''Watermelon, Chicken & Gritz'' is the commercial debut studio album by American hip hop sextet

Nappy Roots Nappy Roots is an American alternative Southern rap group. The group met in Bowling Green, Kentucky in 1995 while attending Western Kentucky University. They are best known for their hit singles " Po' Folks", "Awnaw", " Roun' The Globe" and "Go ...

from

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. It was released on February 26, 2002 via

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 ...

Background

Recording sessions took place at Tree Sound and

PatchWerk Recording Studios Patchwerk Recording Studios is a recording studio located at 1094 Hemphill Avenue, West Midtown in Atlanta, GA. It was established in 1993 by former NFL offensive tackle Bob Whitfield of the Atlanta Falcons, and is currently owned and opera ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, at Soundstage Studios in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

, at Rusk, Larrabee West & North and Image Recording Studios in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, and at

Signature Sound A sound trademark or sound logo or audio logo is a trademark where sound is used to perform the trademark function of uniquely identifying the commercial origin of products or services. In recent times, sounds have been increasingly used as trade ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

Production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

was handled mostly by James "Groove" Chambers, along with the

Trackboyz The Trackboyz are an American hip hop production team consisting of Mark "Tarboy" Williams Joe "Capo" Kent, Travis "Tizzle" Miller, Marlon "Tracmajor" Byrd, Rodrick "PubG" Finch & DJ D-Rocc from St. Louis, Missouri. Among the hits they have en ...

Mike Caren Michael Caren is an American record producer, songwriter, music publisher, A&R representative, and music executive. He is the current CEO (and founder) of Artist Partner Group and Creative Officer at Warner Music Group. He is also the founder o ...

, Mike City, Brian Kidd, Carlos Broady and Troy Johnson. It features guest appearances from Anthony Hamilton,

The Bar-Kays The Bar-Kays are an American funk band formed in 1964. The band had dozens of record chart, charting single (music), singles from the 1960s to the 1980s, including "Soul Finger" (US Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number 17, Hot R&B/Hip ...

, Jazze Pha, Ayesha Kirk, CJ "Voodou" Henry and

Tiffany Villarreal Tiffany Villarreal is an American R&B singer of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent from San Antonio, Texas, United States. She sang vocals on Baby Bash's "Shorty DooWop", as well as "The Hood" by Raekwon and " In the Ayer" by Flo Rida. She re ...

Reception

The album peaked at number 24 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and at number 3 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 in the United States. It was certified gold 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 ...

on April 16, 2002 and later reached platinum certification on October 10, 2002. The album was preceded by a promotional single "Set It Out"/"Hustla" and its lead single "

Awnaw "Awnaw" (featuring Jazze Pha) is the first single by the Kentucky rap group Nappy Roots, produced by James "Groove" Chambers. It was released in 2001, taken from Nappy Roots's first album '' Watermelon, Chicken & Gritz'' (2002). It peaked at n ...

", both released in 2001. "Awnaw", featuring vocals from Jazze Pha, made it to #51 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart. The second

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 ...

from the album was "

Po' Folks Po' Folks may refer to: * "Po' Folks" (Bill Anderson song), 1961 * "Po' Folks" (Nappy Roots song), 2001 *Po' Folks (restaurant) Po' Folks (later restyled as PoFolks) is an American family restaurant chain founded in 1975 in Anderson, South Caro ...

" featuring Anthony Hamilton, which also reached ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at peak position #21. The albums' third single, "

Headz Up "Headz Up" is the third single (music), single by the American alternative Southern rap sextet Kentucky rap group Nappy Roots, from their 2002 debut album ''Watermelon, Chicken & Gritz''. Chart positions References

2002 singles Nappy ...

", charted at #88 on the

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 ...

and at #39 on the

Rhythmic Songs The Rhythmic chart (also called Rhythmic Airplay, and previously named Rhythmic Songs, Rhythmic Top 40 and CHR/Rhythmic) is an airplay chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on ...

Track listing

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. Sample Credits * "Ho Down" contains an interpolation of "Delgado", written by Edward Harris.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* 2002 albums Nappy Roots albums Atlantic Records albums Albums produced by Mike City {{DEFAULTSORT:Watermelon, Chicken and Gritz