Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
The A.V. Club	(B+)
The Boston Globe	(mixed)
Los Angeles Times
The New York Times	(favorable)
Pitchfork Media	(7.9/10)
Rolling Stone
Slant Magazine
USA Today
The Village Voice	(favorable)

King of Hearts is the fourth studio album by American R&B recording artist Lloyd, released July 5, 2011, on Zone 4. Production for the album took place at several recording studios and was handled primarily by producer and Zone 4-head Polow da Don. It is Lloyd's first release after leaving his former record label The Inc. Records in 2009.

The album debuted at number 10 on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 26,000 copies in its first week. Upon its release, King of Hearts received positive reviews from most music critics, who commended Lloyd's singing and Polow da Don's production, although some criticized its songwriting.

After releasing three albums for The Inc. Records, Lloyd left the record label in 2009 due to creative differences. He subsequently released an eight-track EP, Like Me: The Young Goldie EP, as a free download on the Internet. In 2010, Lloyd was featured on the Young Money hit single "BedRock" and signed to Zone 4, the label of producer and longtime friend Polow da Don. He previously worked with Lloyd on the latter's 2008 album Lessons in Love.

Recording sessions for the album took place at Doppler Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, No Excuses Studio in Santa Monica, California, Record Plant in Hollywood, California, and Setai Recording Studios in Miami, Florida. Polow da Don served as the album's executive producer and produced or co-produced all of its songs, managing sessions with background singers and horn and string sections. In an interview for Billboard, he said of his role on the album, "I promised [Lloyd] my full dedication. So I stopped doing a lot of work with a lot of other artists. I usually have seven songs on the radio at the same time, but I shut down shop to focus on his album". Lloyd has said of the album's music, "We've created something in the likes of what Justin Timberlake and Timbaland were able to create [on 'FutureSex/LoveSounds'] and Usher and Jermaine Dupri were able to create [on 'Confessions']".

...
Wikipedia