HBK Gang members
Sage the Gemini Dominic Wynn Woods (born June 20, 1992), better known by his stage name Sage the Gemini (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer from Fairfield, California. He is best known for his 2013 singles "Gas Pedal" (featuring I ...
, P-Lo, Kool John, Skipper and Dave Steezy. The album was supported by the singles, " Only That Real" featuring 2 Chainz and Sage the Gemini and "I Love My Squad".


Background

In May 2013, Iamsu! began his first headlining tour, in promotion of his mixtape ''
Kilt II ''Kilt II'' is the fifth solo mixtape by American rapper Iamsu!. The mixtape was released on June 6, 2013, independently for free. Then on July 9, 2013, a deluxe edition of the mixtape was released to digital music retailers. Production on the m ...
''. On June 6, 2013, Iamsu! released ''Kilt II''. Production on the mixtape was primarily handled by Iamsu! along with other members of The Invasion. It was met with generally 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 m ...
s. In January 2014, Iamsu! announced the album during his freestyle over YG's " Who Do You Love?". In the song Iamsu! raps, "Did the tour, got signed, now the album coming." Four days later, Iamsu! elaborated about the album to hip hop magazine '' XXL'', revealing the title and the projected release date of April 2014. He describes the work as an autobiographical concept album.


Recording and production

In 2013, the album's recording process began following the release of his mixtape ''Kilt II'' and concluded in 2014. The first collaboration was with HBK Gang member
Sage the Gemini Dominic Wynn Woods (born June 20, 1992), better known by his stage name Sage the Gemini (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer from Fairfield, California. He is best known for his 2013 singles "Gas Pedal" (featuring I ...
. In March 2014, during his appearance at
SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...
, Iamsu! revealed
Wiz Khalifa Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter and actor. Raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he signed with the local independent label Rostrum Records to re ...
,
2 Chainz Tauheed K. Epps (born September 12, 1977), known professionally as 2 Chainz (formerly Tity Boi), is an American rapper and actor. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, he gained recognition as one-half of the Southern hip-hop duo Playaz Ci ...
, the entire HBK Gang,
E-40 Earl Tywone Stevens (born November 15, 1967), better known by his stage name E-40, is an American rapper. Stevens is a founding member of the rap group The Click (band), The Click and the founder of Sick Wid It Records. He has released 27 stud ...
,
Too Short Todd Anthony Shaw (born April 28, 1966), better known by his stage name Too Short (stylized as Too $hort), is an American rapper. A pioneer of West Coast hip-hop, Shaw was among the first acts to receive recognition in the genre during the late ...
, Chase N. Cashe,
Jake One Jacob Brian Dutton (born May 11, 1976), known professionally as Jake One, is an American record producer and songwriter.Palermo, Thomas (2008)Jake One Readies New Album, XLR8R, September 5, 2008Matos, Michaelangelo (2004)Rocketship Blowing Up", ...
and Tha Bizness would be contributing to the album. The final version of the album featured
guest appearance The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting. The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...
s from 2 Chainz, Wiz Khalifa, Too Short, E-40, Berner,
Dizzy Wright La'Reonte Wright (born November 26, 1990), known professionally as Dizzy Wright, is an American rapper and record producer. In December 2011, Wright signed to rapper Hopsin's independent record label, Funk Volume. After signing, he released his ...
along with HBK Gang members Sage the Gemini, Kool John and Skipper. Other collaborators included
Andre Nickatina Andre Lamond Adams (born March 11, 1970), known artistically as Andre Nickatina, is an American rapper and record producer from San Francisco, California. Nickatina is known for his distinctive voice, original flow, and lyrical exploration . He p ...
,
Problem Problem solving is the process of achieving a goal by overcoming obstacles, a frequent part of most activities. Problems in need of solutions range from simple personal tasks (e.g. how to turn on an appliance) to complex issues in business an ...
and Dave Steezy. He said his favorite feature on the album was Kool John's. A song titled "Lifetime" was recorded but not included on the final track listing. On the production side, Iamsu! produced four tracks on the album, and
executive produced Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In films, ...
it. He told ''XXL'' "I wanted it to sound like one of those classic
Aftermath Aftermath may refer to: Companies * Aftermath (comics), an imprint of Devil's Due Publishing * Aftermath Entertainment, an American record label founded by Dr. Dre * Aftermath Media, an American multimedia company * Aftermath Services, an America ...
albums, like the first album on the label that Dr. Dre puts out for an artist. I wanted to have some of those moments where it was like, scary good. And have that definitive moment, where they encapsulate what their movement and their culture is." The Invasion, Tha Bizness, Jake One, Trackademicks and Chase N. Cashe contributed production to the final version of the album.


Release and promotion

During 2013, Iamsu! built his buzz by releasing multiple mixtapes including ''Million Dollar Afro'' with rapper
Problem Problem solving is the process of achieving a goal by overcoming obstacles, a frequent part of most activities. Problems in need of solutions range from simple personal tasks (e.g. how to turn on an appliance) to complex issues in business an ...
, ''
Kilt II ''Kilt II'' is the fifth solo mixtape by American rapper Iamsu!. The mixtape was released on June 6, 2013, independently for free. Then on July 9, 2013, a deluxe edition of the mixtape was released to digital music retailers. Production on the m ...
'' and the HBK Gang compilation ''
Gang Forever The HBK Gang (abbreviation for the Heartbreak Gang) is an American hip-hop collective based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Founded by Iamsu!, Chief, Skipper, and P-Lo in 2008, members also include singer Kehlani and rapper-producers Sage the Gemi ...
''. All three were released for retail sale via digital download retailers. They were met with generally 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 m ...
s. On February 5, 2014, Iamsu! released "Yesterday". It was released as a thank you to fans following the retail release of "Only That Real". Then in mid-February 2014, HBK Gang released their Heartbreak Camo Pack clothing line in
San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
. Guests at the launch were treated to a surprise show by Iamsu! and a physical copy of a new EP titled ''Camo'', which Iamsu! then uploaded to SoundCloud. The three song EP featured guest appearances from rappers
Dizzy Wright La'Reonte Wright (born November 26, 1990), known professionally as Dizzy Wright, is an American rapper and record producer. In December 2011, Wright signed to rapper Hopsin's independent record label, Funk Volume. After signing, he released his ...
and Sage The Gemini. Production on ''Camo'' was provided by Iamsu!, Sage, and YPOnTheBeat. Also during February 2014, Iamsu! officially signed a deal with
Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...
-owned
Alternative Distribution Alliance Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA) is a music distribution company owned by Warner Music Group, which represents the rights to various independent record labels. ADA provides "independent artist and label partners with access to the resource ...
who will promote his album, while he maintains creative control, but with an industry edge to get his music into physical stores. On March 26, he hosted a listening party at the 333 Recording studio in New York City for ''Sincerely Yours''. From March 6, 2014, through April 12, 2014, Iamsu! toured with HBK Gang members P-Lo and Skipper on the "Only That Real" Tour, a mini
concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific ...
to promote the single and ''Sincerely Yours''. After seemingly abandoning the April release period due to sample clearance issues, on March 26, 2014 Iamsu! announced that the album would be released on May 13, 2014. Shortly after on April 8, he revealed the cover artwork, which was created by famed artist Slvstr. He also published the official track listing and announced that it would be available for pre-order on April 22, 2014. The album was then released for free streaming via
SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...
on May 6, 2014. The cover artwork which displays Iamsu!, represents rising and falling: rising to the occasion, falling in love with music, falling out of love with his ex-girlfriend, among others. Iamsu! will begin touring with
Wiz Khalifa Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter and actor. Raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he signed with the local independent label Rostrum Records to re ...
,
Tyga Micheal Ray StevensonMicheal Ray Stevenson
,
Ty Dolla $ign Tyrone William Griffin Jr. (born April 13, 1982), known professionally as Ty Dolla Sign (stylized as Ty Dolla $ign or Ty$), is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Griffin gai ...
,
Rich Homie Quan Dequantes Devontay Lamar (October 4 989 or 1990– September 5, 2024), known professionally as Rich Homie Quan, was an American rapper. Beginning his career in 2010, Lamar first saw mainstream success with his 2013 single " Type of Way", which ...
, and Sage the Gemini on July 24 until August 24, 2014 on the Under the Influence of Music Tour. On May 14, 2021, the album was re-released to digital platforms after being absent for sometime under 'Sincerely Yours, IAMSU!'. This re-release featured a different track listing, omitting some features as well as different beats for some of the songs.


Singles

On January 7, 2014, Iamsu! revealed the album's first single, featuring a collaboration with
Sage the Gemini Dominic Wynn Woods (born June 20, 1992), better known by his stage name Sage the Gemini (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer from Fairfield, California. He is best known for his 2013 singles "Gas Pedal" (featuring I ...
. The song was premiered online on January 28, 2014 via
SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...
. The final version featured fellow rappers
2 Chainz Tauheed K. Epps (born September 12, 1977), known professionally as 2 Chainz (formerly Tity Boi), is an American rapper and actor. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, he gained recognition as one-half of the Southern hip-hop duo Playaz Ci ...
and the previously announced appearance by Sage the Gemini. The song's production was handled by The Invasion and HBK Gang member
P-Lo The HBK Gang (abbreviation for the Heartbreak Gang) is an American hip-hop collective based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Founded by Iamsu!, Chief, Skipper, and P-Lo in 2008, members also include singer Kehlani and rapper-producers Sage the Gemi ...
. On February 4, 2014, it saw the official retail release of " Only That Real" to digital download music retailers. Within the next month, the music video was filmed with 2 Chainz, Sage and the rest of the HBK Gang in
Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 3, 1905, and has a Richmond, California, City Council, city council.
. The behind the scenes video was released on March 2, 2014. The music video was delayed, due to animation sequences in the video. On April 11, 2014, it was officially premiered. "I Love My Squad", which is self-produced, was announced to be released as the album's second single. The music video was filmed during April 2014. It was officially released as the album's second single on April 22, 2014. The song was remastered and re-released to
iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
on October 14, 2014.


Promotional singles

When the album was made available for pre-order on April 22, 2014, the Wiz Khalifa-collaboration "What You 'Bout" was released as a
promotional single A promotional recording, promo, or plug copy is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as mu ...
.


Critical response

''Sincerely Yours'' was met with generally mixed 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 m ...
s. At
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, which assigns a
normalized Normalization or normalisation refers to a process that makes something more normal or regular. Science * Normalization process theory, a sociological theory of the implementation of new technologies or innovations * Normalization model, used in ...
rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an
average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...
score of 59, based on 5 reviews, indicating "generally mixed or average reviews". Rachel Chesbrough of '' XXL'' stated that "''Sincerely Yours'' is a highly listenable sampling of throwback Bay undertones, overlaid with a more modern sound and structure. He proves easy to listen to both as a capable MC with some shining moments, and as a young producer who remains loyal to his city." Brandon Soderberg of ''
Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...
'' said, "the moments where his lofty sonic ambition is answered with compelling content suggests the potential for a truly singular plateau jump. It just doesn't happen enough, here. ''Sincerely Yours'', then, remains another sturdy addition to the discography of one of rap's more thrilling creatives." Fred Thomas of
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
stated that, "Falling somewhere between the mainstream rap-pop beats of Top 40 rappers like Drake and the hyphy influence of Iamsu's California roots, the album wanders between happy-go-lucky rap ballads like "Girls" and more club-friendly tracks and even the jazzy hybrid beat of "Ascension"." Christopher R. Weingarten 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. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' said, "Outside of its strong singles ("Only That Real" and "What You 'Bout"), Sincerely fades into rap's existing trends instead of bucking them." Sheldon Pearce of
HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of Hip hop music, hip hop music criticism and news. ''HipHopDX'' has over 3.5M monthly readers, the website encompassing hip hop news, interviews, music, and reviews. The website's founder and CEO is Sharath C ...
stated, "At maximal output, Iamsu! adventurously explores the Bay Area's established terrain with ''Sincerely Yours'', but it doesn't punch with the ferocity of past work." Overall saying it was not as exceptional as his previous solo mixtape ''
Kilt II ''Kilt II'' is the fifth solo mixtape by American rapper Iamsu!. The mixtape was released on June 6, 2013, independently for free. Then on July 9, 2013, a deluxe edition of the mixtape was released to digital music retailers. Production on the m ...
''.


Accolades

''
Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...
'' named it the thirty-sixth best album of the first half of 2014. Writing for them, Justin Davis said, "his debut album is one of the most honest projects of the year."


Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 50 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, with first-week sales of 5,832 copies in the United States.


Track listing


Charts


References

{{Authority control 2014 debut albums The HBK Gang albums West Coast hip-hop albums Albums produced by Tha Bizness Albums produced by Jake One