''Loon'' is the debut studio album by American rapper

Loon Loons (North American English) or divers (British English, British / Irish English) are a group of aquatic birds found in much of North America and northern Eurasia. All living species of loons are members of the genus ''Gavia'', family (biolog ...

. It was released on October 21, 2003 via

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 ...

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 stat ...

was handled by Yogi,

Ryan Leslie Anthony Ryan Leslie (born September 25, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur. Working predominantly in contemporary R&B and hip hop, he has released six studio albums and written songs for artists ...

Younglord Richard Frierson (born July 9, 1978), known professionally as Younglord, is an American record producer. He was an early member of The Hitmen, the in-house production team for Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Records. He has contributed to the 1997 albums ' ...

7 Aurelius Marcus Vest, known by his stage names Channel 7 and 7 Aurelius, is an American musician, record producer, rapper and songwriter. Life and career Vest learned how to play drums at a Pentecostal church growing up. His career started with Rap-A-L ...

, then-unknown

Akon Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam (born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon (), is a Senegalese-United States, American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, businessman, and philanthropist. An influ ...

, Anthony "Scoe" Walker,

Bink! Roosevelt Harrell III (born February 20, 1972), known professionally as Bink, is an American hip hop producer from Norfolk, Virginia, who is noted for his work with Roc-A-Fella Records artists. His most high-profile work has been Jay-Z's critic ...

, Buckwild, Conrad "Rad" Dimanche, D Nat the Natural,

Fredwreck Farid Karam Nassar, better known by his stage name Fredwreck, (born 1972) is an American hip-hop recording artist, DJ, and record producer. He got his big break when he became a producer for Dr. Dre's newly founded record label Aftermath Entertain ...

Mario Winans Mario Mendell Winans ( Brown; born August 29, 1974) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer from South Carolina. An extended member of the Winans musical family, he is best known for his 2004 single " I Don't Wanna Know" (f ...

, P. Diddy, Shaft,

Scott Storch Scott Spencer Storch (born December 16, 1973) is an American record producer and songwriter. Storch began his career as part of Philadelphia-based hip hop band the Roots, which he joined as a keyboardist prior to the release of their 1993 debut a ...

Trackmasters The Trackmasters, also known as Poke & Tone, is an American hip hop production outfit composed of Poke (Jean-Claude Olivier born January 21, 1970; Brooklyn, New York ) and Tone (Samuel Barnes born January 20, 1969; Brooklyn, New York). Active fro ...

, and Loon himself. It features guest appearances from P. Diddy, Aaron Hall, Carl Thomas,

Claudette Ortiz Claudette Ortiz (born July 21, 1981) is an American singer, model and television personality, best known as a member of the R&B trio City High. Ortiz also was a castmate in TV One's reality series '' R&B Divas: Los Angeles''. Early life Born on ...

, Joe Hooker,

Kelis Kelis Rogers (; born August 21, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and chef. She attended Manhattan, New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, where she played saxophone and was selected for the Girls Ch ...

, Mario Winans,

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 ...

, Tammy Ruggeri,

Trina Katrina Laverne Kearse (née Taylor; born December 3, 1974), is an American rapper. She rose to prominence in the late 1990s for her collaborations with Trick Daddy on the singles " Nann Nigga", " Shut Up", and " Take It to da House". In 2000, ...

and The Letter M. The album peaked at number six on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number two 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, ...

chart. The album sold 80,000 units in its first week. "Down for Me", the single taken from the album, peaked at number 28 on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks 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 ...

and number 14 on the

Hot Rap Tracks Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by '' Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stat ...

Critical reception

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 ...

's Jason Birchmeier found the album overlong with its romantic hip-hop tracklist but gave credit to the production for being "always fresh, lively, and above all, poppy" concluding that Loon's debut "overall should please long time Bad Boy fans and anyone who relishes the label's refined style of lovers rap".

Jon Caramanica Jon Caramanica (born 1975) is an American journalist and pop music critic who writes for ''The New York Times''. He is also known for writing about hip hop music. Biography Born in Brooklyn, New York, Caramanica received his bachelor's degree ...

from ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' criticized Loon's delivery for lacking variations in technique and lyrical content, and said that the deviation from R&B into "moral-laden narratives ("Story" and "Don't Wanna Die")" or "joke-poking ("This Ain't Funny")" is where his seduction works the most.

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted credits from the album's booklet. * Sean "P.Diddy" Combs: executive producer * Harve Pierre: executive producer * Chris Athens: mastering (

Sterling Sound George Marino (April 15, 1947June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s. Biography Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He attended ...

) * Erik Sorensen: additional Pro Tools engineering *

Mark Pitts Mark Pitts is an American record executive and talent manager who has served as President of RCA Records since 2021. He also co-founded the record label ByStorm Entertainment with Wayne Barrow in 1998, through which he has signed artists includin ...

: associate executive producer (

ByStorm Entertainment Mark Pitts is an American record executive and talent manager who has served as President of RCA Records since 2021. He also co-founded the record label ByStorm Entertainment with Wayne Barrow in 1998, through which he has signed artists includi ...

) * Gwendolyn Niles:

project manager A project manager is a professional in the field of project management. Project managers have the responsibility of the Project planning, planning, procurement and execution of a project, in any undertaking that has a defined scope, defined star ...

* Christopher Stern:

creative direction A creative director is a person who makes high-level creative decisions; oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos; and directs and translates the creative people who produce the end results. Creat ...

Chart positions

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2003 debut albums Loon (rapper) albums Bad Boy Records albums Albums produced by Akon Albums produced by Buckwild Albums produced by Fredwreck Albums produced by Sean Combs Albums produced by Ryan Leslie Albums produced by Scott Storch Albums produced by Trackmasters Albums produced by Bink (record producer)