''True to Self'' is the second studio album by American singer

Bryson Tiller Bryson Djuan Tiller (born January 2, 1993) is an American singer and rapper. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, he began his career in 2011 with a mixtape entitled ''Killer Instinct Vol. 1''. Tiller initially gained mainstream success in 2015 follo ...

. It was released on May 26, 2017, by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

. Recording sessions took place from 2016 to 2017, 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 ...

was handled by several producers from

Teddy Walton Travis Darelle "Teddy" Walton (born July 30, 1992, in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American record producer, songwriter and DJ. He began music production by creating songs with his older brother, June, which gained traction on SoundCloud. Teddy has ...

, J-Louis, NES,

Boi-1da Matthew Jehu Samuels (born October 12, 1986), known professionally as Boi-1da ( , a play on "boy wonder"), is a Jamaican-Canadian Record production, record producer and songwriter based in Toronto, Ontario. The Toronto raised producer has work ...

Frank Dukes Adam King Feeney (born September 12, 1983), better known as Ging and by his former stage name Frank Dukes, is a Canadian musician, record producer, and songwriter. A prolific producer, he has worked with artists including Camila Cabello ("Havana ...

Illmind Ramon Ibanga, Jr. (born August 28, 1980), known professionally as Illmind (often stylized as !llmind), is an American record producer, songwriter, and educator. As of 2012, he lives in Brooklyn, New York. Illmind has co-written and produced hip ...

Hollywood Hot Sauce Paul Dawson, best known as Hot Sauce or Hollywood Hot Sauce, is an American music producer and songwriter based in Los Angeles, California. In short, Paul has written, produced and co-produced singles including Rihanna's "As Real As You and Me", ...

Keyz KEYZ (660 AM) is a local radio station in Williston, North Dakota. The station broadcasts news and information, as well as classic country music 24 hours a day. KEYZ has a 5,000–watt signal that covers more than 20 counties and portions of ...

Soundz Kenneth C. Coby (born August 1, 1983), better known as his stage name Soundz is an American record producer and rapper from Milwaukee, Wisconsin signed to US Records and EMI Publishing. He was born to Charles and Lolita Coby, both former singe ...

T-Minus A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...

and Wondagurl, among others. The album was supported by the two singles: " Somethin Tells Me" and " Run Me Dry". In August 2017, Tiller started the Set It Off tour to promote the album. ''True to Self'' debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling 107,000

album-equivalent unit The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, is a measurement unit in music industry to define the consumption of music that equals the purchase of one album copy. This consumption includes streaming and song downloads in addition to traditio ...

s and 47,000 copies in the first week.

Background and release

On January 17, 2017, Tiller announced that he was working on his second album, titled ''True to Self''. While talking about the recording of the album in an interview with ''

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

'', Tiller said; "I posted something on Instagram like, "album almost done", then I met this producer named Nes, and the way he produces his beats just changed everything. So I started my whole album over." On May 11, 2017, he revealed the album's artwork, announcing that it would be released on June 23; also he later released three new songs, titled "Honey", "Somethin Tells Me" and "Get Mine"; the latter features American rapper

Young Thug Jeffery Lamar Williams (born August 16, 1991), known professionally as Young Thug, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is considered to be an influential figure of his generation, with his music impacting the modern sound of hip ...

. On May 23, Tiller posted the complete tracklist on his Instagram account. On May 26, he released ''True to Self'' a month early before the intended release. In an interview with '' Billboard'', Tiller explained the motivation behind the album's early release; "I can't take the credit for that. It was just my manager; it was his plan odrop it a month early. I've been ready to get the music to the fans as soon as possible, so why not?" In a 2020 interview with ''Billboard'', he stated that he did not put energy or time into the album because he did not want to make or release the album due to legal and personal matters.

Promotion

The album's

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 s ...

, " Somethin Tells Me", was released on May 11, 2017. The

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 promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for the song premiered on Tiller's

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, ...

channel on May 25, 2017. The song has peaked at number 74 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. " Run Me Dry" was sent to the rhythmic contemporary radio as the album's second single on July 25, 2017. The single's music video premiered on September 12, 2017. It has peaked at number 91 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Tiller also released a music video for the song " Self-Made". In May 2017, Tiller announced the dates for the Set It Off tour in North America across the United States and Canada, which started on August 3, 2017. In North America he was joined by R&B singer

H.E.R. Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson (born June 27, 1997), known professionally as H.E.R. (pronounced "her", an acronym for "Having Everything Revealed"), is an American singer, songwriter, musician and actress. She has received several awards includin ...

and record producer

Metro Boomin Leland Tyler Wayne (born September 16, 1993), professionally known as Metro Boomin, is an American record producer, record executive, beatmaker, and DJ. He is known for his dark production style and its influence on modern hip hop and trap. ...

. The second leg of the tour was announced in July 2017 taking place across Europe, which started on October 17, 2017. In Europe he was joined by R&B singer SZA. In September 2017, Tiller announced the third leg of the tour in New Zealand and Australia, which started on September 22.

Critical reception

''True to Self'' received generally favorable 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 score of 63, based on six reviews.

Commercial performance

''True to Self'' debuted at number one on the US ''Billboard'' 200, earning 107,000

s (including 47,000 copies as pure album sales) in its first week. This became Tiller's first US number one debut on the chart. In its second week, the album dropped to number 13 on the chart, earning an additional 29,000 units. In its third week, the album dropped to number 22 on the chart, earning 20,000 more units. On August 3, 2018, the album was certified

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over 500,000 units in the United States.

Track listing

Credits were adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

. Notes * signifies a co-producer * signifies an additional producer Sample credits * "Rain on Me (Intro)" contains a sample of

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 ...

's "

Rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water ...

", and

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

's Brand New. * "No Longer Friends" contains a sample of Tweet's "My Place". * "We Both Know" contains a sample of Changing Faces' " Stroke You Up". * "In Check" contains a sample of Brandy,

Tamia Tamia Marilyn Washington Hill (born May 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and producer. Born and raised in Windsor, Ontario, Tamia performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a child. In 1994, after signing a development de ...

Gladys Knight Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer, actress and businesswoman. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys K ...

, and Chaka Khan's " Missing You". * "Self-Made" contains a sample of

Stavros Xarchakos Stavros Xarchakos, Greek: Σταύρος Ξαρχάκος (born 14 March 1939) is a Greek composer and conductor. Biography Stavros Xarchakos was born in Athens, where he studied at the Athens Conservatoire. He has family origins from the Mani ...

' "Palikari Dipsasmeno". * "High Stakes" contains a sample of The Spinners' "(Do It Do It) No One Does It Better". * "Teach Me a Lesson" contains a sample of

Marsha Ambrosius Marsha Ambrosius-Billups (born 8 August 1977) is an English singer and songwriter from Liverpool, England. She embarked on her musical career as a member of Floetry. Ambrosius released her debut solo album '' Late Nights & Early Mornings'' in M ...

' "Your Hands". * "Stay Blessed" contains a sample of

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 ...

's "Don’t Go". * "Set It Off" contains a sample of

Faith Evans Faith Renée Evans (born June 10, 1973) is an American singer and actress. Born in Lakeland, Florida, and raised in New Jersey, she relocated to Los Angeles in 1991 for a career in the music business. After working as a backing vocalist for Al ...

' "You Are My Joy (Interlude)". * "Before You Judge" contains excerpts of Ice Cube's " Check Yo Self (Remix)". * "Always (Outro)" contains a sample of Changing Faces' " Foolin’ Around".

Personnel

Credits adapted from

. Performers *

– primary artist Technical * Michael "Black Mic" Williams – audio engineer * Fabian Marasciullo – mixing engineer * McCoy Socalgargoyle – assistant mixing engineer * Colin Leonard – mastering engineer * Matthew Samuels – recording engineer * Ramon Ibanga – recording engineer * Tyler Williams – recording engineer Instruments * Wow Jones – keyboard * Fingazz – talkbox Production * NES – producer *

– producer * Swiff D – producer * Gravez – producer * WondaGurl – producer * FrancisGotHeat – producer *

– producer * J-Louis – producer * Rob Holladay – additional producer * Skyz Muzik– producer * Wow Jones – additional producer , producer *

– producer * Allen Ritter – co-producer * Ayo – producer * Xeryus – producer *

– co-producer * Mahxie – producer * Pro Logic – producer *

– producer * IAMNOBODI – producer *

– producer *

– producer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control 2017 albums Bryson Tiller albums RCA Records albums Albums produced by Boi-1da Albums produced by Frank Dukes Albums produced by Illmind Albums produced by T-Minus (record producer) Albums produced by WondaGurl Albums produced by Allen Ritter