''Exposed'' is the fourth studio album by American singer

Chanté Moore Chanté Torrane Moore (born February 17, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, television personality, and author. The first signee with record executive Louis Silas, Jr.'s Silas Records, she rose to prominence with her debu ...

. It was released by Silas Records and

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...

on November 14, 2000, in the United States. Recorded between January and August 2000, the album saw Moore working with a range of new collaborators, including duo Tim & Bob, Bryan Michael Cox, and executive producer

Jermaine Dupri Jermaine Dupri Mauldin (born September 23, 1972) is an American rapper and record producer. Raised in Atlanta, Georgia as the son of Columbia Records executive Michael Mauldin, he began his career in music at the age of nine. He discovered th ...

whose sound took her work further into the

contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music Music genre, genre, originating from African Americans, African-American musicians in the 1980s that combines rhythm and blues with elements of Pop music, pop, Soul music, soul, funk, Hip-hop, ...

genre and introduced a more "edgy and

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-oriented" emphasis to her music. Upon release, ''Exposed'' earned largely positive reviews with most critics praising Moore's vocal performance while others criticised her shift in sound. It debuted and peaked at number fifty on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and became her second album to reach the top ten of the

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 Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

chart selling 36,712 copies in its first week, and over 93,000 copies in its first four weeks. ''Exposed'' was preceded by its lead single " Straight Up", a top 20 success in Belgium and the United Kingdom.

Promotion

''Exposed'' was preceded by lead single " Straight Up," co-written by

Lil' Mo Cynthia Karen Loving (born November 19, 1978), known professionally as Lil' Mo, is an American singer and songwriter. She is best known for her 2001 single "Superwoman Pt. II" (featuring Fabolous), which peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot ...

and released in August 2000. The uptempo song peaked at number 22 on the US

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 ...

chart and became Moore's biggest international success yet, reaching number 11 on the UK Singles Chart, number 12 in Belgum and number 22 in France. It also reaching number two on the UK R&B Singles and number five on the UK Dance Singles chart. Visuals for the song were directed by

Bille Woodruff Bille Woodruff is a director of film, television and music videos, noted for directing many videos for a number of R&B and hip-hop artists since the mid-1990s. These artists include Joe, for whom Woodruff has directed 9 music videos since 1994, ...

. Promotion of the album's second single " Bitter" was interlinked with " Contagious," Moore's

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-nominated 2001 collaboration with

R. Kelly Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967), known as R. Kelly, is an American former singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is credited with prolific commercial success in R&B, hip hop, and pop music recordings, earning nicknames suc ...

and

The Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American soul group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of the brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decades, ...

. The song charted at number 55 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, and became a top ten hit on the

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chart. The song's music video, directed by Aaron Courseault, served as a continuation of the video for "Contagious" (2001). Kelly makes a

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

in "Bitter." "Take Care of Me" featuring rapper

Da Brat Shawntae Harris-Dupart (née Harris; born April 14, 1974), better known by her stage name Da Brat, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Chicago, she began her career in 1992 and signed with Jermaine Dupri's So So Def Recordings two years l ...

was issued by Silas Records on February 7, 2001 as the album's third and final single.

Critical reception

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, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, ''Exposed'' has an average score of 66 based on 4 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Steve Kurutz from

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 Mus ...

stated that ''Exposed'' "makes a bid to capture some of that trademark funkiness. Moore has a great set of pipes, a mix of the throaty take charge style of

Toni Braxton Toni Michele Braxton (born October 7, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. She has sold over 70 million records worldwide and is one of the best-selling female artists in history. Braxton has won seven ...

and the soft vulnerability of

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreogr ...

, an undeniable sexiness, and a real emotional conviction that lends the songs an authenticity absent in many current releases." ''

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''s

Craig Seymour Craig Seymour (born November 25, 1968) is an American writer, photographer, celebrity interviewer, music critic and former stripper. He was born in Washington, D.C. He has written for ''The Washington Post'', ''Entertainment Weekly'', ''Vibe'', a ...

called the album a "sweet throwback to sophisticated '70s soul divas like

Angela Bofill Angela Tomasa Bofill (May 2, 1954 – June 13, 2024) was an American singer, songwriter and composer of Cuban- Puerto Rican origins. A New York native, she began her professional career in the mid-1970s and is most known for singles such as " T ...

and

Deniece Williams June Deniece Williams (née Chandler; born June 3, 1950) is an American singer. She has been described as "one of the great Soul music, soul voices" by the BBC. She is best known for the songs "Free (Deniece Williams song), Free", "Silly (song ...

." He remarked that "sultry soprano Chanté Moore retains her poise and romanticism even while working with hip-hop producers like Jermaine Dupri and Tim & Bob." Michael A. Gonzales from ''

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'' remarked that while "Moore has always been considered the perfect quiet-storm queen ..''Exposed'' attempts to change her good-girl image to that of a more world-weary woman." ''

Ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also includes the persimmon tree. A few ''Diospyros'' species, such as macassar and mun ebony, are dense enough to sink in water. Ebony is fin ...

'' editor Lynn Norment noted "Moore reveals more of herself and her heart on ''Exposed'', which offers songs that declare female independence while asserting sensuality and sass." Less impressed, Adenike Adenitire from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' found that songs "such as "Take Care of Me", and "I'm Keepin' You", have a guarded and helpless feel to them. She sounds even less confident and seems to provide a glimpse of inner pain." Adenitire further added: "Trying to be something you are obviously not does have its downfalls, the main one being – true colours are never easy to hide." In the December 30, 2000 issue of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'', contributor David Nathan listed ''Exposed'' at number three on his ''Critic's Choice'' year-end listing. He noted that the "long-awaited mainstream breakthrough album shows

oore Oore is a village in Tori Parish, Pärnu County in southwestern Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the B ...

can compete with the best of 'em'."

Commercial performance

''Exposed'' debuted and peaked at number 50 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 in the week of December 12, 2000. It also opened at number 10 on the US

, becoming Moore's second top ten entry on the chart. Elsewhere, it became the singer's first album to debut at the

French Albums Chart SNEP (, in English National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing) is the inter-professional organisation that protects the interests of the French record industry. Originally known under the acronym SNICOP, the organisation was established in 1 ...

, peaking at number 130. ''Exposed'' also charted in the United Kingdom, reaching number 186 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

and number 28 on the UK R&B Albums Charts. ''Billboard'' ranked it 97th on its 2001 Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums year-end listing.

Track listing

Notes * denotes co-producer * denotes vocal producer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Exposed (Chante Moore album) 2000 albums Chanté Moore albums Albums produced by Tim & Bob Albums produced by Bryan-Michael Cox Albums produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis Hip-hop albums by American artists