''Third Strike'' is the third solo studio album by recording artist

Tinchy Stryder Kwasi Esono Danquah III ( ; born 14 September 1986), known by the stage name Tinchy Stryder, is a Ghanaian-British rapper, singer, songwriter, entrepreneur and investor. Stryder has released three solo studio albums, '' Star in the Hood'' (2 ...

, and his second studio album with Universal Island Records. It was released on 15 November 2010. Prior to the release of ''Third Strike'', Stryder featured on the

grime Grime may refer to: * Dirt, in the form of black, ingrained dust * Grime (music genre), a genre of music * ''Grime'' (album), a 2001 album by Iniquity * ''Grime'' (video game), a 2021 Metroidvania video game * "Grime", a 2022 song by Dallas Woo ...

collective

Roll Deep Roll Deep (formerly Roll Deep Entourage) are a British grime crew. They were founded in 2001 by Wiley shortly before the disbandment of UK garage crew Pay As U Go Cartel. The group have had two UK No. 1 singles, "Good Times" and " Green Lig ...

's first compilation album, '' Street Anthems'', which was released on 19 October 2009. ''Third Strike'' was preceded by a free downloadable

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

(EP), '' III EP''.

Background

The album is the follow-up to Styder's album '' Catch 22''. Tinchy began recording his third studio album shortly after he completed his previous album, and would release a single from the album a whole year straight from the day he released his second studio album. He began working with

Fraser T Smith Fraser Thorneycroft-Smith (born 8 February 1971), known professionally as Fraser T. Smith, is an English record producer, songwriter and musician. Some of the singles he collaborated on include Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain", James Morrison's " ...

who also worked on his second studio album.

Taio Cruz Jacob Taio Cruz (; born Adetayo Ayowale Onile-Ere, 23 April 1980), better known professionally as Taio Cruz (stylized TΛIO CRUZ), is an English singer, songwriter and record producer from London, England, currently based in Los Angeles. In 200 ...

produced the largely, along with Fraser T Smith.

Collaborations

''Third Strike'' features several artists, including, Amelle, who he collaborated with on his second studio album Catch 22 on the single " Never Leave You" where the pair gained a number one in the UK. The album features

who also featured on the Stryder's last album. The album also features artists affiliated with

Roc Nation Roc Nation is an entertainment agency founded by Jay-Z in 2008. The company is headquartered in Manhattan and has additional offices in Los Angeles and London. Roc Nation comprises a comprehensive talent agency, sports agency, record label, mana ...

. Artists such as

Melanie Fiona Melanie Fiona Hallim (born July 4, 1983) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario.Let It Rain",

Alexis Jordan Alexis Jordan (born April 7, 1992) is an American singer and actress from Columbia, South Carolina. Jordan rose to fame as a contestant on the first season of ''America's Got Talent'' in 2006 at the age of 14. After being eliminated from the sho ...

, and

Bridget Kelly Bridget Kelly (born April 8, 1986) is an American singer and songwriter from New York City. In 2008, Kelly, a pop and R&B recording artist, who has written songs for fellow American singers such as Kelly Clarkson, secured a recording contract ...

Take The World A take is a single continuous recorded performance. The term is used in film and music to denote and track the stages of production. Film In cinematography, a take refers to each filmed "version" of a particular shot or "setup". Takes of each s ...

". The song " Game Over" features six different artists, Example,

Professor Green Stephen Paul Manderson (born 27 November 1983), better known by his stage name Professor Green or simply Pro Green, is an English rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, television personality and mental health activist from London. Growing up on ...

, Giggs, Devlin,

Tinie Tempah Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu (born 7 November 1988), better known by his stage name Tinie Tempah, is a British rapper. He has been signed to Parlophone Records since 2009, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group. He created his own entertainment compa ...

and

Chipmunk Chipmunks are small, striped rodents of the family Sciuridae. Chipmunks are found in North America, with the exception of the Siberian chipmunk which is found primarily in Asia. Taxonomy and systematics Chipmunks may be classified either as ...

. Stryder also collaborated with Bluey Robinson on the song "Tomorrow". Eric Turner, who gained a number one single after featuring on

's " Written in the Stars", also featured on the album.

Reception

Critical reception

The Metro.co.uk stated that the album was "stick to an uninspiring but winning formula of cheesy dance beats and soaring female vocals." while following on to say that the album "The dubsteppy breakdown on epic pop song Tomorrow signals the mainstream’s embrace of certain initially fringe urban sounds." and later awarding the album three out of five stars.

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

said that "opener Take the World proves that Tinchy Stryder is a good rapper, but the song is ruined by a sugary-sweet female chorus." However, they gave praise to the songs "In My System" and "Gangsta?". "In My System" features Tinchy rapping the grime equivalent of a Hallmark card over woozy keyboards and futuristic synths. "Gangsta?", finds him boasting, over turgid beats and cyber-synths, about his

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

feed "f***ing with some anthems" and "having meetings with the president", a line which he bellows at every opportunity. They gave the album 5 out of 10. David Jeffries from

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 databa ...

gave it a 3.5/5 and stated that "the album throws so much polish at the listener that the sheen is blinding, but when it comes to short bursts of well-dressed swagger, Third Strike provides Flo Rida-sized results".

Commercial performance

''Third Strike'' peaked at number 2 on the

UK Dance Chart The UK Dance Singles Chart and the UK Dance Albums Chart are music charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company from sales of songs in the dance music genre (e.g. house, trance, drum and bass, garage, synthpop) in record s ...

, but did not chart as high as ''Catch 22'' on the main UK album chart when released. It only peaked at number 48 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

despite his previous album ''Catch 22'' peaking at number 2.

Singles

* " Gangsta?" was released as a

promotional single A promotional recording, or 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 ...

in the UK on 28 May 2010, charting at a peak of 67. Although "Game Over" charted at 22, Gangsta? did not chart in the UK Top 40. * The first official single from the album was "

In My System "In My System" is a single by recording artist Tinchy Stryder. It was the first single from his third studio album '' Third Strike''. It was released on 8 August 2010 as a digital download and on 9 August 2010 as a CD single. The single features ...

". Stryder performed the song live on GMTV, and he later appeared on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

Live Lounge The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio stations BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra. It was originally hosted by Simon Mayo, and later by Jo Whiley on her weekday mid-morning, and later weekend lunchtime radio shows, then by Fearne Cotton ...

to promote the single. "In My System" was released officially on 8 August 2010, where it charted at number 10 on the UK singles charts. * The second official single from the album was " Second Chance", which featured R&B artist,

, who he has also recorded a duet with Stryder on his previous album. The single was promoted by performing the single live at the MOBO Awards 2010. The single was released on 2 November 2010. Where it peaked at number 22 in the UK. * The song " Famous" was released on 8 November 2010 as a digital download. A music video was released in promotion of the song. * The song " Game Over" was released on 15 November 2010 as a digital download. The track featured six different rap artists, Giggs,

, Devlin, Example and

. It charted on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, reaching #22. The song was also performed at the MOBO Awards 2010, along with "Second Chance". * The song "

Take the World A take is a single continuous recorded performance. The term is used in film and music to denote and track the stages of production. Film In cinematography, a take refers to each filmed "version" of a particular shot or "setup". Takes of each s ...

" was released on 22 November 2010 as a digital download. A music video was released in promotion of the song. * The third and final official single was " Let It Rain", a song featuring

Melanie Fiona Melanie Fiona Hallim (born July 4, 1983) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario.2010 albums Tinchy Stryder albums Albums produced by Tinchy Stryder Albums produced by Nathan Retro Albums produced by Fraser T. Smith Albums produced by Naughty Boy Takeover Entertainment albums Albums produced by TMS (production team)