Concrete Rose

Concrete Rose
Studio album by Ashanti
Released December 14, 2004
Recorded 2003–2004
Genre
Length 54:56
Label
Producer
Ashanti chronology
Ashanti's Christmas
(2003)		 Concrete Rose
(2004)		 Collectables by Ashanti
(2005)
Singles from Concrete Rose
  1. "Only U"
    Released: October 26, 2004
  2. "Don't Let Them"
    Released: April 5, 2005

Concrete Rose is the third studio album by American R&B singer Ashanti, released by The Inc. Records and Def Jam Recordings on December 14, 2004 in the United States. The album involves production by Irv Gotti, Chink Santana, and 7 Aurelius and features guest appearances from T.I., Lloyd and Ja Rule. Concrete Rose spawned two singles: the 7 Aurelius-produced "Only U" and "Don't Let Them".

The album debut at number seven on the Billboard 200 chart in December 2004 with first-week sales of 254,000 units. Concrete Rose was certified Platinum by the RIAA on January 14, 2005.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic47/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Blender[1]
Billboard(average)[3]
Entertainment WeeklyC−[4]
The Guardian[5]
Los Angeles Times[6]
PopMatters[7]
Rolling Stone[8]
Slant Magazine[9]
USA Today[10]

Concrete Rose received mixed reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 47, based on 10 reviews, which indicates "mixed or average" reviews.

Chart performance

Concrete Rose debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200 album chart in December 2004 and Billboard's Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart at number one with first-week sales of 254,000 units sold. The album was certified Platinum by the RIAA on January 14, 2005 and remained on the Billboard 200 albums chart for 20 weeks. As of December 2005, Concrete Rose has sold over 1 million copies in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan.[11]

Outside the United States the album debuted or peaked at #25 in the United Kingdom, #98 in France, #35 in Germany and #66 in Switzerland.

Singles

  • "Turn It Up" featuring Ja Rule was originally intended to be the first single but was used as a Buzz single, as the label later decided to release "Only U" instead. The first single from the album "Only U" reached number thirteen on Billboard Hot 100 and number ten Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The single became Ashanti's 13th Top 40 hit Stateside. It was also successful internationally, it reached the top five in the United Kingdom and Ireland, the top ten in Japan, the top twenty in New Zealand, Switzerland, Germany, and the top forty in Australia and France.
  • Although the album was successful and certified platinum by January 2005, it was all over shadowed by issues with The Inc and Def Jam. Label issues delayed the release of a second single. When it came down to either, "Don't Let Them" or "Don't Leave Me Alone", Ashanti chose her personal favorite and came out of pocket to deliver a music video. The single was only released in the US, where it failed to chart and reaching Number 38 in the UK. "Don't Let Them" was never promoted by the label and was the final single off Concrete Rose.

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Concrete Rose" (Intro)
  • Gotti
  • Aurelius
1:17
2."Still Down" (featuring T.I.)
  • Gotti
  • Flythe
  • Jimi Kendrix (co.)
4:13
3."Message to the Fans" (Skit)
  • Gotti
  • Aurelius
0:23
4."Only U"
  • Gotti
  • Aurelius
3:06
5."Focus"
  • Douglas
  • Aurelius
  • Gotti
  • Barnes
  • Lerner
  • Gotti
  • Aurelius
3:17
6."Don't Let Them"
  • Douglas
  • Gotti
  • Demetrius McGhee
  • Earl Randle
  • Lawrence Seymour
  • Willie Mitchell
  • Yvonne Mitchell
  • Gotti
  • Demi-Doc
4:23
7."Love Again"
  • Gotti
  • Aurelius
4:08
8."Take Me Tonight" (featuring Lloyd)
  • Gotti
  • Jimi Kendrix
4:05
9."U"
  • Gotti
  • Aurelius
3:35
10."Every Lil' Thing"
  • Douglas
  • Aurelius
  • Gotti
  • Gotti
  • Aurelius
3:56
11."Turn It Up" (featuring Ja Rule)
  • Gotti
  • Kendrix
4:16
12."Buck 3000" (Skit)  0:22
13."So Hot"
4:57
14."Don't Leave Me Alone" (featuring 7 Aurelius)
  • Douglas
  • Aurelius
  • Gotti
  • Gotti
  • Aurelius
3:33
15."Sister Stories" (Skit) (featuring Shi Shi)Douglas 0:45
16."Freedom"
  • Douglas
  • Gotti
  • McGhee
  • Gotti
  • Demi-Doc
3:51
17."Wonderful" (Remix) (featuring Ja Rule & R. Kelly)
  • Gotti
  • Kendrix
4:41

Personnel

Charts

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/Sales
Japan (RIAJ)[21] Gold 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[22] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[23] Platinum 1,000,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. 1 2 "Concrete Rose by Ashanti".
  2. ↑ AllMusic review
  3. ↑ "Billboard review". Archived from the original on December 18, 2004. Retrieved 2012-09-10.
  4. ↑ Fiore, Raymond (2004-12-20). "Concrete Rose Review". Entertainment Weekly: 71. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
  5. ↑ Collins, Hattie (10 December 2004). "CD: Ashanti, Concrete Rose". the Guardian.
  6. ↑ Hochman, Baz Dreisinger; Steve Appleford; Steve (2 January 2005). "Something gets lost in Em's mix" – via LA Times.
  7. ↑ "Ashanti: Concrete Rose". 3 February 2005.
  8. ↑ "Rolling Stone review". Archived from the original on June 7, 2008. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
  9. ↑ "Ashanti Concrete Rose - Album Review - Slant Magazine".
  10. ↑ "USATODAY.com - 'Concrete Rose' has consistency". usatoday30.usatoday.com.
  11. ↑ "Memory Lane Music Group - Page not found". www.memorylanemusicgroup.com.
  12. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Ashanti – Concrete Rose" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  13. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Ashanti – Concrete Rose". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  14. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Ashanti – Concrete Rose" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  15. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Ashanti – Concrete Rose". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  16. ↑ "Ashanti | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  17. ↑ "Ashanti Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  18. ↑ "Ashanti Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  19. ↑ "Billboard 200 Albums - Year-End 2004". Billboard. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  20. ↑ "R&B/Hip-Hop Albums - Year-End 2004". Billboard. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  21. ↑ "Japanese album certifications – Ashanti – Concrete Rose" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved 2017-06-12.
  22. ↑ "British album certifications – Ashanti – Concrete Rose". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2017-04-24. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Enter Concrete Rose in the search field and then press Enter.
  23. ↑ "American album certifications – Ashanti – Concrete Rose". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2017-04-24. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
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