''Kimberly: The People I Used to Know'' is the fourth studio album by American singer
K. Michelle
Kimberly Michelle Pate (born March 4, 1982) is an American singer, actress, and television personality. She is most known from VH1's '' Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta'' and after appearing as a regular cast member for two seasons on the reality televi ...
, released on December 8, 2017, through
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 ...
.
The album was preceded by the release of the singles "
Birthday
A birthday is the anniversary of the birth of a person, or figuratively of an institution. Birthdays of people are celebrated in numerous cultures, often with birthday gifts, birthday cards, a birthday party, or a rite of passage.
Many relig ...
", "
Either Way
A hybrid offence, dual offence, Crown option offence, dual procedure offence, offence triable either way, or wobbler is one of the special class offences in the common law jurisdictions where the case may be prosecuted either summarily or as i ...
", "
Make This Song Cry" and "Crazy Like You".
''Kimberly: The People I Used to Know'' debuted on the US
''Billboard'' 200 at number fifty-six with 8,804 copies sold, becoming the lowest selling debuting album of Michelle's career so far and continuing a downward trend in her commercial success. Fans openly criticized Michelle's label for the lack of support with ''Kimberly: The People I Used to Know'' and Michelle later asked to be released from her contract with Atlantic Records (Warner Bros), as a result.
Background and release
On December 21, 2016, K. Michelle announced that her fourth album would be released in 2017 via Twitter with an acronym "TCE". During the final season of her reality show "
K. Michelle: My Life, the singer revealed a song titled "Heaven", calling the song "one of my most personal records on my new album". On September 8, 2017, in an interview with
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 ...
, the album's title was revealed "Kimberly: The People I Used to Know".
On October 13, 2017, the album cover, track list and release date was revealed.
Singles
"
Birthday
A birthday is the anniversary of the birth of a person, or figuratively of an institution. Birthdays of people are celebrated in numerous cultures, often with birthday gifts, birthday cards, a birthday party, or a rite of passage.
Many relig ...
" was released as the album's lead single on September 8, 2017. "
Either Way
A hybrid offence, dual offence, Crown option offence, dual procedure offence, offence triable either way, or wobbler is one of the special class offences in the common law jurisdictions where the case may be prosecuted either summarily or as i ...
" featuring American singer Chris Brown was released as the album's second single on September 15, 2017. The song debuted at number 19 on the US Billboard R&B Digital Song Sales chart for the week beginning October 7, 2017. "Make This Song Cry" was released as the album's third single on October 6, 2017. "Crazy Like You" was released as the album's fourth single on August 12, 2018.
Critical response
On
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 ...
, Andy Kellman gave the album four stars out of five, stating that "she has too much on her mind - and has such an imaginative and proficient way of getting it all out - to truly bail."
Glenn Gamboa from ''
Newsday
''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...
'' wrote that "It’s a shoot-from-the-hip style given to hits and misses, but when K. Michelle connects, she hits hard."
''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...
''s Alfred Soto graded it 7 points out of 10, commenting that "KIMBERLY: The People I Used to Know may lack a thumper like "V.S.O.P." or a slow jam as urgent as "Drake Would Love Me," still her greatest performance, but it continues a remarkable four-album streak."
Rachael Scarsbrook of ''
Renowned for Sound
''Renowned for Sound'' is an Australian online magazine
An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a pri ...
'' gave the album 4 stars out of 5, wrote that "There is enough differentiation to maintain intrigue even if the album is some 20+ tracks long. K Michelle is never one to mince her words, and she’s certainly not going to be changing that any time soon.
Track listing
Notes
*
signifies a vocal producer
*
signifies a co-producer
*
signifies an additional producer
Sample credits
* "Make This Song Cry" contains elements of "
Song Cry
"Song Cry" is a song by American rapper Jay-Z and produced by Just Blaze. It was released on April 16, 2002. It was the fourth and final single from his sixth studio album ''The Blueprint'' and also appears on the 2001 live album '' Jay-Z: Unplug ...
", written by
Shawn Carter
Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...
, Douglas Gibbs, Randolph Johnson and
Justin Smith.
Charts
Release history
References
{{Authority control
2017 albums
Atlantic Records albums
K. Michelle albums