''Been Waiting'' is the debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by Australian recording artist

Jessica Mauboy Jessica Hilda Mauboy (; born 4 August 1989) is an Australian singer. Born and raised in Darwin, Northern Territory, she rose to fame in 2006 on the Australian Idol (season 4), fourth season of ''Australian Idol'', where she was runner-up and s ...

, released on 22 November 2008 by

Sony Music Australia Sony Music Entertainment Australia is the predominant record label operated by American parent company Sony Music Entertainment in Australia. Prior to 1995, SMEA published and distributed video games in Australia & New Zealand on behalf of So ...

. While Mauboy was still a member of the girl group

Young Divas Young Divas was an Australian pop girl group formed in 2006 by Sony BMG Australia, initially for a one-off single and national tour to promote all members as solo artists. The original line-up consisted of former '' Australian Idol'' contest ...

, she began to work on what became ''Been Waiting''. She co-wrote several of the album's songs and worked with many songwriters and producers, including Israel Cruz, Cutfather, Audius Mtawarira, Michael "Fingaz" Mugisha, Kwame Holland, Jonas Jeberg and Adam Reily, among others. ''Been Waiting'' contains mid-tempo R&B ballads and pop songs. Upon its release, the album received a positive reception from critics, with one mentioning it "sounds like an international R&B record" and another saying it was "an impressive debut". The album reached number 11 on the

ARIA Albums Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

and spent a year in the ARIA top fifty. It was certified double platinum by the

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...

for shipments of 140,000 copies. The album produced five hit singles, including the

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 ...

Running Back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

" featuring American rapper

Flo Rida Tramar Lacel Dillard (born September 16, 1979), known professionally as Flo Rida ( ), is an American rapper and singer. His 2007 debut and breakout single "Low (Flo Rida song), Low" was number one for 10 weeks in the United States and broke the ...

, and the second single "

Burn A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ionizing radiation (such as sunburn, caused by ultraviolet radiation). Most burns are due to heat from hot fluids (called scalding), soli ...

". The former peaked at number three on the ARIA Singles Chart and was certified double platinum, while the latter became Mauboy's first number-one hit. The

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-t ...

was released as the third single, which was certified gold along with the fourth single " Because" and the fifth " Up/Down". ''Been Waiting'' earned Mauboy three nominations at the 2009 ARIA Music Awards for Best Pop Release, Breakthrough Artist - Album and Highest Selling Album. The album was promoted with live performances across Australia and received further promotion when Mauboy supported

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

on the Australian leg of her I Am... World Tour.

Background and development

In September 2007, it was announced that Mauboy had joined the girl group

, replacing one of the group's original members

Ricki-Lee Coulter Ricki-Lee Dawn Coulter (born 10 November 1985) is an Australian singer-songwriter, television and radio presenter. She was born in Auckland, New Zealand, raised in Gold Coast, Queensland, and began performing at age 15. Coulter rose to fame in ...

. A solo career was still very much on the cards for Mauboy, but her management saw the Young Divas as a perfect learning curve about all that was positive and negative in the music industry. Following on from the success of their single " Turn Me Loose", Mauboy began to work on her debut solo album. She began to write songs with Adam Reily, Israel Cruz, Brooke McClymont and Audius Mtawarira, as well as sourcing songs from international publishers. Following her departure from Young Divas in August 2008, it was then announced in the media on 17 September 2008 that Mauboy would be releasing her debut solo single "

" in October 2008.

Release and promotion

An audio sample of songs from ''Been Waiting'' was uploaded to

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

on 6 November 2008. The album was then released through

on 22 November 2008. Its

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

release included the bonus track "Chinese Whispers". ''Been Waiting'' was released in Japan on 22 April 2009 and included four bonus tracks, two of which were remixes to "

" and "Running Back" as well as a new song titled "Breathe" and the iTunes bonus track "Chinese Whispers". Mauboy re-released the album as a double-disc deluxe edition on 21 August 2009. Disc one featured the standard edition's eleven tracks including seven bonus ones, whereas disc two contained a bonus DVD package of Mauboy's music videos and live performances. In support of the album, Mauboy co-hosted '' The Music Jungle'' on 18 October 2008. She performed "Running Back" on ''

Australian Idol ''Australian Idol'' is an Australian singing competition, which began its first season in July 2003 and ended its initial run in November 2009. As part of the ''Idol'' franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program '' Pop Id ...

'' on 13 October 2008, and "Burn" on 23 November 2008. She then held instore appearances in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

in December 2008. Mauboy also performed "Running Back" and "Burn" at the Sydney New Year's Eve event on 31 December 2008. She performed several of the album's songs at the

Kia Soul The Kia Soul () is a subcompact crossover SUV manufactured and marketed by Kia since 2008. Often described and marketed as a Crossover (automobile), crossover since its introduction, the Soul is a hatchback with a box proportion and tall roof, ...

Live at the Chapel event held at the Paddington Uniting Church in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

on 9 July 2009. The album received further more promotion when Mauboy became a support act for

on the Australian leg of her I Am... World Tour in September 2009.

Singles

" featuring

was released as the album's

on 11 October 2008. Upon its release, the song received a positive reception from critics. It reached number three on the ARIA Singles Chart and was certified double platinum by the

for sales of more than 140,000 copies. The song received two nominations at the 2009 ARIA Music Awards, winning the award for 'Highest Selling Single'. It also won the award for 'Urban Work of the Year' at the 2009 APRA Awards. "

" was released as the second single on 17 November 2008. The song became Mauboy's first number one on the ARIA Singles Chart and was certified platinum for selling over 70,000 copies. It also received a nomination for 'Highest Selling Single' at the 2009 ARIA Music Awards. The album's

was released as the third single in March 2009. It peaked at number 12 on the ARIA Singles Chart and was certified gold for sales of more than 35,000 copies. The song received a nomination for 'Most Played Australian Work' at the 2010 APRA Awards. " Because", a pop

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

of which Mauboy says is a break-up song about an ex-boyfriend of hers, was released as the fourth single. It peaked at number nine on the ARIA Singles Chart and was certified gold. " Up/Down" was released as the fifth single on 28 August 2009. It peaked at number 11 and was certified gold. The album's sixth and final single " Let Me Be Me" was released on 27 November 2009, and peaked at number 26.

Reception

Commercial performance

''Been Waiting'' debuted at number 16 on the

and peaked at number 11 in its ninth week on the chart. It spent a total of 59 weeks in ARIA top fifty, including nine weeks in the top twenty. The album was certified double platinum by the

for shipments of more than 140,000 copies.

Critical response

''Been Waiting'' received positive reviews from critics. Mawunyo Gbogbo of GrooveOn described most of the album's songs as "soul-searching monologues of love gone awry" and said "Jessica Mauboy sure gives heartbreak a sweet melody". Jarrad Bevan of '' The Mercury'' said the album "sounds like an international R&B record" and that "her potential to break overseas is obvious". Davey Boy of Sputnikmusic awarded the album three out of five stars and said it was an "impressive debut which suggests that there could indeed be quality music to look forward to in the future as she matures and gains experience". Nick Bond of MTV Australia said "the whole album does stick very closely to the

Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer and rapper. Born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, he is widely acclaimed for his distinctive production work and "stuttering" rhythm ...

blueprint of skittering beats and airy synths". Marcie of Planet Urban said "''Been Waiting'' is the first real evidence that the girl can not only sing, but might also be able to hold her own, especially after her unsuccessful blink-and-you-missed-it stint with the Young Divas." The album earned Mauboy several awards and nominations. It received three nominations at the 2009 ARIA Music Awards for Best Pop Release, Breakthrough Artist Album and Highest Selling Album. ''Been Waiting'' won the award for 'Album of the Year' at both the Deadly Awards and the NT Indigenous Music Awards in 2009.

Track listing

Deluxe edition

Personnel

Credits for ''Been Waiting'' adapted from album

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

. * Audius Mtawarira – arrangement,

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates 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 genre and film scoring. ...

, mixing, production, vocal production * Sean Ray Mullins – arrangement, songwriter * Israel Cruz – songwriter, production *Craig Hardy – songwriter, remix *Taj Jackson – songwriter *

Jonas Jeberg Jonas Jeberg (born January 28, 1975), is a Danish songwriter and music producer residing in Los Angeles. He has written and produced hit songs including Panic! at the Disco's "High Hopes (Panic! at the Disco song), High Hopes", Selena Gomez's "Fe ...

– songwriter, instruments, production, programming * Mich Hansen – songwriter, production, percussion *Adam Reily – songwriter, production,

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, keyboard programming *Glen Hannah –

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

*Bryon Jones – consulting production *Dion Howell – songwriter, vocals *Michael "Fingaz" Mugisha – songwriter, production, instruments, mixing * Simon Cohen – engineering, mixing *

–

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

, songwriter *

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper ( ; born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Known for her distinctive image, featuring a variety of hair colors and eccentric clothing, and for her powerful four-octave vocal range;Jerome, ...

– songwriter *Rob Hyman – songwriter *Leon Seenandan – arrangement, songwriter, production, mixing *Brooke McClymont – songwriter *David Leslie – acoustic guitar *David Hemming – mixing *Kwame Holland – songwriter, production, instruments *Frankie Storm – songwriter *Josh "Guido" Rivera –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

*Steve Robson – songwriter *Karen Poole – songwriter *Jade Edwan – songwriter *Azi Jegbefume – songwriter *Narran McLean – songwriter * Phil Tan – mixing *Cale Storer – guitar *Anthony Egizii – songwriter, production, programming, mixing *David Musumeci – songwriter *Jason Nevins – additional drum programming, additional keyboards *Don Bartley – mastering * Tom Coyne – mastering *Jordan Graham – photography *Killanoodle – artwork design *Andrew Cameron – business affairs *Jacqui Elmas – business affairs *David Champion – management *Matz Nilsson – mixing *Mick Perry – production * Jay Dee Springbett – A&R *Sally Piper – A&R Administration

Charts and certification

Weekly charts

Certification

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2008 debut albums Jessica Mauboy albums Sony Music Australia albums Albums produced by Cutfather Albums produced by DNA Songs