Solo Star

''Solo Star'' is the debut studio album by American singer Solange, released by Columbia Records and Music World on December 26, 2002 in Japan and January 21, 2003 in the United States. It debuted and peaked at number forty-nine on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 and number twenty-three on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums in early February 2003. The album produced two singles: " Feelin' You" (featuring N.O.R.E.) and "Crush" (later renamed to "Don't Fight the Feeling"). "Feelin' You" reached no. 73 on the ''Billboard'' Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart.

Critical reception

William Ruhlmann of AllMusic gave the album three out of five stars saying: "Executive producer athewKnowles has surrounded Solange with a bevy of trendy writer/producers, including The Underdogs, Platinum Status, Timbaland, The Neptunes and Rockwilder, along with such guest stars as B2K and Lil' Romeo. The result is a state-of-the-art contemporary R&B album full of big beats, catchy choruses, and gimmicky production effects. But the nominal star of the show is lost somewhere in the mix. It doesn't help that the 16-year-old has a thin, undeveloped voice that is easily overwhelmed. ''Slant Magazine'' gave two out of five stars, saying: "The largely synthetic-sounding Solo Star follows the growing industry standard in which the focus is on production rather songwriting", also adding that Solange's voice is uncannily similar to Beyoncé's.

Release and promotion

The album was released in December 2002 in Japan, while it was released in United States following month. It under-performed in the United States, selling 112,000 copies according to Nielsen SoundScan, and dropped off the chart five weeks after its debut. The only two singles released from the album, the N.O.R.E.-featured " Feelin' You (Part II)" and the Neptunes-produced "Crush" (also known as "Don't Fight the Feeling"), failed to chart on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The album is no longer in print and the online music website iTunes does not sell the album. A re-recording of "Crush", with vastly different instrumental and harmonies and featuring Papa Reu, was included on the movie soundtrack for ''The Fighting Temptations'' which stars Solange's sister Beyoncé. This re-recording was renamed "Don't Fight the Feeling" to match the movie poster's tagline. The album was promoted with the Solo Star Tour in 2003.

Track listing

*Note: tracks 17, 18 and 19 are four seconds of silence each with these bonus tracks following:

Sample credits
*"True Love" contains replayed elements from " So Amazing" by Luther Vandross
*"Thinkin' About You" contains replayed elements from " Scooby Doo Where Are You" by Joseph Barbera, William Hanna, and Hoyt Curtin

2006 re-release

''Solo Star'' was re-released in November 2006 with a different artwork and track listing. The reissue album contained twelve tracks: seven tracks from 2002 standard release, four remixes and previously unreleased track titled "Bring It on Home". There is a newly recorded version of "Feelin' You" which features American rapper Slim Thug. Both singles from the album were remixed. "Crush" was remixed by Vibelicious. Also, a duet with Beyoncé featuring Da Brat titled "Naïve" was remixed by Maurice Joshua.

Personnel

*Solange Knowles – composer, primary artist, producer, vocal producer
*Ketrina Askew – composer
* B2K – featured artist, guest artist, primary artist
*Rich Balmer – engineer
*Joseph Barbera – composer
*Beyoncé Knowles – producer
*Bruce Buechner – engineer
*William Burke – programming
*Skip Burrow – engineer
* Kandi Burruss – producer
*Kim Burse – A&R
*Scott Gusty Christensen – engineer
*Cedric Courtois – producer
*John Czornyj – mixing
*Myke Diesel – engineer, mixing, producer
* Jimmy Douglass – mixing
*Erica Dymakkus – backing vocals
* Damon Elliott – drum programming, engineer, keyboards, percussion, producer
*Brian Garten – engineer
*Serban Ghenea – mixing
*Dabling Harward – recording
* A. Jackson – composer
* Alonzo Jackson – producer
* Troy Johnson – composer, engineer, producer
*Jerome Jones – composer
*Talib Kareem – producer
*Mathew Knowles – executive producer
*Emily Lazar – mastering
* Murphy Lee – featured artist, primary artist
* Lil' Romeo – guest artist, primary artist
* Tony Maserati – mixing
*Master P – composer
*Michael McClain – producer
* Ramon Morales – engineer
*N.O.R.E. – composer, guest artist, primary artist
*Huy Nguyen – A&R assistance, artist coordination
*Tony Oliver – composer
*Kevin Parker – mixing
*Mark Penn – producer
* Dave Pensado – mixing
*Linda Perry – producer
*Platinum Status – producer
*Rockwilder – composer, producer
*Dexter Simmons – mixing
*Slim Thug – primary artist
* Chris Stokes – producer
*Timbaland – mixing, producer
*Luther Vandross – composer

Charts

Release history

References

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2002 debut albums
Columbia Records albums
Solange Knowles albums
Albums produced by Timbaland
Albums produced by the Neptunes
Albums produced by Linda Perry
Albums produced by Jermaine Dupri
Albums produced by Rockwilder
Albums produced by Beyoncé