Round 2 is the second studio album by American recording artist J. Holiday, it was released on March 10, 2009, by Music Line Group and Capitol Records. It is the follow-up to his debut album, Back of My Lac', which was released in 2007. This record would later be his final studio release with Capitol. The album was supported by the lone single, "It's Yours", which achieved moderate chart success.
Upon release, Round 2 received mixed reviews from music critics, who complimented its production and songwriting and was considered to be an improvement from his previous album.
Singles The first single "It's Yours", was released on December 16, 2008. The song had achieved minor chart success, debuting at number 25 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and also debuting at number 33 on the Japan Hot 100 chart. A music video was released and directed by Jonathan Mannion.
The second single that was supposed to be released was Fall, but due to label problems it was canceled like "Come Here" on his previous album.
Commercial performance The album sold 55,000 copies in its first week and debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200. The album has sold 300,000 copies in the United States.
Critical reception
Round 2 received mixed reviews from music critics. Andy Kellman of AllMusic said, "Holiday instead delivers a second album that is not a retread. It's not a reinvention, either, but the roster of collaborators is almost completely different, and Holiday all but eliminates the tough guy and stoner talk." Mark Edward Nero of About.com said Round 2 is a well-sung, well-written, well-produced album, but the one negative is that it's a little bland and leans too much on love songs. Nathan Slavik of DJBooth stated that Round 2 finds Holiday shifting away from Lac’s harder-edged image in favor of a smoother sound, resulting in a well-crafted album that shows that while Holiday's got a ways to go before he reaches elite status, no one will ever be able to call him a one-hit wonder again.
Track listing
Notes signifies an co-producer
Sample credits "Wrong Lover" contains interpolations from the composition "Hurry Up This way Again" written by Cynthia Biggs & Dexter Wansel.
Personnel Credits for Round 2 adapted from Allmusic.
All-Star – Audio Production, Engineer, Producer Karl Antoine – Composer Luke Austin – Audio Production, Composer, Keyboards, Producer Babbs – Composer Chris Bellman – Mastering Big Reese – Audio Production Cynthia Biggs – Composer Bowen – Composer Ronette Bowie – A&R David Brown – Composer, Vocal Arrangement Cameron – Composer Travis Cherry – Composer Mike Chesser – Producer, Audio Production, Composer Cmillions – Producer Colapietro – Composer Vito Colapietro – Composer The Co-Stars – Audio Production Chris Dave – Drums Chris 'Daddy' Dave – Drums, Woodwind Kevin "KD" Davis – Mixing Neely Dinkins – Engineer Neely Dinkins Jr. – Composer Nicole Frantz – Creative Director Moses Gallart – Mixing Assistant Adam Gibbs – Producer, Audio Production, Composer Gordon – Composer Green – Composer Grymes – Composer Reggie Hamlet – Producer Reginald Hamlet – Audio Production, Composer Chuck Harmony – Audio Production, Composer, Producer J. Holiday – Arranger, Audio Production, Engineer, Executive Producer, Primary Artist, Producer, Vocals (Background) Elizabeth Isik – A&R Jasper – Arranger, Audio Production, Drum Programming, Keyboards, Vocals (Background)
Jaycen Joshua – Mixing Jean – Composer Mike Johnson – Engineer Darius Jones – A&R Kori Lewis – Stylist Giancarlo Lino – Mixing Assistant Carlton Lynn – Engineer Erik Madrid – Mixing Assistant Ankur Malhotra – A&R Jonathan Mannion – Art Direction, Photography Manny Marroquin – Mixing McNair Jr. – Composer Ne-Yo – Audio Production, Producer Jon Ørom – Audio Production, Composer, Producer David Oromaner – Composer Dave Pensado – Mixing Christian Plata – Mixing Assistant The Platinum Brothers – Audio Production Geno Regist – Engineer Roberts – Composer April Roomet – Stylist Rick Ross – Featured Artist, Primary Artist Scantlebury – Composer Donnie Scantz – Arranger, Engineer, Keyboards, Programming Smith – Composer S. Smith – Composer State of Emergency – Audio Production Mark Stowbridge – Guitar Mark Strowbridge – Guitar James Thompson – Guitar (Bass) Randy Urbanski – Mixing Assistant Dexter Wansel – Composer John Webb – Guitar (Bass) John Webb – Guitar (Bass) Wellington – Composer Jules Wolfson – Audio Production, Composer, Producer Wright – Composer Andrew Wuepper – Mixing Assistant
Charts + Weekly chart performance for Round 2 Chart (2009) Peak position US Billboard 200 4 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) 2
References
External links