Mahogany Soul is the second studio album by American singer Angie Stone. It was first released in the United States on October 16, 2001, by J Records. Conceived after her departure from Arista, the transition allowed Stone to exert more artistic control over the album for which she enlisted a variety of producers and songwriters, including Raphael Saadiq, Warryn Campbell, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Chucky Thompson, Swizz Beatz, and others, though she co-wrote or produced on most of the material herself.
The album received generally positive reviews by music critics, some of whom would call it a defining moment of the neo soul movement of the early 2000s as well as Stone's masterpiece in the years after. It debuted and peaked at number 22 on the Billboard 200, reaching Gold status in the United States, and entered the top ten in Finland and the top 20 in Belgium and the Netherlands, becoming the singer's highest-charting international success. By 2004, the album has sold more than a million copies worldwide.
Mahogany Soul spawned four singles, three of which became her biggest hits, including the R&B top ten hit "Brotha" and its remix "Brotha Part II," featuring singer Alicia Keys and rapper Eve, as well as the Dance Club Songs number-one hit "Wish I Didn't Miss You" and "More Than a Woman," a duet with singer Joe that earned both singers a Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 45th awards ceremony. In 2002, Stone embarked on the Mahogany Soul Tour.
Background In 1997, after years of primarily working as a songwriter and arranger, Stone signed with Arista Records and began work on her debut solo album Black Diamond. Released in September 1999, the album catapulted her to the forefront of the neo soul movement of the late-1990s to early-2000s. It produced the R&B top ten hit "No More Rain (In This Cloud)" and earned a Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), selling more than 800,000 copies domestically. In 2001, Stone followed Arista head Clive Davis to his new label J Records. The transition allowed her to exert more artistic control over her next album for which enlisted a variety of musicians to work with her, including Raphael Saadiq, Warryn Campbell, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Chucky Thompson, and others.
Recording of the album started in September 2000. In a 2001 interview with Billboard magazine, she commented on the process: "I was dealing with a brand-new baby — a two-month-old sleeping in the studio as I played and recorded – and post-partum blues, feeling sorry for myself. This album is the grits and the gravy." Stone further described Mahogany Soul as "warmer, with more heartfeld lyrics" and called it a "well-rounded, adult album, with youthful, street sensibilities." In a 2018 interview, she cited the album as her "defining musical achievement," adding: "Mahogany Soul was mostly me. It wasn't watered down by anyone else's help. I had some lyrical help to some degree, but I started it, somebody jumped on the bandwagon and either I finished it or we finished it. But all the concepts and subject matters came from a very, very broken [...] young woman, and a very headstrong woman at the same time."
Critical reception
AllMusic editor Jose F. Promis called the album "one of the best R&B albums of 2001". He found that Mahogany Soul "delivers more of the organic, gritty, rootsy yet sophisticated soul which put her on the map as a solo artist. The production is great and the songs are funky, mature, and intelligent, but when she truly shines is when she actually spreads her wings and glides away from her neo-soul trappings, which she manages effortlessly." Similarly, the Los Angeles Times wrote: "There is a sense throughout of real stories, real people, real emotions – and that's as good a definition as any for true soul music. One of the year's most commanding works." Billboard remarked: "Stronger musically and lyrically, Mahogany Soul oozes with heart-warming energy that's simultaneously contemporary and old-school. Stone once again rolls her gospel-honed vocals around real-life issues and emotion-filled lyrics."
Reviewing for PopMatters in October 2001, Mark Anthony Neal hailed Mahogany Soul as "an accomplished piece of R&B music" in a year with other impressive debut albums by singers in the genre, including Alicia Keys' Songs in A Minor, Bilal's 1st Born Second, and Res's How I Do. He highlighted Stone's detailed lyrics, casually sassy "down-home" persona, and use of sophisticated samples in the context of authentic soul music. In response to the popular reception for the lead single "Brotha", Neal said he regards it as a "passionate and thoughtful defense" of African-American men, while pointing out "brutally trenchant" perspectives of men elsewhere in the album's relationship songs. Rolling Stones Barry Walters found that "like its title suggests, Mahogany Soul isn't flashy [or] even all that catchy [...] Like D'Angelo, Stone specializes in dramatic moods expressed with mellow methods. Give her understated passion time to marinate, and Stone's soul picnic will satisfy."
Entertainment Weekly journalist Tom Sinclair felt that "too often Mahogany falls into the same artistic cul-de-sac that made D'Angelos Voodoo more admirable than enjoyable; the preponderance of tastefully atmospheric filler topped with melismatic vocal athletics makes Mahogany more so-so than soulful." The Village Voice critic Robert Christgau was less enthusiastic, singling out "Brotha" and "Bottles and Cans" as highlights while finding the album in general to be "longer on groove than song" and "longer on song than the brothas". Stephen Dalton from NME called the album "well-made, but very boring nu-soul stuff." He found that "Stone is stranded in prematurely middle-aged MOR." Writing in 2009 for BBC Online, Daryl Easlea said Mahogany Soul "remains her masterpiece" and called it "a confident musical statement of what it means to be African-American [that] came to define the neo-soul movement of the early 21st century".
Year-end lists + Appearances on year-end lists for Mahogany Soul Publication Accolade Editor Rank Billboard Critic's Choice (2001) Staff 3 Rolling Stone Top Albums of 2001 Steve Knopper 7 PopMatters Best of 2001 – Soul Maurice Bottomley 1
Chart performance Mahogany Soul debuted and peaked at number 22 on the US Billboard 200 in the week of November 24, 2001, selling 71,000 copies in its first week of release. It also entered the top five of the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, reaching number four. On February 12, 2002, it was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of more than 500,000 units. By June 2002, Mahogany Soul had sold 615,783 units in the US and as of September 2003 has sold 758,000 copies domestically. In July 2004, The Advocate reported that the album has sold more than a million copies worldwide.
Track listing
Notes signifies a co-producer signifies a programming producer signifies an associate producer signifies a remixer and additional producer
Sample credits "Snowflakes" contains elements from "Let's Make Love Now" by The Supremes and the Four Tops. "Wish I Didn't Miss You" contains elements from "Back Stabbers" by The O'Jays. "The Ingredients of Love" contains replayed elements from "Red Clay" by Freddie Hubbard. "20 Dollars" contains elements from "Simply Beautiful" by Al Green. "Brotha Part II" contains excerpts from "I'll Play the Blues for You" by Albert King. "Time of the Month" contains replayed elements from "I Can't Say No" by Natalie Cole.
Personnel Credits adapted from the liner notes of Mahogany Soul.
Musicians
Angie Stone – vocals ; bass, percussion ; background vocals ; Rhodes piano ; arrangement ; vocal arrangement ; Wurlitzer ; crowd participation Sherena Wynn – background vocals Tenita Dreher – background vocals Stephanie Bolton – background vocals Eran Tabib – drum programming, keyboards ; acoustic guitar ; guitars ; classical guitar ; drums ; electric guitar ; strings ; all instruments Aubrey Dayle – percussion Raphael Saadiq – guitars, bass Harold Lilly – keyboards ; background vocals Jake and the Phatman – turntables, drum programming Chucky T – drums, bass Daniel Sadownick – percussion Calvin – vocals Clifton Lighty – background vocals Balewa Muhammad – background vocals Swizz Beatz – arrangement Joe Kwimbee – bass, guitars Andrea Martin – background vocals Warryn "Baby Dubb" Campbell – all instruments John "Jubu" Smith – guitar Gerald "Da Clean Up Man" Isaac – arrangement Jonathan DuBose Jr. – guitar Dewey "Bassman" Browder – bass Ray Chew – string arrangements, string conducting Musiq Soulchild – vocals, background vocals, vocal arrangement Carvin Haggins – vocal arrangement Jamar Jones – organ, Rhodes piano Frankie "Rocco" Romano – guitar Ali Shaheed Muhammad – all instruments (except lead guitar) Bob Power – lead guitar Larry Peoples Sr. – bass ; crowd participation Jamal Peoples – Rhodes piano ; organ Larry Peoples Jr. – percussion Rufus Blaq – background vocals Ivan Neville – Hammond B-3 Robert Eldridge – tenor saxophone Reginald Hines – alto saxophone Paul Litteral – trumpet Aaron "Freedom" Lyles – Wurlitzer, drums, percussion, crowd participation E. Serrano – crowd participation Rodney Davis – additional keyboards Alicia Keys – vocals Eve – vocals Kerry "Krucial" Brothers – all instruments (except bass), digital programming Rufus Jackson – bass Eric Lorde – additional keyboards
Technical
Angie Stone – production ; co-production ; executive production Eran Tabib – production Tim Donovan – engineering ; recording ; mixing Jon Shriver – engineering Jeremy Mitchell – engineering assistance Rowie Nameri – engineering assistance Steven Maldonado – engineering assistance "Prince" Charles Alexander – mixing Richard Furch – mixing assistance Raphael Saadiq – production Jake and the Phatman – co-production Danny Romero – recording, additional recording Regula Merz – recording assistance Rich Palmer – recording assistance Derek Carlfon – additional recording assistance Chucky T – programming production Flip Osman – engineering ; mixing assistance Paul Oliveira – engineering assistance ; recording assistance, mixing assistance Zach Prewitt – engineering assistance Kyle W. – engineering assistance Tony Maserati – mixing Eddie F – production Darren Lighty – production "You Can Ask" Giz – recording, mixing Erick Ferrell – mixing assistance Kevin Perry – mixing assistance Rufus Blaq – co-production Jason Hariston – associate production Ivan Matias – production Andrea Martin – production Swizz Beatz – co-production Warryn "Baby Dubb" Campbell – production Jan Fairchild – recording Manny Marroquin – mixing Farah Fima – mixing assistance Sandra Campbell – project coordination Gerald "Da Clean Up Man" Isaac – production, recording Edwin Ramos – recording Ivan "Orthodox" Barias – production Carvin "Ransum" Haggins – production Charles "Storm" Martinez – recording Jeff Chestek – recording Serban Ghenea – mixing Ali Shaheed Muhammad – production Claudio Cueni – recording Ian Blanch – recording assistance Bob Power – mixing Aaron "Freedom" Lyles – production, recording Michael Conrader – engineering Jay Nicholas – engineering assistance Halsey Quemere – engineering assistance Jason Tumminello – mixing assistance Kerry "Krucial" Brothers – remix, additional production Tony Black – recording, mixing Peter Edge – executive production Breyon Prescott – executive production Herb Powers Jr. – mastering
Artwork Warwick Saint – photography Alli – art direction, design Eric Altenburger – digital imaging Kenny Gravillis – CD label logo and art Chris LeBeau – photo session production
Charts
Weekly charts