''Unleash the Dragon'' is the debut solo
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
R&B singer
Sisqó
Mark Althavan Andrews (born November 9, 1978), known professionally as Sisqó (stylized as SisQó), is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer and actor. He is most prominently known for "Thong Song", his membership in Dru Hill, ...
of
Dru Hill
Dru Hill is an American R&B group, whose repertoire included soul, hip hop soul and gospel music. The group was founded in Baltimore in 1992 and is still active. Dru Hill recorded seven Top 40 hits, and is best known for the R&B number-one hits ...
, released on November 30, 1999, on
Def Soul
Def Soul was an R&B-based division of American multinational record label Def Jam Recordings. It was formed in 1996 by Russell Simmons and Kevin Liles to expand R&B and soul music through Def Jam's said genre-related roster following the successe ...
. Sisqó recorded the album during Dru Hill's hiatus. It includes the hit songs "Got to Get It", "
Incomplete", and "
Thong Song
"Thong Song" is a song recorded by American R&B singer Sisqó. It was released on February 15, 2000, as the second single from his solo debut studio album, '' Unleash the Dragon'' (1999). "Thong Song" garnered four Grammy nominations and numero ...
". Previously, Sisqo had been a lead singer of the group
Dru Hill
Dru Hill is an American R&B group, whose repertoire included soul, hip hop soul and gospel music. The group was founded in Baltimore in 1992 and is still active. Dru Hill recorded seven Top 40 hits, and is best known for the R&B number-one hits ...
. Recorded under
Island Records
Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...
, the group released two multi-platinum albums to date: ''
Dru Hill
Dru Hill is an American R&B group, whose repertoire included soul, hip hop soul and gospel music. The group was founded in Baltimore in 1992 and is still active. Dru Hill recorded seven Top 40 hits, and is best known for the R&B number-one hits ...
'' (1996) and ''
Enter the Dru
''Enter the Dru'' is the second studio album from American R&B group Dru Hill, released October 27, 1998 on Island Records. The album's name comes from Bruce Lee's film, ''Enter the Dragon''. This is the first album that the group were credited as ...
'' (1998). In 2003, the album was certified quintuple platinum 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) for shipment of five million copies in the United States.
The album also garnered Sisqó two
American Music Award
The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show, generally held in the fall, created by Dick Clark in 1973 for ABC when the network's contract to air the Grammy Awards expired, and currently produced by Dick Clark Produc ...
nominations for
Favorite Soul/R&B Album and
Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist. In addition he received three nominations including
Best New Artist
The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1959. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967. The official guidelines are as ...
and
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 ...
at the
43rd Grammy Awards
The 43rd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 21, 2001, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Several artists earned three awards on the night. Steely Dan's haul included Album of the Year for ''Two Against Nature''. U2 too ...
in 2001.
Critical reception
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 Michael Gallucci wrote that "loaded with whispered bedroom moans, which have become late-'90s R&B clichés, ''Unleash the Dragon'' is short on any real songs to justify the pointless replay of these familiar grooves
..Once the beats – which borrow heavily from the contemporary R&B playbook – are programmed, there's little for Sisqó to do but coast along the grooves, with all the conviction and commitment of a soul robot."
Track listing
Credits taken from the album's liner notes.
[Sisqó. "Unleash The Dragon (CD, Album)". Def Soul/Dragon Records. 1999. https://www.discogs.com/Sisqo-Unleash-The-Dragon/release/619979 ]
Notes
* denotes co-producer
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
{{Authority control
1999 debut albums
Sisqó albums
Def Jam Recordings albums
Albums produced by Tim & Bob
Albums recorded at Metalworks Studios