Snowflakes (album)
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''Snowflakes'' is the fourth studio album by American singer
Toni Braxton Toni Michele Braxton (born October 7, 1967) is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. She has sold over 70 million records worldwide and is one of the best-selling female artists in history. ...
, released on October 23, 2001, by
Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertainmen ...
. Her first
Christmas album Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...
, it is a follow-up to her 2000 studio album '' The Heat''. ''Snowflakes'' consists of 11 tracks, featuring five R&B-led original songs co-penned with her former husband
Keri Lewis Mint condition is an expression used to denote the quality of a pre-owned good as displaying virtually no imperfections and being in pristine condition relative to its original production state. Originally, the phrase related to the way collect ...
and longtime collaborator
Babyface Babyface or Baby Face can refer to: Nicknames * Lester Joseph Gillis a.k.a. Baby Face Nelson, an infamous 1930s bank robber * Roosevelt "Baby Face" Willette (1933–1971), an American hard bop and soul-jazz musician * "Baby Face", Jimmy McLarnin ...
, as well as several remixes and cover versions of Christmas standards and carols, one of which is a collaboration with Jamaican musician
Shaggy Shaggy may refer to: People *Shaggy (musician) (born 1968), Jamaican American reggae rapper and singer *Shaggy 2 Dope, half of the hip hop, horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse *Shaggy Flores (born 1973), Nuyorican poet, writer and African diaspora ...
. Throughout the creation process, Braxton also collaborated with
L.A. Reid Antonio Marquis "L.A." Reid (born June 7, 1956) is an American record executive, A&R representative, and record producer. He is the founder and served as co-chairman of Hitco Entertainment. He also previously served as the chairman and CEO of Ep ...
,
Poke & Tone The Trackmasters are an American hip hop production duo composed of music producers Poke (Jean-Claude Olivier) and Tone (Samuel Barnes), best known for their commercial hit records in the mid-late 1990s and early 2000s. Frank "Nitty" Pimentel joi ...
,
Daryl Simmons Daryl L. Simmons is an American R&B musician, songwriter and record producer, who worked with the production duo of L.A. Reid and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds. In 1977–1980 Daryl, with Manchild (band) recorded 2 soul & funk albums & the minor h ...
and her younger sister
Tamar Braxton Tamar Estine Braxton (born March 17, 1977) is an American singer and television personality. Braxton began her career in 1990 as a founding member of The Braxtons, an R&B singing group formed with her sisters. The Braxtons released their debut a ...
. The album received mixed reviews from critics, many of whom compared its nature to Braxton's other work but found the stylized production and original material too contemporary to conjure images of Christmas. Upon its release, ''Snowflakes'' debuted at number 119 on the US ''Billboard'' 200, and at number 57 on ''Billboard''s
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. While it remains her lowest-charting album as of 2018, it eventually earned a gold certification 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). Singles such as " Snowflakes of Love" and "
Christmas in Jamaica "Christmas in Jamaica" is a song recorded by American R&B singer Toni Braxton. It was written by Braxton along with her former husband Keri Lewis, Donnie Scantz, Craig Love, Dave Kelly and Shaggy, for her first Christmas album, '' Snowflakes'' ...
" became a minor success on the
adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...
charts.


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
Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...
found ''Snowflakes'' to be "something that's very similar to a proper Toni Braxton record, only with an appropriately hushed tone and the sultriness replacing the overt sexiness. Some of the originals are pretty good ..and the rest that don't make much of an impact are nevertheless pleasant and add to the mood. And that pretty much summarizes the record – it's not remarkable, but it's nice, providing a nice, romantic soundtrack for an evening of cuddling in front of the tree and a roaring fire." ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' critic K.G. Roth called ''Snowflakes'' a "Christmas album that is sometimes cozy, often seductive and always strictly R&B. New songs ..ooze with the same languid, lush vocals and mellow, hip-swiveling beats that pervade Braxton's other work. Even the standards ..get glazed with Braxton's sensuality. Her smooth alto lingers on each note and nearly reinvents the classic. A little bit naughty and a whole lot of nice, ''Snowflakes'' encourages listeners put the mistletoe to good use this year." In a less impressed review for ''
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 ...
'', Chris Willmann wrote: "Ever since
Elvis Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
sang '
Santa Bring My Baby Back (To Me) "Santa Bring My Baby Back (To Me)" is a 1957 Christmas song by Aaron Schroeder and Claude Demetrius, recorded by Elvis Presley. The song was released on the RCA Victor ''Elvis' Christmas Album'' in 1957. Background The song, written by Aaron Sc ...
,' singers have assumed that Saint Nick has nothing better to do than find their ex-lovers and give 'em a ride back to their bereft apartments on Christmas Eve. Toni Braxton picks up the thread on ..''Snowflakes''. Braxton needs to work harder at getting her man back herself: She sounds uncharacteristically wan here, frequently drowned out by powerful string arrangements. Alexa Camp from ''
Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...
'' felt that "like
Carey Carey may refer to: Names * Carey (given name), a given name * Carey (surname), a surname ** List of people with surname Carey Places Canada * Carey Group, British Columbia; in the Pacific * Carey Island (Nunavut) in James Bay United Kingdom * ...
wouldn't be able to pull off another pristine Christmas album at this skanky stage in her career, Braxton's ''Snowflakes'' would have worked better pre-'
You're Makin' Me High "You're Makin' Me High" is the lead single from American singer Toni Braxton's second studio album, '' Secrets'' (1996). The mid-tempo song represents a joint collaboration between the Grammy Award-winning producer Babyface and Bryce Wilson. Th ...
'." Highly critical with "the excruciatingly banal" lead single "Christmas in Jamaica", she noted that "there's nary a festive note in original songs like 'Santa Please' and 'Holiday Celebrate' ..More classic-sounding tunes ..lift the collection's spirit, but (call me old-fashioned) faithful renditions of 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' and 'The Christmas Song' are the only moments that conjure images of Christmas."


Commercial performance

In the United States, ''Snowflakes'' peaked at number 119 on the ''Billboard'' 200 in its fifth week on chart. It also reached number 57 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 and number five on the
Top Holiday Albums The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...
chart. The album was
certified Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...
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 ...
(RIAA) on November 28, 2001, and sold 243,000 according to Nielsen soundscan. Elsewhere, ''Snowflakes'' debuted and peaked at number 92 on the
German Albums Chart The GfK Entertainment charts are the official music charts in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindust ...
, making it the only country outside the United States to chart. Two singles were released from the album. " Snowflakes of Love", which samples the instrumental of
Earl Klugh Earl Klugh ( ; born September 16, 1953) is an American acoustic guitarist and composer. He has won one Grammy award and thirteen nominations. Klugh was awarded the “1977” Best Recording Award For Performance and Sound” for his album “Fi ...
's "Now We're One", written by
Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwri ...
for the soundtrack to the 1974 film ''
Truck Turner ''Truck Turner'', also known as ''Black Bullet'', is a 1974 blaxploitation film, starring Isaac Hayes and Yaphet Kotto, and directed by Jonathan Kaplan. The screenplay was written by Michael Allin, Leigh Chapman (under a pseudonym, Jerry Wilkes), ...
'', served as the album's lead single. The song peaked at number 25 on ''Billboard''s
Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...
chart on January 5, 2002. The remix version of "
Christmas in Jamaica "Christmas in Jamaica" is a song recorded by American R&B singer Toni Braxton. It was written by Braxton along with her former husband Keri Lewis, Donnie Scantz, Craig Love, Dave Kelly and Shaggy, for her first Christmas album, '' Snowflakes'' ...
" featuring Jamaican musician
Shaggy Shaggy may refer to: People *Shaggy (musician) (born 1968), Jamaican American reggae rapper and singer *Shaggy 2 Dope, half of the hip hop, horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse *Shaggy Flores (born 1973), Nuyorican poet, writer and African diaspora ...
was released as the second and final single in 2001. The song reached number three on the ''Billboard''
Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles 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 p ...
chart, while failing to chart elsewhere.


Track listing


Notes

* signifies a co-producer * signifies an additional producer * signifies a remixer


Sample credits

* "Snowflakes of Love" contains elements and samples from "Now We're One" by
Earl Klugh Earl Klugh ( ; born September 16, 1953) is an American acoustic guitarist and composer. He has won one Grammy award and thirteen nominations. Klugh was awarded the “1977” Best Recording Award For Performance and Sound” for his album “Fi ...
.


Release with bonus tracks

* A version exists (country of origin not stated on label) on Power Records (MPR 8053). In addition to the 11 tracks above, this version has 8 bonus tracks of previously released songs: "He Wasn't Man Enough", "Spanish Guitar", "Never Just For A Ring", "You're Makin' Me High", "Un-Break My Heart", "I Don't Want To", "Another Sad Love Song" and "Breathe Again". Although using the original insert picture, there are no sleeve notes.


Charts


Certifications


Release history


Notes


References

{{Authority control 2001 Christmas albums Albums produced by Babyface (musician) Albums produced by L.A. Reid Albums recorded at Capitol Studios Arista Records Christmas albums Christmas albums by American artists Contemporary R&B Christmas albums Toni Braxton albums