''Coloured'' is the second studio album by American singer and songwriter

Priscilla Renea Priscilla Renea Hamilton (born September 14, 1988), known professionally as Muni Long (pronounced "money long”; formerly known as Priscilla Renea), is an American singer and songwriter from Gifford, Florida. Under her birth name, she signed wi ...

, released on June 22, 2018 through

Thirty Tigers Thirty Tigers is an American music marketing, distribution and management company for independent artists, based in Nashville. History The company was founded in 2002 by David Macias and Deb Markland and is distributed by The Orchard. In 20 ...

.Priscilla Renea Is the Brain Behind Your Favorite Bangers
at Paper Magazine; by Vrinda Jagota; Published April 6, 2018; retrieved May 14, 2018 The first two singles, "Gentle Hands" and "Heavenly", were released on April 6, 2018 with accompanying music videos. "Family Tree" was released on May 10, 2018 as the third official single from ''Coloured''.Priscilla Renea Erases Country's Boundaries with New Song 'Family Tree'
at Taste of Country; by Sterling Whitaker; Published May 10, 2018; retrieved May 21, 2018

Background and recording

After nearly a decade focused on songwriting, ''Coloured'' marked Priscilla Renea's return to the public as an artist. Since releasing her debut album (''

Jukebox A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that plays a user-selected song from a self-contained media library. Traditional jukeboxes contain records, compact discs, or digital files, and allow user ...

'') in 2009, Renea had become an award-winning songwriter, with credits on "

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" for Pitbull and Ke$ha, " Somethin' Bad" for

Miranda Lambert Miranda Leigh Lambert (born November 10, 1983) is an American country music, country singer. Born in Longview, Texas, she started out in early 2001 when she released her self-titled debut album independently. In 2003, she finished in third place ...

, "

California King Bed "California King Bed" is a song by Barbadian singer Rihanna from her fifth studio album, '' Loud'' (2010). The song was written and produced by Andrew Harr and Jermaine Jackson, of the American production duo the Runners, with Priscilla Renea, ...

" for

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...

, " Worth It" for

Fifth Harmony Fifth Harmony, often shortened to 5H, is an American girl group based in Miami, composed of Ally Brooke, Normani, Dinah Jane, Lauren Jauregui, and formerly Camila Cabello until her departure from the group in December 2016. The group signed a ...

, and "Don't Mind" for

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, actress, and entrepreneur. Often referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Qu ...

. Renea's decision to title the album ''Coloured'' was called provocative by some, due to the racial stigma of the term "

colored ''Colored'' (or ''coloured'') is a racial descriptor historically used in the United States during the Jim Crow era to refer to an African American. In many places, it may be considered a slur. Dictionary definitions The word ''colored'' wa ...

" in American history. In interviews, she explains that by spelling it with a "u", the word "our" appears in the middle as her statement of inclusivity. As early as 2015, Renea spoke in interviews about her working on her forthcoming album. Renea continued songwriting, but no official music was released until "Kiss Me" in February 2017 and "Do Wut" in January 2018. ''Coloured'' was written and recorded between

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

and Los Angeles in 2016.

Composition and themes

Renea spent several months writing and recording the core records of ''Coloured'' at songwriter and "Heavenly" co-writer

Brett James Brett James Cornelius (born June 5, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer based in Nashville. James' compositions have been credited on 494 recordings by a wide variety of artists. Signed to Career Records (a ...

' converted

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recording studio. The 10-song collection brings together hip-hop producers (Honorable C.N.O.T.E, Curtis "Sauce" Wilson, Theron Feemster, Brett James) with Nashville songwriters (Ashley Gorley, Kevin Kadish). ''Coloured'' is a mix of classic R&B, dark-edged Country and Urban Soul songs that were inspired by incidents in Priscilla's childhood in rural Florida, relationships, and racial trauma. Guitar, piano, and violin can be heard throughout the record.

Release and promotion

On April 2, 2018, Renea revealed on

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that her second studio album would be released in Summer 2018. The following week

Paper Magazine ''Paper'' (also known as ''Paper Mag'') is a New York City-based independent magazine focusing on fashion, popular culture, nightlife, music, art, and film. Initially produced monthly, the magazine eventually became a quarterly publication, and ...

premiered two music videos for singles on her forthcoming album. Renea promoted the album with a special show at the

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the world's largest museums and research centers dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music. Chartered in 1964, the museum has amass ...

Singles

On April 6, 2018, Renea released "Gentle Hands" and "Heavenly", the first two singles from ''Coloured''. Music videos for both singles premiered online via Paper Magazine. The third single from ''Coloured'' was released on May 10, 2018. "Family Tree" is an autobiographical track written by Renea about her distressed teenage years, and overcoming challenges within her family.

Track listing

Personnel

Performance credits *

– vocals *Erick Walls – bass, guitar *Bianca McClure – violin * Theron Feemster – piano *Matt Bubel – drums *Mark Prentice – bass *Russ Pahl – acoustic guitar, steel guitar *Adam Shoenfeld – electric guitar *Jeffery Roach – piano * Frank Romano – steel guitar Technical credits *Boots Ottestad –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

Sauce In cooking, a sauce is a liquid, cream, or semi- solid food, served on or used in preparing other foods. Most sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavour, texture, and visual appeal to a dish. ''Sauce'' is a French wor ...

– engineer *Brandon Wood – engineer *Kyle Mann – engineer *Priscilla Renea – engineer

References

{{Muni Long 2018 albums Albums produced by Honorable C.N.O.T.E. Albums produced by Supa Dups Muni Long albums Americana albums Southern soul albums Country albums by American artists