''T.K.O. (The Knock Out)'' is the eighth

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 singer-songwriter

Mya Mya may refer to: Brands and product names * Mya (program), an intelligent personal assistant created by Motorola * Mya (TV channel), an Italian Television channel * Midwest Young Artists, a comprehensive youth music program Codes * Burmese ...

. It is the follow-up to her album ''

Smoove Jones ''Smoove Jones'' is the seventh studio album by American singer Mýa. It was released exclusively through Apple Music and iTunes on February 14, 2016 by Planet 9, Harrison's label, while physical copies were made available for purchase throug ...

'' (2016) and was released April 20, 2018, on her label Planet 9 to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of her debut album ''

'' (1998). Recorded between 2015–2016, ''T.K.O.'' is solely produced in its entirely by musician and producer Lamar "MyGuyMars" Edwards with additional production from

Los Da Mystro Carlos McKinney (born January 10, 1973), known professionally as Los Da Mystro, is an American record producer and jazz pianist. Biography McKinney was born into a prominent Detroit jazz family; he is a nephew to pianist Harold McKinney, ba ...

, Lyle LeDuff, Hardwerk and Khirye Tyler. Sonically, ''T.K.O.'' is a contemporary R&B album fusing elements of 1970s and 1990s R&B with a more modern, contemporary sound and serves as departure from her previous studio effort ''Smoove Jones'', which paid homage to traditional R&B from the 1970s, '80s, and '90s. ''T.K.O.'' has spawned eight singles – " Ready for Whatever", " Ready, Part II", "

You Got Me You Got Me or U Got Me may refer to: Film * ''You Got Me!'' (film), a 2007 Filipino comedy Music Songs * "You Got Me" (The Roots song), 1999 * "You Got Me" (J.Williams song), 2010 * "You Got Me" (Ivy Quainoo song), 2012 * "You Got Me" (Mýa song), ...

", " Damage", "

Knock You Out "Knock You Out" is a song recorded by American singer Mýa. A collaborative effort, it was written and conceptualized by Mýa and Marsha Ambrosius utilizing boxing references as metaphors throughout the entire song, while production duties was han ...

", "With You", " Down" and "

Open Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gotthard album), 1999 * ''Open'' (Cowboy Junkies album), 2001 * ''Open'' (YF ...

Development

''T.K.O. (The Knock Out)'' was recorded between 2015 and 2016 after the release of ''

'' (2016). Like with all her independent projects, Harrison served as

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

for ''T.K.O. (The Knock Out)'' as well, which entailed her scouting for producers, songwriters, arranging the album's track listing, and keeping track of the accounting. With ''T.K.O.'' though, Harrison decided to form a partnership with musician and producer Lamar "MyGuyMars" Edwards. Edwards had contributed production on her last studio effort, ''Smoove Jones'', which catered more towards traditional R&B. The creation process for ''T.K.O.'' started when Harrison continued to work with Edwards and formed a musical partnership. Speaking with ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'', Harrison acknowledged the process to the project was "easy." However, before dabbling into the contemporary R&B space for her next independent project, Harrison made the conscious decision to release ''Smoove Jones'' first to satisfy longtime fans that connected with that particular sound, which is more eclectic, classic and old school. Musically with ''T.K.O.'', since contemporary R&B is more current sonically, Harrison and Edwards just essentially incorporated and fused it with 90's R&B,

SWV SWV (Sisters with Voices) is an American R&B vocal trio from New York City whose members are Cheryl (Coko) Gamble, Tamara (Taj) Johnson, and Leanne (Lelee) Lyons. Formed in 1988 as a gospel group, SWV became one of the most successful R&B g ...

Aaliyah Aaliyah Dana Haughton (; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer and actress. She has been credited for helping to redefine contemporary R&B, pop and hip hop, earning her the nicknames the "Princess of R&B" and " ...

R.Kelly Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and sex offender convicted of racketeering and multiple sex offenses. During his recording career, Kelly sold over 75 million records worldwid ...

Mint Condition Mint condition is an expression used to denote the quality of a pre-owned good as displaying virtually no imperfections and being in pristine condition relative to its original production state. Originally, the phrase related to the way collect ...

along with

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

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 The Isley Brothers influences from the 70s. Using material she recorded back in 2011, 2015, and 2016 from her archive, Harrison commented it was all about "building" and "tweaking" songs. Commenting on the results, Harrison said, "It was all about creating a nice experience for R&B fans, R&B lovers, and have it apply to today's sound of music, sonically, and that's what we did." As executive producer, Harrison was held responsible for drafting all of her contracts, handling publishing split sheets, and generating her own revenue for/funding each component of a project and to avoid early leakage of the project or any of her music, Harrison drafts and services a pre- and post-recording agreement to hold the producers, writers, artists, and engineers liable for leakage, sharing, placement, and playing of her music.

Composition

Music and songs

Described as ''Smoove Jones'' part two, ''T.K.O.'' serves as continuation on Harrison's last studio effort except with ''Smoove Jones'', she blended R&B/

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

/ hip hop genre with elements of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s and geared towards traditional R&B, while ''T.K.O.'' is current contemporary R&B with a hint of '90s R&B and influences from the '70s. In terms of sounds, Mya revealed early on that the album is very heavily leaning on R&B slow jams. ''T.K.O. (The Knock Out)'' starts with "Open" featuring DMV rapper GoldLink and is described as a slice of atmospheric trap-flavored R&B. The pulsating, "Down" serves as the album's fourth track. Track five, " Ready For Whatever 2.0" is a reimagining of the album's first single and is an homage to

's effortless cool. Inspired by

and

, " Damage" was recorded back in 2011 and serves as the album's sixth track. Track eight, "

" is a

millennial Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the Western demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000 ...

slow jam that blends combination of steady drums and

synths A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...

reminiscent of the 90's R&B. The spacey, "

" is an

Isley Brothers Isley is an English surname. The name can also be used as an anglicized variant for the German surnames Eisele and Eisler. Notable people with the surname include: *The Isley Brothers, American musical group **Ernie Isley (born 1952), American mus ...

-indebted bedroom jam with guitar licks and spaced-out vocal harmonies and serves as the album's tenth track. The album's final track, the '80s/'90s big ballad "If Tomorrow Never Comes" was originally recorded back in 2011 and inspired by the vocal work of R&B group Jodeci.

Release and promotion

Initially, ''T.K.O. (The Knock Out)'' was scheduled for a

Valentine Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, thro ...

release to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of her debut single, "

It's All About Me 'It's All About Me' is a song by American singer Mýa. It served as her debut single from her self-titled debut studio album and recorded as a duet with R&B singer Sisqó. A psychedelic R&B slow jam, "It's All About Me" was written and composed ...

," however the project was unable to make its deadline and pushed back. In an interview with Hot 97, Mya confirmed ''T.K.O.'' was scheduled for an April 20, 2018 release to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of her debut album ''

'' (1998). Digitally, the release was distributed through indie distribution company,

The Orchard The Orchard may refer to: * The Orchard (company), American music and entertainment company * The Orchard (band), Canadian country music duo * ''The Orchard'' (Lizz Wright album), 2008 * ''The Orchard'' (Ra Ra Riot album), 2010 * The Orchard (t ...

. Her first release under

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

company. Through her official website store, physical copies was made available for purchase exclusively in standard, autographed or personalized editions. In honor of her twentieth anniversary and to celebrate ''T.K.O.''s album release Mya performed at the House of Blues in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on April 27, 2018. She held a private album listening session at UnplugdLA's The Study in

Los Angeles, California 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' ...

Singles

In September 2017, Mya began releasing a series of singles in support of the album. Mya released the first single from ''T.K.O.(The Knock Out)'', " Ready for Whatever" on September 22, 2017. A

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "Ready for Whatever" was produced and directed by Mya co-starring R&B singer Kevin McCall as her love interest. Less than two months, its follow up single and sequel, " Ready, Part II" was released on November 24, 2017. The song paid homage to

R. Kelly Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and sex offender convicted of racketeering and multiple sex offenses. During his recording career, Kelly sold over 75 million records worldwid ...

's "

It Seems Like You're Ready "It Seems Like You're Ready" is a song by musician R. Kelly, on his debut solo studio album titled ''12 Play''. It is the fourth song on the album and was charted at #59 on the Billboard airplay chart, number 29 on the Rhythmic Top 40 charts and n ...

". A third single, "

", was released on February 14, 2018, to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of her debut single "

". " Damage", the fourth single from ''T.K.O.'' was released on March 23, 2018. Less than a month, a week before the album's release, "

" was released as an

instant grat download A digital music store is a business that sells digital audio files of music recordings over the Internet. Customers gain ownership of a license to use the files, in contrast to a music streaming service, where they listen to recordings without ...

when fans pre-ordered ''T.K.O. (The Knock Out)'' alongside previous singles "You Got Me" and "Damage." In 2019, as tradition in honor her debut single, Harrison gifted her fans with a new music video to commemorate the anniversary. "With You" was released February 14, 2019. Approximately two months later, in honor of the one year anniversary of her thirteenth studio project, ''TKO (The Knock Out)'', Harrison gifted her fans with another new video. " Down" was released April 20, 2019.

Artwork

For the album's packaging, Mya traveled to

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of the Bahamas. With a population of 274,400 as of 2016, or just over 70% of the entire population of the Bahamas, Nassau is commonly defined as a primate city, dwarfing all other towns in the country. ...

and completed a photoshoot for her single and album covers. On the album cover, Mya is dressed in black lingerie with a black robe draping her body, while directing a smoldering stare into the camera.

Reception

Critical

Paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distributed ...

'' magazine gave ''T.K.O.'' a favorable review and called it "impressive in its scope" and concluded, "throughout TKO, though Mya is a well-studied product of her influences, she is as an artist all her own, producing, writing, and owning all of it."

Commercial

''T.K.O. (The Knock Out)'' debuted at number forty-one on 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.

Accolades

Track listing

Notes * signifies a co-producer * signifies an additional producer * signifies a vocal producer Sample credits *"The Fall" contains a musical

interpolation In the mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a type of estimation, a method of constructing (finding) new data points based on the range of a discrete set of known data points. In engineering and science, one often has a n ...

of " Saudade Vem Correndo" and a lyrical interpolation of " Fallen". *"Open" contains an interpolation of "My Life" by

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 ...

. *"Damage" contains an excerpt of "

Breakin' My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes) "Breakin' My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)" is a song performed by Mint Condition, issued as the second single from their debut album ''Meant to Be Mint''. The song was written by band members Jeffrey Allen, Lawrence Waddell and Stokley Williams. Rele ...

" by

. *"Ready (Part III – 90's Bedroom Mix)" contains an interpolation of "

" by R. Kelly. *"T.K.O. Interlude" contains an interpolation of "

Love T.K.O. "Love T.K.O." is a song written by Cecil Womack and Gip Noble, Jr. It was written for soul singer David Oliver, and appeared first on his album '' Here's to You'' in 1980. Teddy Pendergrass recording "Love T.K.O." is mainly associated with ...

" by

Personnel

Instruments * Guitars – Lamar "MyGuyMars" Edwards, Andrew White, Matt Spatola Technical and production *

Engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

– Mya Harrison, Derek Anderson * Mastering – Malcolm Tariq * Mixing – Derek Anderson, Malcolm Tariq *

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 stati ...

– Lamar "MyGuyMars" Edwards, Lyle LeDuff, Philip "Hardwerk" Constable, Carlos McKinney * Additional production – Khirye Tyler Visuals and imagery *

Graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...

– Theresa Harrison, Carlos Perales * Photography – Reesee of Zigga Zagga, Baxter Stapleton * Videography – Josh Sikkema, Dana Rice, Baxter Stapleton, Michael Korte, Kumari Suraj, Jeremy Strong, Kaelynn Harris, Oth'than, Kelly Yvonne, Ysabelle Capitule

Charts

Release history

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2018 albums Mýa albums Albums produced by Mars (record producer)