''Nivea'' is the debut studio album by American singer

Nivea Nivea (, stylized as NIVEA) is a German personal care brand that specializes in skin and body care. It is owned by the Hamburg-based company Beiersdorf Global AG, who also makes the Eucerin brand. ''Nivea'' comes from the Latin adjective ''ni ...

. It was released on February 18, 2002, by

Jive Records Jive Records (later stylized as JIVE Records) was a British-American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary of the Zomba Group of Companies, Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chic ...

. Nivea worked with a wide range of producers and songwriters on the album, including Leslie Braithwaite,

Bryan-Michael Cox Bryan-Michael Paul Cox (born December 1, 1977) is an American record producer and songwriter, known for his work with artists such as Usher, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, and Toni Braxton. His most notable productions are " Be Without You" fo ...

Roy "Royalty" Hamilton Roy Hamilton III is an American record producer and songwriter in the genres of pop, Christian gospel, and R&B. Hamilton is a Berklee College of Music graduate and the grandson of the American singer Roy Hamilton Sr. Production career In 200 ...

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 ...

The Neptunes The Neptunes were an American record production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1992. Williams often provided backing vocals and music video appearances on the duo's productions, while H ...

Organized Noise Organized Noize is an American production duo from Atlanta, Georgia, currently composed of Ray Murray, Rick Wade and Sleepy Brown. History Among the hit records they have worked on include TLC's "Waterfalls", En Vogue's " Don't Let Go (Love) ...

Adonis Shropshire Taurian Adonis Shropshire is an American songwriter and record producer. Beginning his career in 2001, Shropshire has written or produced numerous hit records for various artists, including Mariah Carey's " I Stay In Love", Usher's " My Boo", ...

Teedra Moses Teedra Shenita Moses (born December 17, 1976) is an American contemporary R&B, R&B and soul music, soul singer-songwriter. Early life Moses was born and raised in New Orleans. She later moved to Los Angeles with her mother and three siblings ...

, Johnta Austin, and

Ne-Yo Shaffer Chimere Smith (born October 18, 1979), known professionally as Ne-Yo ( ), is an American singer and songwriter. Regarded as a leading figure of Contemporary R&B#2000s, 2000s R&B music, he is the recipient of numerous accolades, includi ...

. The final product was an R&B record heavily influenced by

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

and

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

. Upon its release, ''Nivea'' peaked at number 80 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and number 35 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, ...

. The album produced five singles, including " Don't Mess with the Radio", which became a top-20 hit in Australia, and " Don't Mess with My Man", a collaboration with

Brandon Casey Jagged Edge is an American R&B group from Atlanta, Georgia. The group, initially signed to record producer Jermaine Dupri's So So Def Recordings, is best known for their string of hit singles including " Let's Get Married" and " Where the Party ...

and Brian Casey from Jagged Edge, which became a top-10 hit in France, New Zealand and on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Background

In 1997, Nivea met manager Collin Lampkin of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

-based Lampkin International, who arranged for her to record a

demo tape A demo (shortened from "demonstration") is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed for ...

with several producers. Local production team

Organized Noize Organized Noize is an American production duo from Atlanta, Georgia, currently composed of Ray Murray, Rick Wade and Sleepy Brown. History Among the hit records they have worked on include TLC's "Waterfalls", En Vogue's " Don't Let Go (Love ...

, consisting of

Sleepy Brown Patrick Leroy "Sleepy" Brown (born January 24, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. He is one-third of the Atlanta-based production team of Organized Noize, which has created hits for acts such as Outkast, Goodie Mob an ...

, Ray Murray, and Rico Wade, eventually became instrumental in crafting the tape. At the time when she was asked to audition for

to secure a recording deal with the label, Nivea had already recorded 26 completed songs.

Promotion

" Don't Mess with the Radio" was selected as Nivea's solo debut single and was released on June 12, 2001. While not a major hit in the United States or most other countries, it was a top-twenty success in Australia, reaching number 14 on the

ARIA Singles 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 ...

. In April 2002, the song was released in the United Kingdom as a

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

with "Run Away (I Wanna Be with U)". It peaked at number 48 on the UK Singles Chart. In Australia, "Run Away" was released as the album's second single on December 10, 2001. " Don't Mess with My Man" was released on June 3, 2002, as the third single from the album. The song peaked at number eight on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and was an international hit as well, reaching the top 10 in France and New Zealand and receiving a Gold certification in the former country. In the United Kingdom, the song reached number 41 on the UK Singles Chart upon its initial release. The recording earned the artists a nomination for

Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal The Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal was awarded between 1970 and 2011. From 1967 to 1969 and in 1971 the award included instrumental performances. The award had several minor name changes: *From 1967 to 1968 t ...

s at the

45th Grammy Awards The 45th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 23, 2003, at Madison Square Garden in New York City honoring the best in music for the recording of the year beginning from October 1, 2001, through September 30, 2002. Musicians' accomplishment ...

in 2003. The fourth single, "

Laundromat A self-service laundry, coin laundry, or coin wash, is a facility where clothes and some household textiles are washed and dried without much personalized professional help. They are known in the United Kingdom as launderettes or laundrettes, ...

", was released on April 28, 2003. The song peaked in the United States at number 58 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 20 on the

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. Internationally, it reached a peak number 33 on the UK Singles Chart as a

with "Don't Mess with My Man".

Critical reception

Alex Henderson 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 ...

rated ''Nivea'' three out of five stars and called it "a perfect example of how hip-hop-drenched R&B adbecome" by 2001: "From the production to the lyrics, this CD frequently underscores hip-hop's influence on modern R&B." He found that "Nivea provides a likable blend of girlishness and grit on catchy, hip-hop-minded offerings", while also being "teen-friendly, although not in a bubblegum way; in Nivea's case, teen-friendly doesn't mean teen pop." Henderson concluded: "But if Nivea's debut is slightly uneven, it still has more ups than downs and is — thanks to the more on-the-ball producers and writers — worth the price of admission."

Chart performance

''Nivea'' debuted at number 109 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 in the week of December 28, 2002. It eventually peaked at number 80 in February 2003. By March 2003, the album had sold 134,000 copies in the United States, according to

Nielsen SoundScan Luminate Data, LLC (formerly MRC Data and P-MRC Data) is a provider of music and entertainment data. Established as a joint-venture in 2020, it brought together Nielsen Music, Alpha Data (formerly BuzzAngle Music) and Variety Business Intellige ...

Track listing

Notes * denotes co-producer Sample credits *"Still in Love" samples

Alicia Myers Alicia Myers (born November 20, 1957) is an American R&B musician. Beginning her music career with the band Al Hudson & the Soul Partners, who later evolved into One Way, Myers went on to a moderately successful solo career in the early 1980s, ...

's "Concentrate On Love". *"You Don't Even Know" samples

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

's "

The Payback ''The Payback'' is the 37th studio album by American musician James Brown. The album was released in December 1973, by Polydor Records. It was originally scheduled to become the soundtrack for the blaxploitation film ''Hell Up in Harlem'', but ...

". *"Just in Case" samples

Lost Boyz Lost Boyz are an American Hip hop music, hip hop group from Queens, New York (state), New York, consisting of Master of ceremonies, MC Mr. Cheeks, DJ Spigg Nice, Pretty Lou, and Freaky Kah, with the latter replacing his father Freaky Tah who w ...

's " Renee". *"Never Had a Girl Like Me" samples

Lyn Collins Gloria Lavern Collins (June 12, 1948 – March 13, 2005), better known as Lyn Collins, was an American soul singer best known for working with James Brown in the 1970s and for the influential 1972 funk single, "Think (About It)". A favorite ...

's "

Think (About It) "Think (About It)" is a funk song recorded by Lyn Collins and released as a single on James Brown's People Records in 1972. The recording was produced by Brown (who also wrote the song) and features instrumental backing from his band The J.B.' ...

". *"25 Reasons" samples Blu's "Clap Your Hands". *"Check Your Man" samples James Brown's "

It's A Man's Man's Man's World "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" is a song written by James Brown and Betty Jean Newsome. Brown recorded it on February 16, 1966, in a New York City studio and released it as a single later that year. It reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' R&B c ...

Personnel

Credits are taken from the album's liner notes. Instruments and performances * Donnie Lyle – guitar * Charles Pettaway – guitar * Malachy Robinson – guitar * Swift C – drums *

PJ Morton P.J. Morton (born Paul Sylvester Morton Jr.; March 29, 1981) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Since 2012, he has been the keyboardist for the pop band Maroon 5. Morton originally joined the band as a touring mem ...

– piano, keyboards *

–

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

Production * Ted Bishop – engineering, instrumentation * Leslie Braithwaite – engineering, mixing *

Tom Coyne Tom Coyne may refer to: * Tom Coyne (writer), American writer and professor * Tom Coyne (broadcaster) (1930–2015), British television presenter * Tom Coyne (music engineer) (1954–2017), American mastering engineer * Thomas Coyne (cricketer) (18 ...

– mastering * Ryan Freeland – engineering * Andy Gallas – engineering * Jeffrey Gamble – photography * Elisa Garcia – design * Abel Garibaldi – engineering *

Serban Ghenea Serban Ghenea () is a Canadian audio engineer and mixer. He has been nominated for a Grammy Award a total of 45 times and has won 21 times. Early life and education Ghenea was born in Romania, and in 1976 he moved to Montreal with his family. H ...

– mixing * Jay Goin – engineering * Mark Goodchild – engineering * Hachi – photography * Chaz Harper – mastering * R. Kelly – mixing * C.L. Lampkin – backing vocals * Ian Mereness – engineering, mixing * Rowie Nameri – engineering * Azuolas Sinkevicius – engineering * Brian Stanley – engineering *

– engineering * Richard Travali – mixing * Patrick Viala – mixing * Bernasky Wall – mixing * Arnold Wolfe – mixing

Charts

Release history

References

Notes

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nivea (Album) 2001 debut albums Albums produced by Bryan-Michael Cox Albums produced by Organized Noize Albums produced by the Neptunes Albums produced by R. Kelly Nivea (singer) albums