''The Chief'' is the debut studio album by Nigerian-American hip hop recording artist Jidenna, released on February 17, 2017, by Wondaland and Epic Records. It 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 ...

s from fellow labelmates

Roman GianArthur Roman GianArthur is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer known for his collaborations with artists Janelle Monáe and Jidenna. He is a member of Monae's Wondaland Arts Collective, and was featured on Jidenna's Grammy-n ...

Nana Kwabena Nana Kwabena Tuffuor (born March 25, 1986), better known by his stage name NANA KWABENA, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, DJ and sound engineer. He is most noted for co-producing Jidenna's certified platinum single, " C ...

Janelle Monáe Janelle Monáe Robinson (; born December 1, 1985) is an American singer, rapper and actress. She is signed to Atlantic Records, as well as to her own imprint, the Wondaland Arts Society. Monáe has received eight Grammy Award nominations. Mon� ...

and St. Beauty. The album's artwork pays homage to Boz Scaggs' 1980 album '' Middle Man''. It garnered positive reviews from critics for its globe-trotting, genre-hopping production and showcasing Jidenna's charismatic delivery and knack for narrative storytelling. ''The Chief'' debuted at number 38 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and spawned four singles: " Long Live the Chief", "Chief Don't Run", "Little Bit More" and "The Let Out".

Promotion

Singles

The

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release ...

from the album, called " Long Live the Chief" was released on December 21, 2015. The track was produced by Best Kept Secret. The second single from the album, called "Chief Don't Run" was released on June 27, 2016, which features guest vocals from fellow American singer

whom he had previously collaborated with on " Classic Man earlier in 2015." The track was produced by

, Nate Wonder, Mark Williams and Volta. The third single from the album, called "Little Bit More" was released on July 4, 2016. The track was produced by Roman GianArthur, Nana Kwabena and Mark Williams. The fourth single from the album, called "The Let Out" was released on February 3, 2017. The song features guest vocals from

Southern hip hop Southern hip hop, also known as Southern rap, South Coast hip hop, or dirty south, is a blanket term for a regional genre of American hip hop music that emerged in the Southern United States, especially in Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston, Memp ...

rapper Quavo from the hip hop group Migos, although Quavo is not featured on the album version. The track was produced by Nana Kwabena.

Other songs

"Knickers" and "Extraordinaire" were released on December 21, 2015, alongside "Long Live the Chief", but did not make the final cut on the album. The album's first promotional single, "Bambi", was released on February 9, 2017. The song was produced by Jidenna himself and Nate "Rocket" Wonder.

Tour

On May 17, 2017 Jidenna announced that he was going on his 24-city "Long Live the Chief Tour" for the summer to support the record, beginning on July 20 in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the South ...

and finishing up in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

on August 27.

Critical reception

''The Chief'' received generally positive reviews from music critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

score of 73, based on 9 reviews. Erin Lowers of ''

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 ...

'' said, "Just as Jidenna uses hip-hop music to convey the story of an immigrant, he reaches across the globe to pull from seemingly disparate genres as he tells his tales. Surprisingly, Jidenna makes it work, commanding the listener's attention from start to finish." Preezy of '' XXL'' said, "The project gives Jidenna an identity that any artist aspires to: someone who makes pretty damn good music. He’ll still have to continue to get listeners familiar with what makes the man behind the music tick, but ''The Chief'' is an admirable beginning to what appears to be a blossoming career." Eric Diep of ''

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of hip hop music criticism and news. The website's current president and publisher is Sharath Cherian and the Head Of Content is Jerry L. Barrow. ''HipHopDX'' is the flagship publication of Cheri Media Group. ...

'' said, "While ''The Chief'' sets him up for a more focused second effort, Jidenna’s genre-hopping album is merely a sliver of his versatility as an entertainer." Andy Kellman of

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 dat ...

said, "What's thrown, including tepid trap beats, passable tropical pop-house, and overly fanciful retro-contemporary touches, doesn't always stick, yet Jidenna's charismatic flair and sharp writing make almost all of it entertaining, rarely dull. In a way, he's a Kid Creole for the 2010s, mixing and matching old and new cross-continental sounds with a twinkle in his eye, a glide in his stride, and a special knack for storybook-style narration." Elias Leight of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' said, A versatile dandy, Jidenna tries on many different musical styles with his debut album—but all that changing quickly grows tiresome."

Commercial performance

''The Chief'' debuted at number 38 on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling 13,312 album equivalent units, and 8,387 pure album copies in the first 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 ...

* – signifies an additional producer

Charts

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chief 2017 debut albums Epic Records albums Jidenna albums Albums produced by Best Kept Secret (production team) Albums produced by Frank Dukes Albums produced by Hit-Boy Albums produced by Sonny Digital