''Tamar'' is the debut

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 R&B singer

Tamar Braxton Tamar Estine Braxton (born March 17, 1977) is an American singer and television personality. Braxton began her career in 1990 as a founding member of The Braxtons, an R&B singing group formed with her sisters. The Braxtons released their debut a ...

. It was released on March 21, 2000, by

DreamWorks Records DreamWorks Records (often referred in copyright notices as SKG Music, LLC) was an American record label founded in 1996 by David Geffen, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg as a subsidiary of DreamWorks Pictures. The label operated until 200 ...

and RedZone Entertainment. The album features

guest appearance In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or other p ...

s from

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette Elliott (born July 1, 1971), better known as Missy Elliott or Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliot, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She embarked on her music career with R&B girl group Sista in the earl ...

Jermaine Dupri Jermaine Dupri Mauldin (born September 23, 1972) is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, record executive, entrepreneur, and DJ. Early life Jermaine Dupri Mauldin was born on September 23, 1972, the son of Tina (Mosley) and Michael ...

and

Amil Amil Kahala Whitehead (born September 19, 1973) is an American former rapper and singer. She was prominent in the late 1990s as a Jay-Z protégé, and recorded the single " Can I Get A..." with him for the '' Rush Hour'' soundtrack. Amil's d ...

, while the

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 ...

handled by

Tim & Bob Tim & Bob (Tim Kelley and Bob Robinson), also known as Funktwons, were a songwriting and production duo. Tim & Bob have discovered and or worked on some of the biggest artists in the music industry and has helped develop the Atlanta music scene ...

Tricky Stewart Christopher Alan "Tricky" Stewart (born January 4, 1974) is an American record producer, record executive, songwriter, and music publisher. In a career spanning over 30 years, Stewart has won 5 Grammys and is responsible for over 50 million rec ...

, among others. Originally entitled ''Ridiculous'', it debuted at number 127 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and number 42 on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...

chart. Braxton later admitted in interviews for her second album '' Love and War'' that she was not fond of this album due to not having any creative control.

Background

Before the official release, Braxton was the lead singer of The Braxtons, after her sisters Traci and

Toni Toni, Toñi or Tóni is a unisex given name. In Spanish, Italian, Croatian and Finnish, it is a masculine given name used as a short form of the names derived from Antonius like Antonio, Ante or Anttoni. In Danish, English, Finnish, Norwegia ...

had to leave the group, which left them as a trio of Tamar,

Trina Katrina Laverne Taylor (born December 3, 1978), known professionally as Trina, is an American rapper. She rose to prominence in 1998 with her appearance on the Trick Daddy single "Nann Nigga". Trina has been described by '' XXL'' as "the most ...

and Towanda. After the release of their debut album, ''

So Many Ways ''So Many Ways'' is the debut album by American R&B vocal group The Braxtons. Released on August 6, 1996, the album produced four singles; " So Many Ways", " Only Love", " The Boss" – which peaked at number-one in the ''Billboard'' Dance Cha ...

'' (1996), Braxton was offered a solo recording contract with DreamWorks, which she happened to leave the group and begin her solo career. In 2004, Tamar's sister Towanda Braxton appeared on the reality TV series Starting Over during its second season, revealing that Tamar signed a solo contract without telling her or Trina that she left The Braxtons group. In 1999, she released the EP, ''Tamar: Just Cuz'' to generate buzz about her debut album. The ''Tamar: Just Cuz'' EP contained 4 songs, "Just Cuz", "Let Him Go" (featuring

Solé Tonya Michelle Johnston (born July 17, 1973), better known by her stage name Solé, is an American rapper from Kansas City, Missouri. Biography Solé was born in 1973 in Kansas City, Missouri, to Phyllis Frazier and James Johnston, Her siblin ...

), "It's Time" (featuring

Grand Puba Maxwell Dixon (born March 4, 1964), known professionally as Grand Puba, is an American rapper and emcee, best known as one of the members of the group Brand Nubian from New Rochelle, New York. Biography He made his debut as Grand Puba Maxw ...

) and "Get Mine". Her album was originally going to be called ''Ridiculous'', which would have been released in late 1999. Some songs recorded for this album remain unreleased, as this project was scrapped.

Critical reception

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 databas ...

editor Roxanne Blanford called ''Tamar'' both "impressive and enjoyable." She foung that "this recording is primarily a quiet display of Tamar's competence at present day rhythm & blues with some contemporary hip-hop flavor thrown in. If it wasn't such an all-around good listen, it would certainly be worthy of recognition on the basis of its professional presentation alone."

Track listing

Personnel

Keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

and

drum programming Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices and computer software, such as sequencers and workstations or hardware synthesizers, sampler and sequencers, to generate sounds of musical instruments. These mus ...

: Tim & Bob, Jermaine Dupri, Bryan-Michael Cox, Darrell "Delite" Allamby, Tricky Stewart, The Co-Stars *

Piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

: Les Butler, Bob Robinson *

Acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

: Bob Robinson * Spanish guitar: Bob Robinson *

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

Paul Pesco Paul Pesco (born May 13, 1959) is an American session guitarist, singer-songwriter, film score composer and record producer. Biography Pesco was born in Canandaigua, New York, to a Sicilian father (an opera singer and voice instructor) and Kore ...

, Marlon McClain *

Percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

: Luis C. Conte *

Background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

: Tamar Braxton, Darcy Aldridge, Mýa (

uncredited In general, the term credit in the artistic or intellectual sense refers to an acknowledgment of those who contributed to a work, whether through ideas or in a more direct sense. Credit in the arts In the creative arts, credits are an acknowledg ...

Lil' Mo Cynthia Karen Loving (born November 19, 1978), known professionally as Lil' Mo, is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, television and radio personality. She is best known for her 2001 single " Superwoman Pt. II", featuring then-unknown rapper ...

, Missy Elliott, LaTocha Scott, Darrell "Delite" Allamby * Recording engineers: Jermaine Dupri, Brian K. Smith, Tim Kelley, Carlisle Young, Ben Arrindell, Rob Hunter, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, Kevin "KD" Davis * Mixing engineers: Phil Tan, Brian K. Smith, Tim Kelley, Carlisle Young, Ben Arrindell, Kevin "KD" Davis *

Photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

: Randee St. Nicholas * Design: Orabor

Charts

References

2000 debut albums Tamar Braxton albums Albums produced by Missy Elliott Albums produced by Tim & Bob Dance-pop albums by American artists DreamWorks Records albums {{2000s-R&B-album-stub