''Album II'' is the second studio album American singer Kem. It was released by

Motown Records Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''mot ...

on May 17, 2005, in the United States. The album debuted at number five on the US ''Billboard'' 200 with first-weeks sales of 140,000 copies, also topping the US

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 ...

. In 2014, it was certified platinum 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/ ...

(RIAA). ''Album II '' spawned the single "I Can't Stop Loving You" which became a hit on

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 ...

R&B radio stations, reaching number 20 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 ...

Critical reception

Andy Kellman, writing for

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

, found that Kem's "kind of R&B is kicked-back with sparse arrangements made elegantly rich with starlit keyboards, subtle guitar flicks, and feminine vocals. Understated but assured, his vocals exhibit a lot of range despite almost always remaining at the volume of a bedroom whisper. So he's really out place in the early 2000s, not stylistically disparate from what you'd hear late at night on a soul station in the late '70s or early '80s. On ''Album II'', there's no stab taken at finding a younger or different audience."

Chart performance

''Album II'' debuted at number five on the US ''Billboard'' 200 with 140,000 copies sold in the first week released. Two months later, it was certified gold by the

(RIAA) with an excess of 500,000 copies sold. In 2014, the album was certified platinum.

Track listing

All songs written by Kem except where noted. # "Find Your Way (Back in My Life)" – 4:34 # "Heaven" – 6:23 # "Into You" – 5:04 # "I Can't Stop Loving You" – 5:25 # "Without You" – 4:10 # "Set You Free" – 4:28 # "I'm in Love" – 4:34 # "True Love" – 4:27 # "Each Other" – 3:46 # "You Might Win" – 3:48 # "I Get Lifted" (Richard Finch,

Harry Wayne Casey Harry Wayne Casey (born January 31, 1951), better known by his stage name KC, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his band, KC and the Sunshine Band, as a producer of several hits for other art ...

) – 4:05

Production

* Produced By Kem & Carlos Gunn (co-produced vocals) * Engineers: Carlos Gunn, Eric Morgeson * Assistant Engineers: Isaiah Abolin, Brian Russell * Mixing: Ray Bardani * Mastering: Chris Gehringer

Personnel

* Kem: Keyboards, Lead & Backing Vocals * Brian O'Neal: Keyboards, Synthesizers * Quentin Baxter, Reggie McTaw: Guitars * David McMurray: Saxophone *

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, s ...

: Harmonica * Fred Robinson, Al Turner: Bass * Ron Otis: Drums * Marlon Curry: Percussion

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

Kem – Album II (CD) at Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Album Ii (Kem Album) Kem (singer) albums 2005 albums Motown albums