''Unexpected Arrival'' is the debut

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

Diggy Simmons Daniel Dwayne "Diggy" Simmons III (born March 21, 1995) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, model, and actor and the fourth child of Joseph "Rev. Run" Simmons of Run DMC. He is currently acting on the hit show ''Grown-ish'' as Doug Edwar ...

. It was released on March 20, 2012, by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

. Recording sessions took place from 2010 to 2011, at various locations, while the production on the album was handled by

Da Internz Da Internz are a production team originating from Chicago, Illinois. The duo is composed of Marcos " Kosine" Palacios and Ernest Tuo Clark. Da Internz describe their sound as "gourmet ratchet", meaning imperfect but excellent. Background Both ...

, Osinachi Nwaneri,

Pop & Oak Pop & Oak is a songwriting and production duo consisting of Andrew "Pop" Wansel and Warren "Oak" Felder. Wansel is the son of Dexter Wansel, staff songwriter, producer and session musician of Gamble and Huff's Philadelphia International Records ...

, Happy Perez, and

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 singer ...

, among others. ''Unexpected Arrival'' was supported by five

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

s; including three official (" Copy, Paste", " Do It Like You" and "4 Letter Word") and two promotional singles ("88" and "Two Up"). Upon the release, the album received generally positive 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 ...

s. The album debuted at number 13 on the US ''Billboard'' 200. On June 22, 2013, the album has sold 89,750 copies in the United States.

Critical reception

Upon its release, ''Unexpected Arrival'' received generally positive reviews from

s. Christian Mordi of '' XXL'' praised the album's production and Diggy's lyrical skills for coming off more like a seasoned veteran saying, "Unlike many young artists, Diggy stays away from a lot of catchy, jingle-esque hooks and songs about trends on this project. Clearly the young MC wants to be taken seriously by casual and hardcore fans alike."

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 David Jeffries also praised the album for its production and Diggy's accessibility as a rapper concluding that, "Kid-tested and parent-approved, this well-done debut makes hating on Diggy as ridiculous as it sounds." Edwin Ortiz of ''

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of hip hop music criticism and news. The website's current president and publisher is Sharath Cherian and the Head Of Content is Jerry L. Barrow. ''HipHopDX'' is the flagship publication of Cheri Media Group. ...

'' was mixed about Diggy's talent as an emcee, singling out his age and limited view on the world for the subpar content. He concluded that, "To Diggy's credit, ''Unexpected Arrival'' plays to his adolescent strengths without hindering his opportunity to build upon his brand as an adult." Brandon Soderberg of ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' gave credit to some of the tracks, singling out "Unforgivable Blackness" for being "a sophisticated song that actually tries to confront

iggy Iggy or Iggie is a unisex name and it is often a hypocorism, short form of the Ancient Rome, Roman Latin names Ignatius, Ignatia (feminine) and Ignatius (masculine), or their derivatives in other European languages. As such the name is derived ulti ...

Simmons’ lack of street cred," but found the rest of the album hollow and generic and followed a formula to market an underdog rapper, saying that, "''Unexpected Arrival'' feels like the end of the rap album. The musical narrative is executed so effectively, hitting all the requisite marks, but it doesn’t matter in the least."

Track listing

;Sample credits * "88" contains a sample from "

Dance (A$$) "Dance (Ass)", often stylized "Dance (A$$)", is a song by American rapper Big Sean, released as the third single from his debut studio album, '' Finally Famous'' (2011). It was added to urban radio formats on September 20, 2011 as the album's thir ...

" performed by

Big Sean Sean Michael Leonard Anderson (born March 25, 1988), known professionally as Big Sean, is an American rapper. Anderson began his music career in 2007 and gained popularity in 2010 with his third mixtape '' Finally Famous Vol. 3: Big''. He then s ...

. * "Do It Like You" contains a sample from "Theme From the Planets", written and performed by

Dexter Wansel Dexter Gilman Wansel (born August 22, 1950) is an American R&B/jazz fusion singer, arranger, musician, composer, conductor, synthesist and A&R director. Early life Dexter Wansel began as an errand boy backstage at the Uptown Theater in Philade ...

Personnel

Credits for ''Unexpected Arrival'' adapted from

. * John Armstrong – engineer * Paul Bailey – engineer * Shawn Barron – A&R * Carlos Centel Battey – composer * Steven Andre Battey – composer * Cynthia Biggs – composer * Nick Bilardello – art direction, design * The Jackie Boyz – vocals * Tanisha Broadwater – production coordination * Mike Caren – A&R * Shawn Carter – composer * Kenneth Coby – composer * Clarence Coffee, Jr. – composer, vocals * Brian Cohen – composer * Da Internz – producer * Dernst "D'Mile" Emile – additional production, composer, executive producer, producer * Laurie Dobbins – management * Lanre Gaba – A&R * Chris Galland – assistant * Jesus Garnica – assistant * Chris Gehringer – mastering * Dionne Harper – marketing * Patrick Hoelck – photography * Sam Hook – composer, vocals * Israel – engineer * Alexander Izquierdo – composer * Keith James – composer * Jaycen Joshua – mixing * Brandon Jones – keyboards * Eben "Critical" Jones – engineer * Nasir Jones – composer * Perry Jones – composer * John "J-Banga" Kercy – mixing * Cara Lewis – booking * Chris Lighty – management * Chris Llewellyn – composer * Daniel Luttrell – vocals * Jacob Luttrell – composer * Bei Maejor – composer * Connie Makita – illustrations * Manny Marroquin – mixing * John Maultsby – composer * Donnie Meadows – production coordination * Latoya Murray-Berry – stylist * Nathan Perez – composer * Osinachi Nwaneri – composer, producer * Happy Perez – Producer * Jayson Phillips – composer * Peter O. Phillips – composer * The Rockstars – guitar, keyboards, producer * Matthew Samuels – composer * Diggy Simmons – executive producer, composer * Skylar – engineer * Lonnie Liston Smith – composer * Soundz – producer * Dexter Wansel – composer *

Pop Wansel Andrew "Pop" Wansel (born April 27, 1988) is an American record producer, musician and songwriter from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As the son of Philadelphia soul musician Dexter Wansel, Pop grew up in the music industry and began writing and pr ...

– composer, instrumentation, producer * David A. Willis – Composer * Cathryn Marie - publicist

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 2012 debut albums Atlantic Records albums Albums produced by Happy Perez Diggy Simmons albums