''Turning Point'' is the second studio album by American recording artist

Mario Mario (; ) is a Character (arts), character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Ja ...

, released by

J Records J Records was an American record label owned and operated by Bertelsmann Music Group until it was transferred to Sony Music Entertainment when they acquired all of BMG's record labels in late 2008 at the end of their merger. It was distribut ...

on December 7, 2004 in the United States. A R&B record with heavy elements of

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

and

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- ...

music, it involves a diverse roster of collaborators including

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 ...

Lil Jon Jonathan H. Smith (born January 17, 1971), better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, DJ, and record producer. Regarded as a progenitor of the club-oriented hip-hop subgenre crunk, his production and voice presence were inst ...

, The Underdogs,

Carvin & Ivan Carvin & Ivan are a production duo from Philadelphia consisting of producers and songwriters Ivan "Orthodox" Barias and Carvin "Ransum" Haggins. Initially starting out as solo hip hop artists, Haggins and Barias moved into production and songwr ...

, and

Sean Garrett Garrett Robin Hamler (born March 30, 1979), known professionally as Sean Garrett, is an American record producer and songwriter. He is known his songwriting work on a series of commercially successful R&B and hip-hop songs, beginning with Ush ...

. The album guests include Cassidy, Juvenile,

Jadakiss Jason Terrance Phillips (born May 27, 1975), better known by his stage name Jadakiss (, ), is an American rapper who began his career in the 1990s and formed the hip hop trio the Lox alongside Styles P and Sheek Louch in 1994. The group signed w ...

T.I. Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. (born September 25, 1980), known professionally as T.I. or Tip, is an American rapper and singer raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Harris is credited as a pioneer of the hip hop subgenre trap music, along with fellow Georgi ...

and Baby Cham. The first single from the album was " Let Me Love You", which was written by

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 ...

was a number one hit in the United States and number two in the United Kingdom, becoming Mario's biggest hit to date. The second single was a split single. In the US, " How Could You", a song written by Bay Area singer-songwriter J. Valentine, was released (reaching number 52) but in the UK, " Here I Go Again" was released (reaching number 11). The fourth and final single from the album in the US was " Boom", featuring Juvenile. In support of the album, Mario supported R&B trio

Destiny's Child Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final lineup comprised Beyoncé, Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams (singer), Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Hou ...

in their tour, Destiny Fulfilled ... And Lovin' It, as an opening act for the American leg. The album received two nominations at the

48th Grammy Awards The 48th Annual Grammy Awards took place on February 8, 2006, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning from October 1, 2004, through September 30, 2005. Irish rock band U2 ...

including Best Contemporary R&B Album.

Concept and themes

In an interview with

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

, Mario explained, "One of the biggest reasons I wanted to do it is that I did want to stand out from everybody. I get to share it with the world ..It's good for me. I been blessed to be in this situation. Everything's been going great. I just been pacing myself, working real hard on this album. That's what my life is about right now: my transition into manhood." When asked about his decision to work his producer

on material for the album, he elaborated: "He did a lot of stuff back in the day, you'd be surprised. He played me some stuff he did for

Erykah Badu Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu, is an American singer and songwriter. Influenced by rhythm and blues, R&B, Soul music, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the late 1990s when her debut al ...

, for

Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American musician. She is celebrated as one of the most influential musical artists of her generation. Hill is credited with breaking barriers for female rappers, contributing to the popular music, m ...

, for

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...

and

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and television producer. Born in Queens, a borough of New York City, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 1996. In 1999–2000, ...

. When I went to Scott, we went in the studio and freestyled and came up with some great records."

Singles

''Turning Point'' was preceded by lead single " Let Me Love You", released on October 4, 2004. Produced by

, it became a worldwide success, reaching number one in Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United States, where it peaked at number on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for nine consecutive weeks. The song also remained at number one on ''Billboard''s

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 ...

for eleven consecutive weeks. The album produced three further singles, including second US single " How Could You" which became a top-20 hit on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Elsewhere, " Here I Go Again" served as the album's second single. It became a top ten hit in Belgium and the Netherlands, also reaching the top 20 in Australia, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. Fourth and final single " Boom" peaked at number 23 on the ''Billboard''

Rhythmic Top 40 The Rhythmic chart (also called Rhythmic Airplay, and previously named Rhythmic Songs, Rhythmic Top 40 and CHR/Rhythmic) is an airplay chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on ...

chart.

Critical reception

In his review 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 ...

, Jason Birchmeier wrote that "there's not much else on ''Turning Point'' that comes close to matching the balladic magic of "Let Me Love You" ..Above all, though, it's "Let Me Love You" and its remix that make ''Turning Point'' a noteworthy effort for this teenager and a fine second album overall." Jem Aswad from ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' said that ''Turning Point'' "is plenty catchy, but it's also so full of sugar that the spoon stands up," giving the album a B−.

Virgin Media Virgin Media Limited is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 ...

said that "the production is tight throughout the album but not overly polished, and there is enough edge maintained from start to finish to suggest that Mario may indeed buck a few R&B trends in the months to come." ''

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American Conservatism, conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It covers general interest topics with an emphasis on Politics of the United States, national politics. Its broadsheet daily edit ...

'' called ''Turning Point'' "a solid follow-up to a promising debut." Baz Dreisinger from ''

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 ...

'' felt that "though the

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

-born singer is newly legal (as he tells us on the too-terse club jam "18"), his enticingly even-toned voice—smooth as R. Kelly's—transcends teen-pop. It's even manly enough to convey lovelorn intensity ("Here I Go Again"), offer explicit "Directions" to an uncorrupted gal pal ("Trust me, I got skills"), then sweetly stage an "intimate talk" with her ("Like Me Real Hard"). Only his age-appropriate tracks—the singsong club jingle "Girl I Need", or the irony-free homage to "Nikes fresh out the box" remind us that Mario is not a boy, but not yet a man." ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'' critic Steve Jones found that "the material seems more what you'd expect from an 18-year-old ..There are still a few lightweight ditties and songs that show he hasn't completely left his youth behind ("Nikes"), but he seems pointed in the right direction." ''

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 ...

''s Caroline Sullivan wrote that "undisputed foxy dude that ariois though, ''Turning Point'' owes its sparkling nowness to an astute choice of producers and guests." ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' critic Jon Pareles noted that the "album reeks of calculation, and suffers only slightly for it." He found that WHILE "

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

– minus the weirdness – is Mario's vocal model and strategic guide ..the music isn't retro. It's full of pointillistic computer productions and electronically tweaked vocals, and some tracks are ingenious." Jason Richard, writing for ''

Now Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Na ...

'', found that Mario "ebbs and flows through the sophomore-album maturity model employed by every young artist from

Avril Avril means April in French and other languages. It may also refer to: Places * Mont Avril, a mountain on the Swiss-Italian border * Avril, Meurthe-et-Moselle, a commune of the Meurthe-et-Moselle département, France People * Avril (name) * ...

to Britney, dealing with being done wrong and how he's got to have her and blah blah blah. The record's six-figure beats, provided by

and Lil' Jon, are slicker than

Aaron Neville Aaron Joseph Neville (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer renowned for his distinctively smooth, vibrato-heavy tenor and a genre-crossing career that spans R&B, soul, gospel, jazz, country, and pop. He gained national prominence with hi ...

cocoa butter Cocoa butter, also called theobroma oil, is a pale-yellow, edible Vegetable oil, fat extracted from the cocoa bean (''Theobroma cacao''). It is used to make chocolate, as well as some ointments, toiletries, and pharmaceuticals. Cocoa butter h ...

, ensuring that ''Turning Point'' will be a perennial fave among

BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

's ''

106 & Park ''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rated ...

'' fans."

Accolades

The album was nominated for Best Contemporary R&B Album at the

48th Annual Grammy Awards The 48th Annual Grammy Awards took place on February 8, 2006, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning from October 1, 2004, through September 30, 2005. Irish rock band U2 ...

Commercial performance

''Turning Point''s first appearance was in the US ''Billboard'' 200, selling roughly 161,000 copies in the first week, debuting at number thirteen. It was later certified

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

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), selling over 1.2 million copies. The album's last appearance was week 37/2005 in the Belgium Albums Top 50. Its peak position was number 6, on the Dutch Albums Top 100; it stayed there for one week. Its highest entry was number 9 in the Dutch Albums Top 100.

Track listing

;DualDisc bonus tracks # "Entire Album in Enhanced Stereo" # "Let Me Love You" & "How Could You" (music videos) # "Sessions @ AOL Special Live Performances: Let Me Love You & How Could You # "Photo Gallery" Notes and sample credits * signifies a vocal producer *"Girl I Need" contains a portion of the composition "Gimme a Break," written by Robert Christianson, Robert Garrett, and Marley Simms. *"Nikes Fresh Out the Box" contains a sample from "You Walk Your Way" and contains a portion of the composition "Shout," both performed by

The Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American soul group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of the brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decades, ...

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's Liner Notes and AllMusic.Mario. “Turning Point” (Album Notes). J Records. 2004. *

– vocals sung by (1–3, 6, 8, 10, 12–13, lead on 4–5, 7, 9, 11) * Kamel Abdo – recording engineer (1, 3, 9–10, vocals on 6), mixing (1) * Allstar – mixing (12) * June Ambrose – stylist *

Johntá Austin Johntá Moore Austin ( ; born June 28, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter. He is best known for his production and songwriting work on hometown native Jermaine Dupri's record label, So So Def Recordings during the mid-2000s. As a recordin ...

– background vocals (4) * Marc Baptiste – photography * Jarvis “JRoc” Bonner – Keyboard (1–3, 4, 10–12) * Ivan "Orthodox" Barias – music programming, recording engineer (11) * Big Tank – music programming, instrumental recording engineer (6) * Warren Bletcher – assistant engineer (4, 10) * Joel Campbell – additional keyboards (12) * Chris Carmouche – recording engineer (4, 10), mixing (4) * Cassidy – rap vocals (1) *

Cham Cham or CHAM may refer to: Ethnicities and languages *Chams, people in Vietnam and Cambodia **Cham language, the language of the Cham people ***Cham script *** Cham (Unicode block), a block of Unicode characters of the Cham script * Cham Albani ...

– vocals sung by (6) * Eric Dawkins – background vocals (5) * Peter Edge – executive producer * Ron "Neff–U" Feemster – instruments played by (1, 3, additional on 8) * Steve Fisher – vocal recording engineer (13) * Delvida Flaherty – production coordination * John Frye – recording engineer, mixing (4) *

– vocal arrangement (1, 3) * Serban Ghenea – mixing (11) * Conrad Golding – recording engineer (2, 7, instrumental assistant on 13) * Reggie Hamlet – guitar, bass guitar (9) * John Hanes – recording engineer (11) * Jaymz Hardy–Martin III – assistant engineer, digital editing (6) * Dabling "Hobby Boy" Harward – music director, music editing, recording engineer (5) * Carvin "Ransum" Higgins – recording engineer (11) * Charles "CJ" Hilton Jr. – background vocals (9) * Bob "The Builder" Horn – guitar, bass guitar, recording engineer (8) * Kameron Houff – recording engineer (2, 7, instruments on 13), mixing (13) * Larry Jackson – A&R *

– rap vocals (13) * LaMarquis Jefferson – bass played by (4) * Juvenile – rap vocals (4) * Chris LeBeau – artwork * Craig Love – guitar (4) * Kevin Mahoney – music assisted by (5) *

Manny Marroquin Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is a Guatemalan-American record mixing engineer. He has been credited on albums for high-profile pop, R&B, hip hop and rock acts. He has worked with artists including Rihanna, Kanye West, Katy Perry ...

– mixing (1–4, 6–10, 12) * Dwayne Moore – bass guitar (11) * Jamie Newman – assistant engineer (13) * Troy Patterson – a&r, executive producer * James "L–Roc" Phillips – keyboards (4) * Herb Powers – mastering * Angelo Qualia – recording engineer (12) * Tim Roberts – assistant engineer (11) * Darrell Robinson – drums (11) * Franky "Vegas" Romano – guitar, digital editing (11) * Dave "Natural Love" Russell – music editing, recording engineer, mixing (5) * James "Hal" Smith – background vocals (11) * Johnnie "Smurf" Smith – keyboards (11) * Frank "Mumbles" Sutton – recording engineer, tracking (11) *

– rap vocals (13) * Mike Tyler – guitar (2, 13) * The Underdogs – instruments performed by (5) * Mike "Hitman" Wilson – vocal recording engineer (13)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

Turning Point/Mario
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turning Point (Album) 2004 albums Mario (American singer) albums Albums produced by Lil Jon Albums produced by Scott Storch Albums produced by Sean Garrett Albums produced by Theron Feemster Albums produced by the Underdogs (production team) Albums produced by Warryn Campbell J Records albums