''Open Letter'' is the third

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by American R&B singer

Case Case or CASE may refer to: Instances * Instantiation (disambiguation), a realization of a concept, theme, or design * Special case, an instance that differs in a certain way from others of the type Containers * Case (goods), a package of relate ...

. It was released by Def Soul, the R&B division of

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The l ...

, on April 24, 2001 in the United States. The album peaked at number five on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and was certified

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA). It was preceded by the Tim & Bob-produced single "

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", which earned Case a nomination for

Best Male R&B Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance was awarded between 1968 and 2011. The award has had several minor name changes: *In 1968 it was awarded as Best R&B Solo Vocal Performance, Male *From 1969 to 1994 it was awarded as Best R&B ...

at the

44th Grammy Awards The 44th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 27, 2002, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The main recipient was Alicia Keys, winning five Grammys, including Best New Artist and Song of the Year for " Fallin'". U2 won fo ...

in 2002. ''Open Letter'' was Case's last album on Def Soul and Def Jam Recordings.

Critical reception

Vibe Vibe, alternatively '' vibes,'' is short for ''vibration''. A "vibe" is an emotional reaction to the aura or energy felt to belong to a person, place or thing. Vibe may also refer to: People * DJ Vibe (born 1968), Portuguese DJ * Lasse Vibe (b ...

'' contributor David Thigpen gave note of the "earthier, more robust brand of R&B" that Case performs throughout the record, saying his songwriting resembles the "strong melodies and complex, rich arrangements" of R. Kelly and found tracks like "Love of My Life" and "Shine" containing influences of "late '70s

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

-style soul." He concluded that, "Case is no dusty retro-soulstar, though. Draped in old-school rhythms, his earnestly romantic messages still sound fresh." Neil Drumming of ''

Blender A blender (sometimes called a mixer (from Latin ''mixus, the PPP of miscere eng. to Mix)'' or liquidiser in British English) is a kitchen and laboratory appliance used to mix, crush, purée or emulsify food and other substances. A stationary ...

'' said that Case lacked conviction in delivering sexual lyrics but that the overall vibe of the songs help mask it, concluding that "Fortunately, the romance here outweighs the horizontal hula roughly five to one. So there is a place for Case — just not in the bedroom." Jon Azpiri of

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 ...

criticized the album for containing generic R&B compositions and Case for lacking emotion in his performance, concluding that "For his third album, Case fails to create even one original moment; perhaps this ''Open Letter'' should have never been written."

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. * Keyboards and Drum Programming: Tim Kelley, Bob Robinson, Ray Watkins, Redhead,

Shep Crawford Shep Crawford (December 18, 1970) is a Grammy Award-winning American R&B and gospel musician, songwriter, and record producer best known for Whitney Houston's " Same Script, Different Cast", Deborah Cox's "Nobody's Supposed to Be Here", Tam ...

, Arvel McClinton, Harold Edgar * Bass: Daryl Edgar * Guitar: Steve Estiverne, Andeas Panagapolous * Background vocals: Case, Gromyko Collins, David Guppy, Eric Roberson, Larry "Jazz" Anthony, Eritza Laues,

Montell Jordan Montell Du'Sean Jordan (born December 3, 1968) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, and producer. Best known for his 1995 single " This Is How We Do It", and " Get It On Tonite", Jordan was the primary male solo artist on Def Jam's Def Soul ...

, Charlie Wilson * Recording engineer: Jan Fairchild, Giz, Mike T., Stephen George, Andy Heller, Eddie Hudson, Annie Catalino * Mixing: Jan Fairchild, Serban Ghenea, Stephen George, Jan Fairchild * Executive producer: Case, JoJo "Bangs" Brim,

Kevin Liles Kevin Liles (born February 27, 1968) is an American record executive who is the co-founder and CEO of 300 Entertainment. In 2020, Kevin was recognized by Billboard Magazine as R&B/Hip-Hop Executive of the Year for both his efforts in activism ...

* Art direction & design: Akisia Grigsby

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2001 albums Case (singer) albums Def Jam Recordings albums Albums produced by Tim & Bob Albums produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis