Shontelligence
| Shontelligence | ||||
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| Studio album by Shontelle | ||||
| Released | November 18, 2008 March 10, 2009 (re-release) |
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| Recorded | 2006 — 2008 | |||
| Genre | R&B | |||
| Length | 40:23 | |||
| Label | SRC Records/Motown Records | |||
| Producer | Dwayne "Supa Dups" Chin-Quee, Classic Soul Productions, Andrew Frapton, Fredo, The Heavyweights, The Jam, Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers, Stargate, Wayne Wilkins | |||
| Shontelle chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Shontelligence | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| ARTISTdirect |   |
| The Guardian | |
| LiveDaily |  |
| The New York Times | (negative) |
Shontelligence is the debut studio album of Barbadian R&B/pop singer Shontelle. It was released on November 18, 2008. However, due to low sales, the album was re-released, featuring the new single "Stuck With Each Other", on March 10, 2009.
Speaking to noted UK R&B writer Pete Lewis of the award-winning 'Blues & Soul' in February 2009, Shontelle described how the album title first came about: "We were actually hanging out in the studio, kinda waiting for things to bubble up - you know, the guys there tend to get a bit silly sometimes with their sense of humour. So one guy somehow comes up with this bright idea - 'Hey Shontelle! Let's play a word-game with your name today! Whoever can come up with the most words using your name gets free lunch!'! So they're like 'Shontel-evator', 'Shontel-evision', 'Shontel-icopter'... Then my engineer, Al, suddenly turns round and says 'Yeah, that's some real Shontelligence there!'... And straightaway everyone in the studio turned around at the same time, and were like 'That has to be your album title!'!"
The album was released on November 18, 2008 and reportedly sold 1,000 records in its first day of release. The album sold 4,850 records in its first week, and debuted at #115 on the Billboard 200. The album went on to sell 25,000 records by February, 2009. Due to low sales SRC chose to re-release the album only 4 months later on March 10, 2009. The re-release did not sell very well either. Incorporating sales original version and the re-issue of the album. As of July 2009, the record has sold 50,000 copies in the US and 10,000 copies in the UK.
The album has received generally mixed reviews from music critics.
Ben Ratliffe of The New York Times gave the album a mixed review stating that:
Alex Macpherson of The Guardian gave the album a mixed 3/5 stars, citing the artist's "thoughtful songwriting and an understated vocal presence".The Guardian's Paul Lester was more negative, saying the album's lead single was horrible and that he preferred Rihanna to Shontelle, and labeled her a "wannabe hitmaker", citing "the bland lyrics" of "T-Shirt" being comparable to any R&B song. Both reviewers compared Shontelle to Ne-Yo.
David Balls of Digital Spy gave the album a mixed 3/5 stars:
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Wikipedia