Brave is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Jennifer Lopez, released on October 4, 2007 by Epic Records. It debuted at number twelve on the U.S. Billboard 200 with 53,000 copies sold in its first week. It became Lopez’s least commercially successful album to date. Brave is the last album Lopez released under Epic Records. In a MTV News interview while on the music video set for “Me Haces Falta”, Lopez promised fans “danceable music” on this album. This album returned Lopez to pop, R&B, and hip hop sound after her previous English-language studio album, Rebirth. She stated the album would be “dance, funk, R&B, hip-hop, all that stuff, all mixed up together to make some great pop music”. She described Brave as “a little Jamiroquai a little Sade. It’s real feel-good music”. Lopez recruited producers including J. R. Rotem, Bloodshy & Avant, Midi Mafia, and Ryan Tedder. On March 27, 2007, on Total Request Live, Lopez stated there would be no featured appearances and chose between four uptempo songs for the first single. The first single chosen was “Do It Well”. Lopez played a track in Las Vegas in late April and stated she was going on her first tour with a mix of English and Spanish music. “Do It Well” was released as the lead single from the album on September 25, 2007. The music video premiered a few weeks before the official release, on September 17, 2007. The song debuted No.1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play. The song was considered somewhat successful, reaching the top ten in Italy and Brazil, the top twenty in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway and the top 40 in the United States.
Rated R is the fourth studio album by Barbadian recording artist Rihanna, first released November 20, 2009, on Def Jam Recordings. The album is a musical distance from her previous effort Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), which contained up-tempo and ballad-oriented songs, and it heavily incorporated pop and dance-pop musical styles. Conceived after Rihanna’s assault by her then-boyfriend, singer Chris Brown, Rated R features different foreboding and angry tone, in terms of musical and lyrical direction, and incorporates elements of hip hop, rock, and dubstep. The album also incorporated other musical genres, such as Dancehall in the Jamaican inspired “Rude Boy” and Latin in “Te Amo”. Rated R received positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized r
BTR is the debut studio album from Big Time Rush, which was released on October 11, 2010. The track listing for the album was announced on September 1, 2010. “B.T.R.” serves not only as the band’s debut album, but also as the soundtrack to their series, which is also titled Big Time Rush. The music featured on the album is mainly new material. However, several previously heard and released tracks appear on the album, including promotional singles such as “City Is Ours”, “Halfway There” and “Til’ I Forget About You”. The album itself was also met with commercial success. In its first week of release in the US, B.T.R. sold 67,000 copies, landing it at the number 3 position on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Along with its mainstream success, it also topped the Top Soundtracks and Kid Albums chart in the US. The album has also managed to gain recognition in Mexico, as well as the Dutch Albums Chart, where it peaked at 9 and 98 respectively. As of August 2011, B.T.R. has sold over 548,000 copies in the US, and received a Gold certification from the RIAA. In its first week of release in the US, B.T.R. sold 67,000 copies, landing it at the number 3 position on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Along with its mainstream success, it also topped the Top Soundtracks and Kid Albums chart in the US. The album has also managed to gain recognition in Mexico, as well as the Dutch Albums Chart, where it peaked at 9 and 98 respectively. As of August 2011, B.T.R. has sold over 548,000 copies in the US, and received a Gold certification from the RIAA.
Have It All is the upcoming fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Jesse McCartney. The album was set to be released on December 28, 2010 but will now be released in 2011. On November 30, he revealed that the date for the release will be pushed back to early 2011 where he commented on Billboard, “Honestly, I don’t think it really matters what week the album is released,” and “I’d rather have a nice, steady build than an immediate peak. I just want to keep saturating the market and radio with as many hit records as I can.”On December 4, McCartney officially announced through his Facebook account that he pushed back the release date for the album. McCartney commented on the album in an interview with Billboard as, “It’s full of sexy, four-on-the-floor beats with big pop melodies… but yet again, some rhythmic, R&B stuff that’s pushing the envelope a little bit more for me as an artist,” “I wanted to make sure that there were no boundaries. I’m 23, and I wanted to make sure there was nothing boxing me in musically or content-wise.” The lead single from the album, “Shake”, was sent to radio on September 8, 2010 and was released digitally on September 21, 2010. The song debuted at #90 on the Billboard Hot 100. It then fell off but has recently re-entered at #78 and re-peaked at #54.
Speak Now is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released on October 25, 2010 by Big Machine Records. Production for the album took place during 2008 to 2010 at several recording studios, and was handled by Swift and country music producer Nathan Chapman. Written entirely by Swift, Speak Now expands on the country pop style of her previous work, and features lyrical themes concerning love, romance and heartbreak. Speak Now received positive reviews from most music critics, who complimented Swift’s songwriting and themes. The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling approximately 1,047,000 units in its first week. Due to strong digital sales, all fourteen songs from the standard edition of the album charted on the Billboard Hot 100, with the lead single “Mine” having the highest peak of number three. It was also an international success, charting within the top 10 in several countries, including Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The album has sold 3,523,000 copies in the United States and has been certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).