''This Is Not a Test!'' is the fifth

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 rapper

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 ...

, released by The Goldmind Inc. and

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...

on November 25, 2003, in the United States. It was primarily produced by

Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He has received widespread acclaim for his innovative production work and distinc ...

, with additional production from

Craig Brockman Craig Xavier Brockman (born May 16, 1973) is a hip hop and R&B record producer, arranger, keyboardist, and instrumentalist. He mostly works with Missy Elliott, Timbaland, Terrace Martin, Warren G. He is also a member of The Soul Seekers. Pro ...

Nisan Stewart Nisan Cumming Stewart (born 31 March 1974) is a noted drummer, record producer and songwriter. Having worked with Timbaland and Missy Elliott on Missy Elliott's earlier work (''This Is Not a Test!''), he co-produced Karen Clark Sheard's 2002 album ...

and Elliott herself. The album received generally favorable reviews from critics. The album debuted at number thirteen on the US ''Billboard'' 200, selling 183,600 copies in the first week of release. It has been certified

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) and has sold 705,000 copies in the United States.

Critical reception

''This Is Not a Test!'' was met with generally positive reviews. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, 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 arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, 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 79 out of 100, based on 21 reviews. Rob Sheffield of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' gave the album four out of five stars, saying, "Why anybody would choose to spend their life without a copy of ''This Is Not a Test!'' is a mystery." Dan Martin of ''

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 ...

'' gave the album eight out of ten stars, saying the album was "all about the beats" and "not a right lot else", adding it was "Missy's most uncompromising work yet". Nick Catucci of ''

Blender A blender (sometimes called a mixer or liquidiser in British English) is a kitchen appliance, kitchen and laboratory appliance used to mix, crush, purée or emulsion, emulsify food and other substances. A stationary blender consists of a blender ...

'' gave the album three out of five stars, saying the album "lacks feeling" and asked, "besides beats, what else does she care about?" John Bush 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 databas ...

gave the album three out of five stars, saying the album "is an effective argument for song-by-song downloads." ''This Is Not a Test!'' placed on

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

's list of best albums of the 2000s at number 87.

Commercial performance

''This Is Not a Test!'' debuted at number thirteen on the US ''Billboard'' 200, selling 183,600 copies in the first week of release. The album stayed on the chart for a total of 19 weeks. On December 17, 2003, the album was certified

by the

(RIAA) for shipments of over one million copies in the United States. As of November 2015, the album has sold 705,000 copies in the US.

Track listing

Sample credits

* "Pass That Dutch": ** 'The Rapper' by The Jaggerz (1970) ** 'Magic Mountain' by Eric Burdon and War (1970) ** 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood' by Santa Esmeralda (1977) ** 'Potholes in My Lawn' by De La Soul (1989) ** 'Scenario' by A Tribe Called Quest feat. Leaders of the New School (1991) * "Keep It Movin": ** 'I Know I've Been Wrong' by Mashmakhan (1970) * "Is This Our Last Time": ** 'The Second Time Around' by

Shalamar Shalamar () is an American R&B and soul music vocal group active since the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. Shalamar's classic line-up on the SOLAR label consisted of Howard Hewett, Jody Watley, and Jeffrey Daniel, together with dancer ...

(1979) * "I'm Really Hot": ** 'Buffalo Gals' by Malcolm McLaren (1982) ** 'Release Yourself' by Aleem (1984) ** 'Hot Music (Jazz Mix)' by Soho (1989) ** 'Doin It' by

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, along ...

(1995) * "Don't Be Cruel": ** 'Push It' by

Salt-N-Pepa Salt-N-Pepa (also stylized as Salt 'N' Pepa or Salt 'N Pepa) is an American hip-hop group formed in New York City in 1985, that comprised Salt (Cheryl James), Pepa (Sandra Denton), and DJ Spinderella (Deidra Roper). Their debut album, ''Hot, C ...

(1986) * "Let It Bump": ** 'I Cram to Understand U' by MC Lyte (1988) * "Pump It Up": ** 'Please, Please, Please' by James Brown and The Famous Flames (1956) * "Let Me Fix My Weave": ** 'Please Understand' by

MC Lyte Lana Michele Moorer (born October 11, 1970), better known by her stage name MC Lyte, is an American rapper, DJ, actress and entrepreneur. Considered one of the pioneers of female rap, Lyte first gained fame in the late 1980s, becoming the first ...

(1989)

Personnel

* June Ambrose – stylist * Yaneley Arty – A&R * Carlos "El Loco" Bedoya – engineer *

Beenie Man Anthony Moses Davis (born 22 August 1973), better known by his stage name Beenie Man, is a Jamaican Dancehall deejay. Biography Davis was born in the Waterhouse district of Kingston in 1973.Moskowitz, David V. (2006) ''Caribbean Popular Mus ...

– vocals,

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 ...

* Ian Blanch – engineer * Bless –

scratching Scratching, sometimes referred to as scrubbing, is a DJ and turntablist technique of moving a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable to produce percussive or rhythmic sounds. A crossfader on a DJ mixer may be used to fade between two record ...

, group member *

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 ...

– vocals, guest appearance * Merlin Bobb – A&R * Stacy Boge – photo production * Anita Marisa Boriboon –

art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...

* Craig "Boogie" Brockman – keyboards, producer * Jay Brown –

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 ...

, A&R * Suzanne Burge –

product manager A product manager (PM) is a professional role that is responsible for the development of products for an organization, known as the practice of product management. Product managers own the product strategy behind a product (physical or digital), ...

* Demacio Castellon – mixing assistant * Vadim Chislov – mixing assistant *

The Clark Sisters The Clark Sisters are an American gospel vocal group consisting of five sisters: Jacky Clark Chisholm (born 1948), Denise "Niecy" Clark-Bradford (born 1953), Elbernita "Twinkie" Clark (born 1954), Dorinda Clark-Cole (born 1957), and Karen Cla ...

– vocals, guest appearance * Annette Coleman – hair stylist * Jimmy Douglass – engineer *

Elephant Man Joseph Carey Merrick (5 August 1862 – 11 April 1890), often erroneously called John Merrick, was an English man known for having severe deformities. He was first exhibited at a freak show under the stage name "the Elephant Man" and then wen ...

– vocals, guest appearance *

– vocals, producer, executive producer * Patricia Elliott – A&R *

Fabolous John David Jackson (born November 18, 1977), better known by his stage name Fabolous, is an American rapper. Raised in Brooklyn, he first gained recognition while still a senior in high school, when he performed live on American music executive ...

– vocals, guest appearance * Roberto Fantauzzi – photo production * Linda Fields – background vocals * Andre Johnson – coordination * Claudine Joseph – product manager *

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 worldwi ...

– vocals, guest appearance * Michael Kennedy – prop design * Scott Kieklak – mixing * Safiya Lewis – coordination *

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. He embarked on his music career with the hip hop group St. Lunatics in 1993 and signed to Universal ...

– vocals, guest appearance * Lili Picou – design * Herb Powers – mastering * Chris Puram – engineer * Senator Jimmy D – mixing *

– producer *

– producer, executive producer * Alonzo Vargas – assistant engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2003 albums Albums produced by Craig Brockman Albums produced by Missy Elliott Albums produced by Timbaland Missy Elliott albums Elektra Records albums Dancehall albums