Incomparable (Faith Evans Album)
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''Incomparable'' is the seventh studio album by American recording artist
Faith Evans Faith Renée Evans (born June 10, 1973) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, and actress. Born in Lakeland, Florida, and raised in New Jersey, she relocated to Los Angeles in 1991 in pursuit of a recording career. Evans initially performed as ...
. It was released by Prolific Music Group, with distribution through BMG Chrysalis, on November 24, 2014 in the United States. Her third independent projects under her own label, following her sixth album ''
Something About Faith ''Something About Faith'' is the sixth studio album by American singer Faith Evans. It was released on Prolific Music Group on October 5, 2010, in the United States. Distributed by E1 Music, the album marked Evans' first independent release, fo ...
'' (2010) and the compilation album '' R&B Divas'' (2012), Evans worked a diverse roster of collaborators on the album, including Lamar "Mars" Edwards,
Chucky Thompson Carl Edward Thompson Jr. (July 12, 1968 – August 9, 2021) was an American record producer, best known for his work with Sean Combs' Bad Boy Records. Biography Thompson was born in Washington, D.C., in 1968. He was a member of Bad Boy Entertai ...
,
Mike City Michael Flowers, known professionally as Mike City (born December 2, 1970), is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for producing the singles " I Wish" for Carl Thomas, " Heard It All Before" for Sunshine Ande ...
, and Ben Briggs III, among others. A
concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...
, ''Incomparable'' chronicles Evans' post-divorce life, using preludes, interludes, postludes, transitions and segues to the songs together. The album earned a generally mixed reception from music critics who found it well-crafted and declared it Evans' best album in a decade but felt that the material was too generic and cliché-addled. Upon its release, ''Incomparable'' became a minor commercial success. Missing the US ''Billboard'' 200, it debuted at number 27 on 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, ...
and number 17 on the
Independent Albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by '' Billboard'' mag ...
to her lowest first week sales yet. The album produced three singles, including lead single "
I Deserve It "I Deserve It" is a song by American singer Faith Evans, featuring female hip-hop recording artists Missy Elliott and her protégé Sharaya J, from Evans' sixth studio album, '' Incomparable'' (2014). It was written by Evans, Elliott und Sharaya ...
" featuring
Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott (born July 1, 1971), also known as Misdemeanor, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She began her musical career as a member of the Contemporary R&B, R&B girl group 4 All the Sistas Arou ...
and
Sharaya J Sharaya Howell (born January 17, 1984), known professionally as Sharaya J, is an American rapper and choreographer. She is known for her singles "BANJI" and "Smash Up the Place," as well as for being signed to Missy Elliott's label The Goldmind ...
which reached the top 20 of the US
Adult R&B Songs The Adult R&B Songs chart (formerly called Adult R&B Airplay) is an airplay chart that is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on urban adult contemporary radio stations, whose playl ...
.


Background

In 2010, Evans released her sixth studio album ''
Something About Faith ''Something About Faith'' is the sixth studio album by American singer Faith Evans. It was released on Prolific Music Group on October 5, 2010, in the United States. Distributed by E1 Music, the album marked Evans' first independent release, fo ...
''. Released on Prolific Music Group and distributed by
E1 Music MNRK Music Group (pronounced "monarch"), formerly known as Koch Records and Entertainment One (eOne) Music/Records, is an American independent record label and music management company based in New York City. It was formed in 1987 as a music div ...
, the album marked her first independent release, following her departure from
Bad Boy Records Bad Boy Entertainment, doing business as Bad Boy Records, is an American independent record label. The label was founded in 1993 by rapper and record producer Sean Combs. During the mid-1990s, the label signed hip-hop and contemporary R&B, R&B a ...
in 2003 and her subsequent but short-lived engagement with
Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...
in 2005. While it received generally mixed to positive reviews from most
music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...
s and earned a
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
nomination for
Best Female R&B Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (previously called Best Rhythm and Blues Solo Vocal Performance, Female) was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Award ...
at the 2011 ceremony, ''Something About Faith'' debuted with first week sales of 23,586 copies only – a considerable drop from her previous album '' The First Lady'', which had opened to 157,000 units in 2005. In 2012, Evans co-executive produced and became a cast member on the TV One reality show '' R&B Divas: Atlanta'' alongside fellow R&B singers
Nicci Gilbert Nicci Gilbert is an American R&B singer. She is mainly known for being the lead vocalist of an American female R&B girl-group Brownstone who rose to fame in the mid 1990s best known for their 1995 hit single " If You Love Me", which was nominat ...
,
Syleena Johnson Syleena Johnson ( Thompson; born September 2, 1976) is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter and actress. She is best known for her guest appearance on Kanye West's 2004 single " All Falls Down," which peaked at number seven on the ''Bi ...
,
Keke Wyatt Ke'Tara Shavon "Keke" Wyatt (born March 10, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter and TV personality. After performing in a number of girl bands and working as a songwriter during her teenage years, in 2000 she garnered national attention after ...
and
Monifah Monifa Carter (born January 28, 1972), also known as Monifah, is an American R&B singer. She is best known for her association with the late rapper Heavy D and her music from the mid-1990s, including "I Miss You (Come Back Home)", "You" and " ...
. The show offered an inside look at how the singers balance their music careers and personal lives as they work towards producing an Evans-led compilation album, '' R&B Divas'' (2012), in memory of
Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...
. Broadcast to rating records for the network, the album earned Evans a Grammy Award nod for
Best R&B Album The Grammy Award for Best R&B Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works on albums in the Contemporary R&B, R&B mus ...
at the 55th awards ceremony.Faith Evans Earns Grammy Nomination For Album, ''R&B Divas''
Newsone.com


Recording

The following year, the singer began work on her seventh studio album, which she later cited her "my best work yet." Evans played an important role in every aspect of the album's creation, co-wrote and produced every song on the album, while also serving as the project's
executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...
under her Prolific Music imprint. Following her divorce from Todd Russaw, Evans conceptualized a
concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...
that talks about her post-divorce life, depicting topics such as "dating, having fun, and being upfront about my needs and expectations." For production she consulted several songwrtiters and producers who had worked with her on her previous album ''
Something About Faith ''Something About Faith'' is the sixth studio album by American singer Faith Evans. It was released on Prolific Music Group on October 5, 2010, in the United States. Distributed by E1 Music, the album marked Evans' first independent release, fo ...
'' (2010) as well as on the compilation album '' R&B Divas'' (2012), including Lamar "Mars" Edwards,
Chucky Thompson Carl Edward Thompson Jr. (July 12, 1968 – August 9, 2021) was an American record producer, best known for his work with Sean Combs' Bad Boy Records. Biography Thompson was born in Washington, D.C., in 1968. He was a member of Bad Boy Entertai ...
,
Mike City Michael Flowers, known professionally as Mike City (born December 2, 1970), is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for producing the singles " I Wish" for Carl Thomas, " Heard It All Before" for Sunshine Ande ...
, and Ben Briggs III, with Thompson and Briggs setting much of the tone with each contributing four songs to the final tracklisting. Inspired her self-titled debut album and her third album ''Faithfully'' (2001), Evans included preludes, interludes, postludes, transitions and segues to create an actual story that would be told using the track list. While she tapped into a couple of different inspirations, Evans was not looking for a trend-detaching sound throughout the making of the album, commenting: “I definitely didn’t make my album with the goal of it fitting in with anything other than what I feel is worthy of being a part of my catalog.” However, through sampling American bands
The Mamas and the Papas The Mamas & the Papas were an American folk rock vocal group that recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968, with a brief reunion in 1971. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. Formed in New York C ...
and D Train as well as soul singer
Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...
, she created what she called "a nice balance of hip-hop and R&B. I try to be consistent with just making feel-good music — music that I feel. It starts there." The title was inspired by a fan.


Critical response

Upon release, ''Incomparable'' received generally mixed reviews from music critics. ''
SoulTracks ''SoulTracks'' is an American online magazine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine ...
'' editor Melody Charles found that "drom beginning to end,
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packs ''Incomparable'' with sophistication, sex appeal and soul. Executive producing and co-writing on every track except one, Evans
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up a satisfying set of jams ..That enviable range, galvinizing grasp of melody and engaging approach to the genre all add up to one truth: after nearly 20 years since her Bad Boy debut, Faith is notorious in her own right. ''FDRMX'' reviewer CedricCed wrote that "''Incomparable'' is Faith Evans at her utmost best since her '' Faithfully'' album released in 2001 ..Hard work, sweat, and tears are visible in each and every song, interlude, and production making this album incomparable to anything out in R&b now." Andy Kellman 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 ...
found that the album "comfortably surpasses everything
vans Vans (originally called the Van Doren Rubber Company) is an American apparel, accessories, and skateboarding shoes brand, established in Anaheim, California, and owned by VF Corporation. The company also sponsors surf, snowboarding, BMX, and ...
released after 2005's '' The First Lady''" and it offered "a lot to like." He noted however that "the downside to erconfidence and creative control is that the songs often sound disjointed from one another. These 16 cuts are more like a playlist of mostly good-to-great selections than a focused album." In his review for ''SoulInStereo'', Edward T. Bowser remarked that while Evans' "sixth album doesn’t reach the heights of her most storied work, it still keeps her legacy strong," adding: "Even though ''Incomparable'' is well-crafted – strong vocals, solid production, expert songwriting – it still lacks lasting power. There are no true standouts here, a rarity for most Faith albums. In fact, the most memorable tracks tend to be the impressive collection of interludes. Tshepo Mokoena, writing for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', found that "Evans puts her all into this eighth studio album, but her smokily distinctive voice sits atop melodies and arrangements that rarely innovate." While she found praise for Evans's performances, Mokoena noted that "Evans has stuck to tried-and-tested formulas .It’s just a shame that her cliche-ridden lyrics feel so impersonal."


Chart performance

''Incomparable'' debuted at number 27 on 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 Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...
and number 17 on the US
Independent Albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by '' Billboard'' mag ...
chart with first week sales of 3,920 copies. It marked Evans' lowest-selling album since 2005's '' A Faithful Christmas'' and became her first non-traditional studio album to miss both the top ten of the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and the upper half of the US ''Billboard'' 200.


Track listing

;Notes * signifies a co- producer


Charts


Release history


References


External links


FaithEvansMusic.com

Faith Evans
at
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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Incomparable (Faith Evans album) 2014 albums Faith Evans albums Albums produced by Mars (record producer) Albums produced by Mike City