"Giving Myself" is a song recorded by

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recording artist

Jennifer Hudson Jennifer Kate Hudson (born September 12, 1981), also known by her nickname J.Hud, is an American singer, actress, and talk show host. Throughout her career, she has received various accolades for her works in recorded music, film, televisio ...

. It was written and produced by singer-songwriter

Robin Thicke Robin Alan Thicke (born March 10, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his 2013 hit single " Blurred Lines", which is one of the best-selling singles of all time. At the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, h ...

, along with his frequent co-producer Pro Jay, for her eponymous debut album, released in 2008. An eleventh hour replacement for

Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He has received widespread acclaim for his innovative production work and distinc ...

-produced "Pocketbook", the pop–soul ballad was selected as the album's third and final single and sent to US radios on June 2, 2009. Upon release, it charted at number 84 on the US ''

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chart.

Background

"Giving Myself" is a pop–soul ballad written and produced by

, with co-production helmed by frequent collaborator Pro Jay. Tony Reyes played the

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

and Larry Cox the

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

while Thicke and Jay contributed

Backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

and

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

s. Rich Travali mixed the track, while

audio recording Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording te ...

of "Giving Myself" was overseen by Bill Molina. A slightly different arrangement of the song was released as the single, with the original arraignment only made available through the physical version of the album. Speaking about what motivated her to record the song, Hudson said: "It's unexpected from me, but it still is me. I love how hickeallowed me to be me but introduced another side. He introduced a more vulnerable side vocally, but yet he put it with the ballad side of Jennifer." In an interview with

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, Thicke also elaborated on the recording process, stating: "Luckily, her voice is ready to go at all times. She showed up, I had this great little song in the spirit of

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...

, and she sat down next to me and I started singing it for her, and she loved it right off the bat. We got her behind the microphone and she Jennifer Hudson-ed it."

Critical reception

Joey Guerra from ''

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'' felt that "Thicke's 'Giving Myself' is a nice surprise, an old-school diva ballad a la

Stephanie Mills Stephanie Dorthea Mills (born March 22, 1957) is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to stardom as "Dorothy" in the original seven-time Tony Award winning Broadway run of the musical ''The Wiz'' from 1974 to 1979. The song " Home" from t ...

Jennifer Holliday Jennifer Yvette Holliday (born October 19, 1960) is an American actress and singer. She started her career on Broadway in musicals such as ''Dreamgirls'' (1981–83), ''Your Arms Too Short to Box with God'' (1980–1981) and later became a su ...

and

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman. LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul". She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singe ...

, while ''

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''s J. Freedom du Lac found, the song was "an emotional, devotional soul showcase, a classic piano ballad designed to show off Hudson’s big, brassy voice." ''

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

'', on the other hand, called "Giving Myself" a "boring, sappy love song," which along with "You Pulled Me Through", "don't seem to belong on the same album as 'Pocketbook'."

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Jennifer Hudson''. *

Songwriting A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

–

Production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

– Robin Thicke, Pro Jay *

Recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

– Bill Molina *

– Robin Thicke *

Drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

– Pro Jay *

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

– Tony Reyes *

Organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

– Larry Cox * Mixing – Rich Travali * Mastering – Chris Gehringer

Chart performance

Weekly charts

References

External links

JenniferHudsonOnline.com
— official site {{authority control 2009 singles Jennifer Hudson songs Songs written by Robin Thicke 2008 songs Arista Records singles J Records singles