''Unleashed'' is the second

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 rapper Hurricane Chris. It was released on December 21, 2009, by

Polo Grounds Music Polo Grounds Music is a hip hop and R&B record label, distributed by Sony Music's RCA Records. Founded in 2006 by Bryan Leach, Polo Grounds Music is a full-service entertainment company with a focus in publishing, management, marketing and promo ...

and

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 ...

. This record would later be his final studio release with Polo Grounds and J Records. Recording sessions took place from 2008 to 2009, featuring the executive production from Hurricane Chris himself, alongside Bryan Leach and Anthony Murray. Aside from the executive production, the album features the production from

Play-N-Skillz Play-N-Skillz are a Latin/American record production/DJ group duo from Dallas, Texas, consisting of brothers Juan "Play" Salinas and Oscar "Skillz" Salinas. Their production has won several Grammys including the Grammy Award for Best Rap Perfor ...

Shawty Redd Demetrius Lee Stewart (born June 21, 1981), better known by his stage name Shawty Redd, is an American record producer and rapper. He is cited as one of the pioneers of the production style which would become synonymous with the trap subgenre. ...

and Fiend, among others. The album was supported by two

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

s: " Halle Berry (She's Fine)" featuring Superstarr, and " Headboard" featuring

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 ...

and Plies, which both of these singles did not have success on the music charts. Upon its release, the album received mixed or average reviews from critics. ''Unleashed'' did not chart internationally, however, it reached at number 46 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

''s

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, ...

, and number 20 on the US ''Billboard''s

Top Rap 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, ...

charts, respectively.

Singles

The album's

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

, called " Halle Berry (She's Fine)", was released on April 15, 2009. The song features guest vocals from a fellow local rapper Superstarr; who later serves its production, along with the duo

and Q Smith on this track. The album's second and final single, called " Headboard" was released on September 4, 2009. The song features guest vocals from American R&B singer-songwriter

and fellow American rapper Plies, with production by

The Inkredibles Leigh Elliott, known professionally as Lee Major, is an American hip hop producer also known by the monikers Lee Major Kid and The Inkredibles. Lee Major has received production credit on tracks for artists such as Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Jadakiss, ...

Reception

Commercial performance

In the United States, ''Unleashed'' peaked at number 46 on the ''

''s

, and number 20 on the ''Billboard''s

charts. It did not chart internationally.

Critical response

''Unleashed'' received mixed or average reviews from

music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...

s. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a

normalized Normalization or normalisation refers to a process that makes something more normal or regular. Science * Normalization process theory, a sociological theory of the implementation of new technologies or innovations * Normalization model, used in ...

rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

score of 54, based on 4 reviews, which indicates "mixed or average reviews". David Jeffries 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 ...

gave the album three out of five stars. ''

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 ...

Jon Caramanica gave an unfavorable review. ''Rolling Stone'' gave the album two out of five stars. Steve Juon of RapReviews.com gave the highest rated review, seven out of ten stars.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits for ''Unleashed'' adapted from

. * Oluwaseyi Agdeh – composer * J. Allen – engineer * Jeremy Allen – composer * Mimi Armstrong – grooming * Blade – engineer, producer * Anita Marisa Boriboon – art direction * Brandon Bowles – composer * Ralph Cacciurri – engineer * Chris Carmouche – mixing * Maurice Carpenter – composer * Kevin Cossom – composer * Kenny "Kennymixx" Daniels – mastering * Anthony Davis – composer * Rick De Verona – engineer * Scorp Dezel – producer * Christopher Dooley – composer, executive producer * Leigh Elliott – composer * Scott Eraas – engineer * Fiend – producer * Pablo "Tonton" Gho – engineer * John "Say" Gillard – engineer * The Inkredibles – producer * Amy Johnson – A&R, production coordination * Raphael Johnson – composer, producer * Richard Jones – composer * Fallon King – composer * Felisha King – composer * Bryan Leach – executive producer * Eddie Mix – engineer * Johnny Mollings – composer * Lenny Mollings – composer * Mouse – producer * Anthony Murray – executive producer * Isis Nicholson – vocals * Jamaal Parker – composer * Shanieke Peru – stylist * Phunk Dawg – producer * Play – engineer * Play N Skillz – producer * Ari Raskin – engineer * Rodney Richard – composer * Rodnae – producer * Ray Seay – mixing * Derrick Selby – engineer * Shawty Redd – producer * Makeda Smith – A&R, production coordination * Q. Smith – producer * Demetrius Stewart – composer * Superstarr – producer * Don Vito – producer * Miles Walker – engineer * Algernod Washington – composer * Earl Williams – composer * Robert Wilson – composer * Zach Wolfe – photography * Shah Wonders – illustrations * Rodney Young – composer

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2009 albums J Records albums Hurricane Chris (rapper) albums Albums produced by Shawty Redd Albums produced by the Inkredibles