''Unexpected'' is the fifth studio album by American singer
Angie Stone
Angela Laverne Brown (born December 18, 1961) known professionally as Angie Stone, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. She rose to fame in the late 1970s as member of the hip hop trio The Sequence. In the early 1990s ...
. It was released by
Stax Records
Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records.
Stax was ...
on November 23, 2009 in the United States. Conceived following the death of her father, Stone's spiritual anchor and creative mentor,
the album marked a breakaway from the
neo soul
Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contempo ...
elements on Stone's first four studio efforts, taking her work further into the
dance pop
Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...
,
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 ...
, and
contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music genre that combines rhythm and blues with elements of pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music.
The genre features a distinctive record production style, drum machine-backed rhythm ...
genres. As a result, ''Unexpected'' incorporates more upbeat material, produced by
Jazze Pha
Phalon Anton Alexander, (born April 15, 1974), professionally known as Jazze Pha ( ), is an American record producer, singer, songwriter and rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. He is the founder and chief executive officer of Sho'nuff Records, to wh ...
, among others.
The album received generally positive reviews, with critics perceiving its sound as more stylistically diverse than on previous discs.
Commercially, ''Unexpected'' became Stone's lowest-charting entry yet. It peaked at number 17 on the US ''Billboard''
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...
but failed to reach the upper half of the
''Billboard'' 200. Lead single "
I Ain't Hearin' U," released in October 2009, reached the top 20 of the
Adult R&B Songs
The Adult R&B Songs chart (formerly called Adult R&B Airplay) is an airplay chart that is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on urban adult contemporary radio stations, whose playl ...
chart. The album would mark Stone's final released with Stax Records.
Background
Much of ''Unexpected'' was produced in response to the sudden death of Stone's father who passed away mid-way through the recording process of the album.
Grief stricken and struggling with vocal recordings, Stone abandoned the possibility to record another "kind of neo-soul record," and instead requested more upbeat, joyful material to record.
In an interview with ''
Windy City Times
''Windy City Times'' is an LGBT newspaper in Chicago that published its first issue on September 26, 1985.
History
''Windy City Times'' was founded in 1985 by Jeff McCourt, Bob Bearden, Drew Badanish and Tracy Baim, who started Sentury Publicati ...
'', Stone said: "My father passed away unexpectedly this year, and that was a shock to me. When I recorded the album, I didn't have a title so I said, "This is so unexpected. So I'm gonna go for broke and do whatever the hell I want to do."
While she feet obliged to record "some classic Angie Stone" material for the album,"
much of the album was inspired by singer
Evelyn "Champagne" King
Evelyn "Champagne" King (born July 1, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. She is best known for her hit disco single "Shame", which was released in 1977 during the height of disco's popularity. King had other hits from ...
.
Upon the album's release in the United Kingdom in February 2010, Stone told ''
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 ...
'': "Being as I've delivered four decent albums already, I felt it was safe to switch up and do something different this time. And musically overall I just wanted to have fun. I wanted to do something that embodies a jam kinda feel, so that we could have some fun in concert and show people everything doesn't always have to be so serious."
Promotion
The album was preceded by lead single "
I Ain't Hearin' U," an uptempo song about gossip and
innuendo
An innuendo is a hint, insinuation or intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called insinuation), that works obliquely by allusion ...
that Stone co-wrote with longtime collaborator Juanita Wynn.
Premiered on Stone's website on October 5, 2009 and released digitally by Stax Records on October 12, 2009, it reached number 42 on ''Billboard''s
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...
chart and peaked at number 14 on the
Adult R&B Songs
The Adult R&B Songs chart (formerly called Adult R&B Airplay) is an airplay chart that is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on urban adult contemporary radio stations, whose playl ...
chart.
A remixed version of "Free", a "fast club" track that was contributed by producer
Jazze Pha
Phalon Anton Alexander, (born April 15, 1974), professionally known as Jazze Pha ( ), is an American record producer, singer, songwriter and rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. He is the founder and chief executive officer of Sho'nuff Records, to wh ...
, was released as the second and final single from the album.
Featuring additional vocals by rapper Young Nate, it failed to chart.
Critical reception
''Unexpected'' received a
weighted score of 67 out of 100 from review aggregate website
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 ...
, indicating "generally favorable reviews", based on nine reviews from
music critics
Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...
.
In his review for ''
Clash'', Kevin Angel declared the album Stone's "strongest to date, as she delivers an LP that effortlessly combines the finest elements of neo soul with old-skool R&B. The album sees Stone lay down some of her most honest tunes to date."
Chris Roberts from
BBC Music
BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network.
Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio o ...
called the album "a likeable blend of soul and funk with judicious little dashes of rap," adding: "It’s a neo-soul record. A very good one, because that’s what she does, her passionate voice bringing abundant personality
..The album’s unsurprising, and often unconscionably fine."
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 Thom Jurek found that with ''Unexpected'' Stone "delves deeper into funk and hip-hop than on her previous outings
..These dozen tracks continue to reveal her versatility as a vocalist and recording artist; she can sing whatever it is she wants to with equal verve, authenticity, and flair. Despite the slicker and more diverse sounds on ''Unexpected'', the soul quotient is high, even if this isn’t strictly a neo-soul album
..''Unexpected'' simply feels like a leap more than a step."
Tyler Lewis from
PopMatters
''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...
noted that "it’s another great Angie Stone record that gives you plenty to savor
..She is singular in her ability to be among the most stylistically diverse contemporary artists of our time, without being flashy about it. By now, Stone should know that we know this and love her for it. That she doesn’t, is perhaps, what’s really unexpected."
''
The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' journalist Siddhartha Mitter wrote that ''Unexpected'' offers "more musical variety than previous discs," adding that "Stone needn’t fret about keeping up with the
Beyoncé
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...
s; her church-infused, middle-class songs carry a proud legacy, and when she decries her 'haters', it rings false." Mitter felt that Stone shines most on the ballads, which she called "classic slow jams of the old school, a sadly fading form of which Stone is one of the great current purveyors."
Critical with its misleading title, Simon Vozick-Levinson from ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' noted that "for the most part, ''Unexpected'' is one tasteful midtempo jam after another, with Stone’s honey-sweet harmonies unfolding over easygoing throwback vibes. That’s not necessarily a bad thing – the neo-soul approach has always suited Stone. But this is precisely what her old fans expect by now, and it’s unlikely to reel in many new ones."
Commercial performance
''Unexpected'' debuted at number 133 on the US
''Billboard'' 200 and number 17 on the
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...
chart.
A major drop from her previous effort ''
The Art of Love & War'' (2007), which had opened at number 11 on the ''Billboard'' 200, the album marked her lowest-charting entry yet.
It was however ranked 93rd on ''Billboard''s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums year-end chart.
Track listing
Notes
* signifies a co-producer
Sample credits
* "Unexpected" and "Unexpected (Reprise)" contain elements from "
Family Affair
''Family Affair'' is an American sitcom starring Brian Keith and Sebastian Cabot that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966, to March 4, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do engineer and bachelor Bill Davis (Keith) as he attempte ...
" by
Sly and the Family Stone
Sly and the Family Stone was an American band from San Francisco. Active from 1966 to 1983, it was pivotal in the development of funk, soul, rock, and psychedelic music. Its core line-up was led by singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi-i ...
.
* "I Ain't Hearin' U" contains a sample of "What Are You Waiting for?" by
Evelyn "Champagne" King
Evelyn "Champagne" King (born July 1, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. She is best known for her hit disco single "Shame", which was released in 1977 during the height of disco's popularity. King had other hits from ...
, written by Willie Lester and Rodney Brown.
* "Hey Mr. DJ" samples from "Here We Go" by
Minnie Riperton
Minnie Julia Riperton Rudolph (November 8, 1947 – July 12, 1979)
was an American singer-songwriter best known for her 1975 single "Lovin' You" and her four octave D3 to F7 coloratura soprano range. She is also widely known for her use o ...
, written by Arthur Phillips and Richard Rudolph.
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Release history
References
{{Authority control
2009 albums
Albums produced by Cozmo
Albums produced by Jazze Pha
Angie Stone albums
Stax Records albums