''Turn Me Loose'' is the fourth

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 singer

Ledisi Ledisi Anibade Young (; born March 28, 1972), better known simply as Ledisi, is an American R&B and jazz recording artist, songwriter, music producer, author and actress. Her name means "to bring forth" or "to come here" in Yoruba.Ledisi AllMusi ...

. It was released by

Verve Records Verve Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, ...

on August 18, 2009 in the United States. It was recorded after Ledisi's experience with the

writer's block Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Mike Rose found that this creative stall is not a result of commitment problems or th ...

, which she able to overcome it, after finding inspiration by listening on the

Buddy Miles George Allen "Buddy" Miles Jr. (September 5, 1947February 26, 2008) was an American composer, drummer, guitarist, vocalist and producer. He was a founding member of the Electric Flag (1967), a member of Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys (1969–197 ...

's album ''Them Changes'' (1970).Farber, Jim
Review: ''Turn Me Loose''
''

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...

''. Retrieved on 2009-10-02. In contrast to her previous work with

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

and

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

influences, the album features a prominent

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

sound. The album debuted at number 14 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, selling 27,000 copies in the first week.Kreps, Daniel
On the Charts: Reba McEntire Scores Second Number One Album
''

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 ...

''. Retrieved on 2009-10-02. Upon its release, it received generally positive reviews from music critics, based on an aggregate score of 72/100 from

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 ...

. ''Turn Me Loose'' received two nominations at the

52nd Grammy Awards The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares Pe ...

including

Best R&B Album The Grammy Award for Best R&B Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works on albums in the R&B music genre. Honors ...

Background

Speaking in April 2010 to ''

Blues & Soul ''Blues & Soul'' is a British music magazine, established in 1967 by John Abbey. ''The Independent'' has noted ''Blues & Soul'' as being the equal of magazines such as ''NME'' and '' Q''. ''Billboard'' magazine has called ''Blues & Soul'' "a r ...

'', Ledisi explained how the title of the album reflected its musical diversity: "The title 'Turn Me Loose' is basically me saying 'I don't wanna be boxed in! Let me be myself as a performer and singer, because I do EVERYTHING! Not just one particular style!'."Ledisi interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' April 2010
/ref> The singer was able to secure some of urban music's most respected producers, including

Raphael Saadiq Raphael Saadiq (; born Charles Ray Wiggins; May 14, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He rose to fame as a member of the multiplatinum group Tony! Toni! Toné! In addition to his solo and group ...

Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III (born June 6, 1959) and Terry Steven Lewis (born November 24, 1956) are an American R&B/ pop songwriting and record production team. They have enjoyed great success since the 1980s with various artists, most ...

and James "Big Jim" Wright. She also reunited with producer Rex Rideout, who contributed greatly to the sound of her previous album ''Lost & Found''. With help from the four other producers, including

Carvin & Ivan Carvin & Ivan are a production duo from Philadelphia consisting of producer and songwriters Ivan "Orthodox" Barias and Carvin "Ransum" Haggins. Initially starting out as solo hip hop artists, Haggins and Barias moved into production and songwriti ...

Chief Xcel Blackalicious was an American hip-hop duo from Sacramento, California, made up of rapper Gift of Gab and DJ/producer Chief Xcel. They are noted for Gift of Gab's often tongue-twisting, multisyllabic, complex rhymes and Chief Xcel's soulful pr ...

Chucky Thompson Carl Edward "Chucky" Thompson Jr. (July 12, 1968 – August 9, 2021) was an American hip hop and R&B record producer. Biography Thompson was born in Washington, D.C., in 1968. He was a member of Bad Boy Entertainment's "Hitmen" team of in-hous ...

, and Fyre Dept., the artist braided brilliant strains of rock, blues, classic soul, funk and hip-hop are all fused together throughout ''Turn Me Loose''. The funky title track, for instance, updates the sassy grooves of vintage Stax. As a tribute to

, Ledisi does a cover of "Them Changes" as a bonus track.

Critical reception

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, ''Turn Me Loose'' has an average score of 72 based on 5 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews."

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 Andy Kellman found that ''Turn Me Loose'' "partially roots itself in the singer's past work and otherwise branches out from it ..Most of the material that is in the vein of the subdued, sophisticated R&B showcased throughout much of ''

Soulsinger ''Soulsinger: The Revival'' is a re-release of the debut album by the American singer-songwriter Ledisi, released independently as ''Soulsinger'' in 2000 by Ledisi's label, LeSun Records. The album was later distributed by Tommy Boy Records. It wa ...

'' and '' Lost & Found'' is fine, if sporadically tepid – something that really comes through when heard with the harder material."

Track listing

;Notes denotes co-producer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

Press Release
at EURweb {{Authority control 2009 albums Ledisi albums Albums produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis Albums produced by Raphael Saadiq Verve Forecast Records albums Funk albums by American artists