Chain Letter | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by Brooke Valentine | ||||
Released | March 15, 2005 | |||
Recorded | 2004–2005 | |||
Genre | R&B, pop, hip hop | |||
Label | Virgin Records America | |||
Producer | Bink!, Bloodshy & Avant, Déjà "The Great", Josh Deutsch, Heatmakerz, Jermaine Dupri, Brandon Howard, Lil Jon, Matt Serletic, Soul Diggas | |||
Brooke Valentine chronology | ||||
|
||||
Singles from Chain Letter | ||||
|
Professional ratings | |
---|---|
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | |
Entertainment Weekly | B+ |
Rolling Stone |
Chain Letter is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Brooke Valentine, released on March 15, 2005, by Virgin Records America. Work on the album began after Valentine left the female group Best Kept Secret, in order to pursue a solo career. She moved to Los Angeles, California with producer and Subliminal Entertainment CEO Deja the Great to begin work on the album. Valentine enlisted a variety of producers to work on the album including Bink!, Bloodshy & Avant, Déjà "The Great", Jermaine Dupri, Brandon Howard, Lil Jon, Matt Serletic among others.
Musically the album is predominantly a R&B body of work, that features elements of hip hop and crunk. Upon release "Chain Letter" was met with critical acclaim from music critics who praised the album's production, with other critics comparing the album to the work of film producer Steven Soderbergh. Commercially the album fared well and peaked at sixteen on the Billboard 200 and three on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart. The album sold 290,000 copies in the US.
The album was preceded by the release of the lead single "Girlfight", that features Big Boi from the band Outkast, and Lil Jon. "Girlfight" was a commercial success peaking at twenty-three on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as making appearances on charts in Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and the UK. The second single released from the album was "Long As You Come Home", which reached number 71 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart where it spent 5 weeks. The third single was "Cover Girl", however the song failed to chart.