''Nicole Renée'' is the only studio album by American singer and songwriter

Nicole Renée Nicole Renée, also sometimes known as Nicole Renée Harris, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and former '' Teen Summit'' host, who is currently signed to Melodious Fool Records. Her latest single release is "You Don't Have To B ...

. It was released on September 15, 1998, 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 the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. The recording sessions took place at Right Track Recording in New York City, except for the song "How Many Times", which was recorded at Chartmaker Studios in Malibu and the

Record Plant The Record Plant was a recording studio established in New York City in 1968 and last operating in Los Angeles, California. Known for innovations in the recording artists' workspace, it produced highly influential albums, including the New York ...

. The production was primarily handled by Renée herself, who also served as executive producer together with

Craig Kallman Craig Kallman is an American entrepreneur and former DJ. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Atlantic Records. His career in music began in the 1980s as a DJ in Manhattan. He is the founder of the independent label Big Beat, which was establ ...

, as well as

Arif Mardin Arif Mardin (March 15, 1932 – June 25, 2006) was a Turkish-American music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz, rock, soul, disco and country. He worked at Atlantic Records for ov ...

, Colin Wolfe,

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian record producer, composer, arranger, and musician. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His career began as a keyboardist for the pop group Skylark in the early 1970s befor ...

and Joe Mardin. The album spawned three singles: "

Strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown Hybrid (biology), hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus ''Fragaria'', the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit ...

", "Telephone" and "Ain't Nothin' Changed". The album failed to chart, however, its

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

"Strawberry" peaked at 83 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 41 on the

Hot R&B 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 po ...

in the United States, No. 55 on the UK singles chart, No. 14 on the Official Dance Singles Chart and No. 7 on the Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart in the United Kingdom, and No. 13 in New Zealand.

Critical reception

The ''

Fort Worth Star-Telegram The ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' is an American daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and Tarrant County, the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. It is owned by The McClatchy Company. History In May 1905, Amon G. Car ...

'' noted that the album "combines spirituality with sexuality, and the music is as indescribable as anything Prince has done, crisscrossing every genre from R&B to rock."

Track listing

;Sample credits *Track 5 features samples from "Paradise" by Grover Washington Jr. *Track 6 contains elements "I'm In Love" written by

Bobby Womack Robert Dwayne Womack ( ; March 4, 1944 – June 27, 2014) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Starting in the early 1950s as the lead singer of his family musical group the Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guitarist, Womack's ...

as performed by

Wilson Pickett Wilson Pickett (March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006) was an American singer and songwriter. A major figure in the development of soul music, Pickett recorded more than 50 songs that made the US R&B charts, many of which crossed over to the '' ...

. *Track 8 contains elements from "Magic in Your Eyes" performed by

Rufus Rufus is a masculine given name, a surname, an Ancient Roman cognomen and a nickname (from Latin ''wikt:rufus, rufus'', "red"). Notable people with the name include: Given name Politicians * Marcus Caelius Rufus, (28 May 82 BC – after 48 ...

. *Track 13 contains an interpolation of "Let's Fall in Love".

Personnel

* Nicole Renée Harris – vocals, guitar (track 3),

arrangement 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 orchestr ...

(tracks: 1–7, 9, 10, 14, 15), producer (tracks: 1–10, 12–15), executive producer ;Musicians *

Bernie Worrell George Bernard Worrell, Jr. (April 19, 1944 – June 24, 2016) was an American Keyboard instrument, keyboardist and record producer best known as a founding member of the Parliament-Funkadelic collective. In later years, he also worked with ...

– piano (tracks: 1, 3),

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

(tracks: 1, 4, 6),

clavinet The Clavinet is an electric clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds with rubber pads, each matching one of the keys and respond ...

(track 2),

Rhodes electric piano The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, th ...

(tracks: 4, 5), Moog bass (track 4),

Wurlitzer electric piano The Wurlitzer electronic piano is an electric piano manufactured and marketed by Wurlitzer from 1954 to 1983. Sound is generated by striking a metal reed with a hammer, which induces an electric current in a pickup. It is conceptually similar to ...

(track 6) *

Hiram Bullock Hiram Law Bullock (September 11, 1955 – July 25, 2008) was an American guitarist known mainly for playing in jazz funk and jazz fusion, but he also worked as a session musician in a variety of genres. Biography Bullock was born in Osaka, Ja ...

– guitar (tracks: 1, 13) *

Will Lee William Lee (born William Lubovsky; August 6, 1908 – December 7, 1982) was an American actor who appeared in numerous television and film roles, but was best known for playing Mr. Hooper, the original store proprietor of the eponymous Hoope ...

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

(tracks: 1, 2, 5, 9, 10, 14, 15) *

Will Calhoun William Calhoun (born July 22, 1964) is an American drummer who is a member of the rock band Living Colour. Career Calhoun was born in the Bronx, New York. He moved to Boston to attend the Berklee College of Music, where he graduated with a mu ...

–

cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sou ...

s & live

tom drum A tom drum (also known as a tom-tom) is a cylindrical drum with no snares, named from the Anglo-Indian and Sinhala language. It was added to the drum kit in the early part of the 20th century. Most toms range in size between in diameter, thoug ...

s (track 1), live drums (track 3) *Erik Thor Steinert – drum programming (track 1) *Michael Bearden –

Wurlitzer organ The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

(tracks: 2, 4), piano (tracks: 2, 9),

ARP synthesizer ARP Instruments, Inc. was a Lexington, Massachusetts manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, founded by Alan R. Pearlman, Alan Robert Pearlman in 1969. It created a popular and commercially successful range of synthesizers throughout the ...

(track 4), Wurlitzer electric piano (tracks: 5, 10), synth pads (track 5), Rhodes electric piano (tracks: 8, 10, 12, 13, 15), strings arrangement (track 8), organ (track 15) *

Bashiri Johnson Bashiri Johnson (born May 12, 1955) is an American percussionist, whose work has appeared on many records, as well as in commercials, films, television, video games, and concert performances. He is known to be one of the most recorded percussio ...

– percussion (tracks: 2–6, 8–10, 12, 13) *Frank Pagano – orchestra bells (tracks: 2, 5, 15),

vibraphone The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...

(tracks: 5, 15) *Yusuf M. " Joe" Mardin – drum programming (track 2), Moog bass (tracks: 6, 7), synth strings & Hammond organ (track 7), pads (track 7), arrangement & producer (track 7) *Ronald "Head" Drayton – guitar (tracks: 3, 5, 14) *Randy Bowland – guitar (tracks: 3, 9, 10) *Mike Tyler – guitar (tracks: 3, 10) *Ira Siegel – guitar (tracks: 3, 14) * Charley Drayton – bass (track 3) *Richard " Young Lord" Frierson – drum programming (track 3) *Melvin "

Wah Wah Watson Melvin M. Ragin (December 8, 1950 – October 24, 2018), known professionally as Wah Wah Watson, was an American guitarist who was a member of the Funk Brothers, the studio band for Motown Records. He also worked extensively as a session musician ...

" Ragin – guitar (tracks: 4, 6, 13) * Vincent Montana Jr. – vibraphone (track 4) *Bernard Parker – drum programming (track 4) *

Kenneth Ascher Kenneth Lee Ascher (born October 26, 1944, in Washington, D.C.) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger who is active in jazz, rock, classical, and musical theater genres — in live venues, recording studios, and cinema productio ...

– Rhodes electric piano (tracks: 5, 14) *Mass Production – drum programming (track 5) *

Lamont Dozier Lamont Herbert Dozier (; June 16, 1941 – August 8, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Detroit. He co-wrote and produced 14 US '' Billboard'' number-one hits and four number ones in the UK. Career Dozier was a ...

– Rhodes electric piano (track 7) *

Leon Pendarvis Leroy Leon Pendarvis (born 1945) is an American session musician. He plays keyboards and is a background vocalist. He is also an occasional guitarist. Early life The son of a first-grade primary school teacher, Pendarvis grew up in South Carolin ...

– piano (track 7) *Larry Gold – drum programming (track 7), strings conductor (track 15), co-producer (track 6) *

Doug Wimbish Douglas Arthur Wimbish (born September 22, 1956) is an American bassist, primarily known for being a member of rock band Living Colour and funk/dub/hip hop collective Tackhead, and as a session musician with artists such as Sugarhill Gang, G ...

– bass (tracks: 8, 12) *

Gene Orloff Gene Orloff (June 14, 1921 – March 23, 2009) was an American violinist, concertmaster, arranger, contractor and session musician. Background The son of a Russian immigrant violin maker, Orloff would try and get his father's violin down from th ...

–

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German language, German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (UK) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (clarinet or oboe in a concert band). After the Conducting, conductor, the concertma ...

(tracks: 8–10, 15) *

Nat Adderley Nathaniel Carlyle Adderley (November 25, 1931 – January 2, 2000) was an American jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It ...

– strings conductor (track 8) *Steve Love – guitar (track 9) * Steve Jordan – drums (track 9) *

– strings arrangement (tracks: 9, 10), strings conductor (track 10), arrangement & producer (track 7) *

– keyboards & arrangement (track 11), producer (track 11) *

Al McKay Albert Phillip McKay (born February 2, 1948) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. He is a former member of The Watts 103rd Rhythm Street Band and Earth, Wind & Fire. As a member of EW&F, during 2000, he was inducted into the ...

– guitar (track 11) *

Vinnie Colaiuta Vincent Peter Colaiuta (born February 5, 1956) is an American drummer known for his technical mastery who has worked as a session musician in many genres. He was inducted into the ''Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 1996 and the ''Classic Drumme ...

– drums (track 11) *Glen Woodward – synths programming (track 11) *Leon Askew – Rhodes electric piano (track 12) *Colin Wolfe – bass & drum programming (track 13), producer (track 13) *Rob "Reef" Tewlow – drum programming (track 14) *

Uri Caine Uri Caine (born June 8, 1956) is an American classical music, classical and jazz pianist and composer from Philadelphia. Biography Early years Caine was born on June 8, 1956, in Philadelphia, to Burton Caine (1928–2023), a professor at Temple ...

– piano (track 15) * Chieli Minucci – guitar (track 15) ;Production *Al Machera – recording *

Bruce Swedien Bruce Swedien ( ) (April 19, 1934 – November 16, 2020) was an American recording engineer, mixing engineer and record producer. He was widely known for his work with Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Paul McCartney and Barbra Streisand. Swedie ...

– mixing * Kenny Ortiz – mixing (tracks: 1, 4, 6–8, 13, 15), additional engineering *Axel Niehaus – mixing (tracks: 2, 3, 5, 10, 12, 14) *Felipe Elgueta – engineering (track 11) *

Humberto Gatica Humberto Gatica is a Chilean and American recording engineer, mixing engineer and record producer, best known for his work with Celine Dion, Chicago, Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, Cher and Michael Bublé. Gatic ...

– engineering (track 11) *John Wydrycs – additional engineering *Jon Smeltz – additional engineering *Michael O'Reilly – additional engineering *Tony Prendatt – additional engineering *Brian Garten – additional engineering *Alex Olsson – engineering assistant *

Ann Mincieli Ann Mincieli is a recording and mix engineer. She is best known for her work with Alicia Keys. Mincieli has four Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording ...

– engineering assistant *Brian Dozoretz – engineering assistant *David Swope – engineering assistant *Ethan Schofer – engineering assistant *Greg Pinto – engineering assistant *Jason Stasium – engineering assistant *Pete Karam – engineering assistant *Robert Burnette – engineering assistant *

Bernie Grundman Bernie Grundman (born 16 December 1943, Minneapolis) is an American audio engineer. He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chr ...

– mastering *

– executive producer *Gloria Gabriel – production coordinator *Richard Bates – creative director *Elizabeth Barrett – art direction, design *Darren Keith – photography *Julie Friedman – A&R *Susan Moses – stylist *Oscar James – hair stylist *Isabelle – make-up

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicole Renee (album) 1998 debut albums Atlantic Records albums Albums produced by Arif Mardin Albums produced by David Foster Contemporary R&B albums by American artists Albums recorded at Record Plant (Los Angeles)