''The Voice'' is the second

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 Mike Jones. It was released on April 28, 2009 by

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

Asylum Records Asylum Records is an American record label, founded in 1971 by David Geffen and partner Elliot Roberts. It was taken over by Warner Communications (now the Warner Music Group) in 1972, and later merged with Elektra Records to become Elektra/As ...

Ice Age Entertainment Ice Age Entertainment is a record label created and owned by southern rapper Mike Jones and business partner Ray "Mello" Moore. The record label was created in 2001. Jones was signed with Swishahouse, in 2004 Swishahouse signed a deal with Asy ...

, and

Swishahouse Swishahouse is an independent Southern hip hop, southern rap record label and hip hop collective based in Houston, Texas. History Swishahouse was founded in North Houston in 1997 by founder and CEO Michael "5000" Watts and OG Ron C as a response ...

. Production was handled by several producers, including

Jim Jonsin James Gregory Scheffer (born June 8, 1970), professionally known as Jim Jonsin, is an American record producer, songwriter, businessman and DJ from South Florida. Jonsin has collaborated with numerous artists, including Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, ...

Mr. Collipark Michael Antoine Crooms (born October 5, 1972), better known by his stage name Mr. Collipark (and also known as DJ Smurf), is an American hip hop producer and the president of his own Atlanta-based record label, Collipark Music, which was starte ...

J.R. Rotem Jonathan Reuven Rotem is a South African-born record producer, songwriter and music publisher. Biography Early life Rotem was born in South Africa to Jewish Israeli people, Israeli immigrant parents. He moved to Canada at the age of two an ...

and Big E, among others. The album sold 25,000 copies in its first week, debuting at number 12 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 on April 22, 2009. As of February 1, 2014, the album has sold 200,000 copies in the United States.

Singles

The album's lead single " Drop & Gimme 50" features Hurricane Chris. The album's second single "

Cuddy Buddy "Cuddy Buddy" (also called "Cutty Buddy") is the second single from Mike Jones' second album ''The Voice''. The single version features Trey Songz, Lil Wayne and Twista. The album version features T-Pain instead of Songz. It was produced by Bigg ...

" featuring T-Pain,

Twista Carl Terrell Mitchell (born November 27, 1973), better known by his stage name Twista (formerly Tung Twista), is an American rapper and record producer. He is best known for his Chopper (rap), chopper style of rapping and for once holding the t ...

and

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman (rapper), ...

. The album's third single " Next to You" featuring Nae Nae. The album's fourth single "Swagg Thru The Roof" featuring Swole. The album's fifth single "Boi!" featuring Young Problemz.

Critical reception

''The Voice'' garnered mixed reviews from

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

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 ...

's David Jeffries gave praise to the album's three singles and "Give Me a Call" but felt the rest of the track listing contained "redundant cuts and overdone party numbers" with Jones' overused gimmicky catchphrases. He called the record a "significant step up" from '' The American Dream'' EP. Nathan Slavik of DJBooth highlighted both "Next to You" and "Cuddy Buddy" as potential radio chart-toppers but found the album going into "unlistenable territory" with tracks ranging from a "half-baked" dance craze ("Drop & Gimmie 50"), butchering of a celebratory anthem ("Happy Birthday") and "Scandalous Hoes II". Slavik concluded by giving his take on Jones' next project: "Sadly expectations will be low after ''The Voice'', here's hoping he truly delivers something unexpected." Conversely, Steve 'Flash' Juon from ''RapReviews'' praised Jones for delivering a decently paced album that has catchy beats to invigorate the collaborative tracks while also showcasing both his lyrical and vocal improvements from the past four years, concluding with "Regardless of the reasons it's clear that Mike Jones is a more seasoned and polished pro of the rap game, and ''The Voice'' is planning to have a long career in hip-hop music. Let's hope there's no more politics and bullshit getting in the way of his career."

Track listing

References

2009 albums Mike Jones (rapper) albums Asylum Records albums Albums produced by Mike Dean (record producer) Albums produced by J. R. Rotem Albums produced by Jim Jonsin Albums produced by Mannie Fresh {{2009-hiphop-album-stub