''Urban Rapsody'' is the twelfth studio album by the American funk singer

Rick James James Ambrose Johnson Jr. (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004), better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in his tee ...

. It was released through

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

and Private-I Records in 1997, and was the final album released in his lifetime. The album combines

rap Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...

and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

. ''Urban Rapsody'' received a Parental Advisory sticker, James's only album with one. It was his first release since 1988's '' Wonderful'', due to substance abuse problems and an extended period of incarceration. The album peaked at #170 on the ''

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 ...

'' charts.

Critical reception

The New Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' gave the album 1.5 stars (out of 5), writing that it is a "cannily conservative attempt to recapture the R&B portion of his audience, but it lacks the fire of his early hits."

Track listing

All tracks composed by

, except where noted. #"Urban Rapsody" (James, LeMelle,

Rappin' 4-Tay Anthony H. Forté (born March 2, 1968), known professionally as Rappin' 4-Tay, is an American rapper from San Francisco, California. Early life Anthony Forte was born March 2, 1968, and grew up in San Francisco's Fillmore District. He has a t ...

) #"West Coast Thing" (James, Shepherd) #"Somebody's Watching You" (James, Shepherd) #"Back in You Again" #"Turn It Out" #"Good Ol' Days" #"Player's Way" (James,

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

, Shepherd) #"Never Say You Love Me" #"It's Time" (James, Shepherd, Neb Love) #"So Soft So Wet" (James, Shepherd) #"Bring on the Love" #"Mama's Eyes" (James, Shepherd) #"Soul Sista" #"Favorite Flava" (James, Shepherd, Neb Love) #"Urban Rapsody (Reprise)" (James, LeMelle)

References

1997 albums Rick James albums Albums produced by Rick James {{1990s-R&B-album-stub