''Unexpected'' 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 hip-hop and R&B recording artist

Lumidee Lumidee Cedeño (born October 13, 1984) is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. She quickly rose to fame in 2003 with the release of her song "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)", which peaked at number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, ...

, released by

TVT Records TVT Records (Tee-Vee Tunes) was an American record label founded by Steve Gottlieb. Over the course of its 24-year history, the label released 25 Gold, Platinum and Multi-Platinum releases. Its roster included Nine Inch Nails, Ja Rule, Lil Jon, ...

on April 17, 2007 in the United States and on June 21, 2007 in the United Kingdom. The album was produced primarily by J. Marty with contributions made by

Scott Storch Scott Spencer Storch (born December 16, 1973) is an American record producer and songwriter. He started off as a keyboardist for the group the Roots. Early life Storch was born on Long Island, New York. He was raised in South Florida and Phila ...

, T.C. Love, Lenky,

Ron Browz Rondell Edwin Turner (born December 6, 1982), better known by his stage name Ron Browz (), is an American recording artist and record producer from Harlem, New York Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded r ...

Wyclef Jean Nel Ust Wyclef Jean (; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, musician, and actor. At the age of nine, Jean immigrated to the United States with his family. He first achieved fame as a member of the New Jersey hip hop group the Fugees, a ...

Jerry Duplessis Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis (born 9 August 1975) is a Haitian music producer, film score composer, entrepreneur and philanthropist. His first major success was as a producer for the Fugees' 1996 album '' The Score''. He also played the bass guitar w ...

and

Red Spyda Andy "Red Spyda" Thelusma is an American hip hop producer who has worked on many songs for artists including 50 Cent, D-Block, Mobb Deep, Amerie, D12, and G-Unit. Other notable works by Red Spyda have included his contributions to the in-game ...

Background

In an interview with

Vibe Magazine ''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down production ...

, Lumidee spoke about signing with TVT Records stating, "TVT Records is the perfect way for me to come back and again I'm coming out of left field, just like with Never Leave You. Nobody ever thought of me coming back on a street credible label like TVT ..Actually, nobody ever thought of me really even coming back, period." In another interview, Lumidee said of the album, "This time around I got to do an album. The first time around the world heard my demo, that’s basically what it was. I had a really big song which landed me the deal and they wanted an album in two weeks. ..This time you’re getting to hear my progress through the years and the different emotions I’ve been going through."

Content

The album was produced primarily by J. Marty, who produced eight out of the seventeen songs. Other contributors include Lenky, who produced "

Crazy Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or t ...

" featuring Miami rapper

Pitbull Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...

and

, who produced the ''

Kill Bill ''Kill Bill: Volume 1'' is a 2003 American martial arts film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It stars Uma Thurman as the Bride, who swears revenge on a team of assassins (Lucy Liu, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, and Vivica A. Fox) an ...

''-inspired track, "The Whistle Song" which features former

Fugees Fugees (; sometimes The Fugees) is an American hip hop group formed in the early 1990s. Deriving its name from a shortening of the word "refugees", the group consists of Wyclef Jean, Pras Michel, and Lauryn Hill. The group rose to fame with its ...

member,

, who co-produced it. According to Lumidee, the idea to record a

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...

Patrick Swayze Patrick Wayne Swayze (; August 18, 1952 – September 14, 2009) was an American actor, dancer, and singer known for playing distinctive lead roles, particularly romantic, tough, and comedic characters. He was also known for his media image and ...

's 1987 song "She's Like The Wind" was inspired by her European label when she recommended a collaboration with fellow New York recording artist

Tony Sunshine Antonio Cruz (born April 23, 1977), known professionally as Tony Sunshine, is an American R&B singer of Puerto Rican descent, famous for his affiliation with New York City hip hop group Terror Squad. He sang on tracks such as Cuban Link's "St ...

. She described the album as having "many flavors", including "rap, R&B, Caribbean music, all the sounds that influence me." She also said, "Everything I'm doing is for the world. I’m not just trying to cater to one audience..." Another track, characterized as a "self-described in-your-face song" entitled, "He Told Me" is a reggae and hip-hop flavored song that "once again boasts Lumidee’s ability to effortlessly flow from rapping to singing, all under one title." ''

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 ...

'' describes "Stuck On You" as an "emotionally-pleasing" song that is "backed with a beautiful Spanish guitar". A track titled "Did You Imagine" samples

Manu Chao Manu Chao (; born José-Manuel Thomas Arthur Chao on 21 June 1961) is a French-Spanish singer. He sings in French, Spanish, English, Italian, Arabic, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, Greek, and occasionally in other languages. Chao began his mus ...

's " Me Gustas Tú" and is a reggaeton-flavored song that explores her Latin roots. ''Unexpected'' was named because, as she explained, "It's unexpected to some people that I'm still doing music."

Reception

Commercial performance

Following its release, the album debuted at number forty-four on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200, with about 16,000 copies sold in its first week. On May 5, 2007 ''Unexpected'' debuted at number two on the U.S. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Independent Albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by '' Billboard'' maga ...

chart, remaining on the chart for five weeks.

Critical reception

Andy Kellman of

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 ...

said, "There's much more nuance to her voice, whether she's singing or rapping. She's tougher, more womanly." He then ended on a mixed note, "As uneven and occasionally puzzling as a 17-track pop album gets, this is nonetheless a marked improvement over the debut." ''

'' gave the album a positive review, commending the quality of the production and called it a "great deal more promise than her debut LP." ''

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 ...

'' gave the album a B rating and said that the album is "Nothing for the ages, but pleasantly of the moment".

Singles

On April 3, 2007 "

She's Like The Wind "She's Like the Wind" is a 1987 song by American actor and singer Patrick Swayze from the soundtrack to the film ''Dirty Dancing''. The song features additional vocals from singer Wendy Fraser. The ballad reached number three on the US ''Billbo ...

" was released as the first single from the album in the United States and Europe. It managed to peak at number forty-three on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and in Denmark, it reached the top ten. The second single, "

" was released on May 22, 2007, in the United States and Europe but charted only on the European charts, including Germany, France, Belgium, Austria, and the United Kingdom. " Feel Like Makin' Love" was the third and final single from the album released in mid-November 2007. It performed less well than its predecessors, only landing on the

Ultratip Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium. Ultratop is a non-profit organization, created on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organization of ...

chart in Flanders.

Track listing

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes ;Sample credits *"Cute Boy" contains a portion of "Love and Unity Rhythm" as performed by

Henry "Junjo" Lawes Henry "Junjo" Lawes (1960 in Kingston, Jamaica – 13 June 1999 in London, England) was a highly influential Jamaican record producer and a sound engineer. Biography Born in the Waterhouse district of Kingston, Jamaica, Lawes began working ...

. *"He Told Me" contains a portion of "Sunrise Til Sunset" as performed by

The Wailing Souls The Wailing Souls (originally The Renegades) are a Jamaican reggae vocal group whose origins date back to the 1960s. The group has undergone several line-up changes over the years with Winston "Pipe" Matthews and Lloyd "Bread" McDonald the only c ...

. *"Did You Imagine" samples " Me Gústas Tú" as performed by

Personnel

Wolfgang Boss Wolfgang Boss is a German music executive, producer and president of A&R for Sony Music Entertainment company. Wolfgang holds the position of Sony Music's Executive President A&R globally since 2012. With more than 100 gold and platinum certific ...

Executive Producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

, A&R * James Eichelberger: A&R * Jonathan P. Fine: A&R * Darrell Branch: Producer * Eddie Perez: Producer * J. Stars: Producer *

: Producer * NIV:

Arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

, Producer * Red Spyda: Producer * Ron Browz: Producer *

: Producer * Steve Morales: Producer * Steven "Lenky" Marsden: Producer * T.C. Love: Producer *

: Producer * Lumidee:

Vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

* Stef Fink:

Background Vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

* Rob Raio: Background Vocals * Courtney Harrell: Background Vocals * Alonzo Vargas:

Engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

, Mixing * David Kutch: Mastering * James Deering: Engineer * Jarred Elioseff:

Keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

* J. Mizzle: Keyboards * Jesus Bobe: Engineer * John Lardiari:

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

* Josh Modney: Violin * Judy Hyman:

Violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

* Julian Vasquez: Engineer * Keith "Lil Wonda" Duplessis: Guitar * Logic: Keyboards * Max Buckholtz:

Viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

* Mike DeSalvo: Mixing * Mintman: Guitar * Pablo O. Bilbraup:

Percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

* Rich Keller: Bass, Guitar,

Mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

, Mixing * Samuel Jusino Jr.: Guitar, Engineer * Sean Harkness: Guitar * Sedeck Jean: Keyboards * Stephen L. Joseph: Engineer * Walter White:

Horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

, Horn Arrangements, String Arrangements * Wilner Alexandre: Engineer * Elliott Thomas:

Piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

* Diego Morales: Engineer

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2007 albums Lumidee albums TVT Records albums Albums produced by Ron Browz Albums produced by Scott Storch Albums produced by Jerry Duplessis Albums produced by Wyclef Jean