The Love & War MasterPeace is the third studio album by American singer Raheem DeVaughn. It was released by Jive Records on March 2, 2010. The album was also released as a deluxe edition with an additional disc of bonus material. Recording sessions for the album took place during 2008 to 2009 and production was handled primarily by Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez.

Background Production for the album was handled primarily by Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez, with contributions from Ne-Yo, Stereotypes, and Lil' Ronnie, among others. In a press release for the album, DeVaughn explained its title, stating "I named the album The Love & War MasterPeace because I feel that where I am as a person and where we are as a people, we are all trying to master that internal peace and happiness in a very strange time."Columnist. Singer/Songwriter Raheem DeVaughn Returns With New Album 'The Love and War Masterpeace' On March 2nd. PR Newswire. Retrieved on 2010-03-05. In an interview for Vibe, he described the album as "half socially conscious, half love".Wete, Brad. Raheem DeVaughn: 'MasterPeace' Is 'On The Last Poets Vibe'. Vibe. Retrieved on 2010-03-05. In an interview with Pete Lewis of Blues & Soul, DeVaughn discussed his intentions for the album, stating "The plan from the gate was to have the two vibes - social conscience and love/romance. And, with that being definitely something that Marvin Gaye was known for I think that's why I get those comparisons with him."Raheem DeVaughn interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' May 2010

Singles The album's lead single, "Bulletproof", was released on September 22, 2009, and features rapper Ludacris. The single charted at number 46 on the U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, number 64 on the European Hot 100 Singles, and number 48 on the Canadian Hot 100.[ Raheem DeVaughn Album & Song Chart History – R&B/Hip-Hop Songs]. Billboard. Retrieved on 2010-12-04. "Lyin to Myself" was released promotionally on December 1, 2009. Prefixmag reviewed the song praising Raheem for his "lyrics, voice and style."Martin, Andrew. Review: Lyin To Myself, prefixmag.com, December 1, 2009 "I Don't Care" was released as the album's second single on January 25, 2010. It spent 20 weeks and peaked at number 36 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. The album's third single "B.O.B." was released June 20, 2010.Ballerific Music - Raheem DeVaughn's 2nd Single: B.O.B "Man vs. Machine". Baller Alert. Retrieved on 2010-07-10. The single peaked at number 79 and spent five weeks on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

Critical response

The Love & War MasterPeace was well received by music critics. Billboard writer Gail Mitchell praised the album's themes and music, writing "Drawing from a palette rich in R&B, hip-hop and jazz, DeVaughn has crafted a powerful, thought-provoking album".Mitchell, Gail. Review: The Love & War MasterPeace. Billboard. Retrieved on 2010-03-11. Giving it out of 5 stars, AllMusic writer Andy Kellman cited The Love & War MasterPeace as "one of the most grippingly conscious major-label R&B albums of the last 30 years", viewing its love-themed songs as "imaginative and excellent" and praising its socially conscious material.Kellman, Andy. [ Review: The Love & War MasterPeace]. AllMusic. Retrieved on 2010-03-05. The Washington Posts Sarah Godfrey called it "a masterpiece" and compared DeVaughn to soul musician Marvin Gaye, writing "like Gaye, he can deliver songs for both babymaking and movement-building".Godfrey, Sarah. Review: The Love & War MasterPeace. The Washington Post. Retrieved on 2010-03-05. Ken Capobianco of The Boston Globe praised DeVaughn's vocals and called the album a "smartly executed set".Capobianco, Ken. Review: The Love & War MasterPeace. The Boston Globe. Retrieved on 2010-03-05. Toronto Star writer Ashante Infantry gave it out of 4 stars and called it "a grooving, unconventional and utterly compelling album".Infantry, Ashante. Review: The Love & War MasterPeace. Toronto Star. Retrieved on 2010-04-01.

Despite viewing its thematic concept as flawed, Washington City Paper writer Ben Westhoff praised its "wild ambition" and musical quality, stating "it instead works in the realm of the lush, the dark, and the dramatic, striving for a chiseled-in-granite sound. There’s not a note out of place here; the music is at times sweeping and blustery, at other times cautious and foreboding".Westhoff, Ben. Review: The Love & War MasterPeace. Washington City Paper. Retrieved on 2010-03-05. Detroit Free Press writer Brian McCollum gave the album 3 out of 4 stars and wrote that it "dances a careful line between oldfangled soul and commercial R&B".McCollum, Brian. Review: The Love & War MasterPeace. Detroit Free Press. Retrieved on 2010-03-05. Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote that The Love & War Masterpeace is "destined to be split into separate love and war playlists", but ultimately praised DeVaughn's themes of "social consciousness and seduction", writing "at least Mr. DeVaughn has more than one thing on his mind".Pareles, Jon. Review: The Love & War MasterPeace. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2010-04-10. The Philadelphia Inquirers A.D. Amorosi viewed its skits by Dr. Cornel West as "confident and paternal", and wrote that the album "finds DeVaughn embracing his political side with a sociocultural vision that's subtle, sharp, and never loses track of its contagious songcraft".Amorosi, A.D. Review: The Love & War MasterPeace. The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved on 2010-03-07.

The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album, presented at the 53rd Grammy Awards in 2011.Nominees: 2010 - 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards. Grammy.com. Retrieved on 2010-12-02.

Commercial performance The album debuted at number nine on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 45,000 copies in the United States.Greenblatt, Leah. Lady Antebellum Returns to the Top of the Charts. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2010-03-10. It also entered at number three on Billboards R&B/Hip-Hop Albums,R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Week of March 20, 2010). Billboard. Retrieved on 2010-04-01. and reached number 11 on Billboards Digital Albums chart.[ Billboard Albums: The Love & War MasterPeace]. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2010-04-01. It ultimately spent 10 weeks on the Billboard 200 and 36 weeks on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.[ Raheem DeVaughn Album & Song Chart History – Billboard 200]. Billboard. Retrieved on 2010-12-04.[ Raheem DeVaughn Album & Song Chart History – R&B/Hip-Hop Albums]. Billboard. Retrieved on 2010-12-04. By August 2013, the album had sold 179,000 copies in the United States.

Track listing

Notes signifies a co-producer Sample credits "Bulletproof" contains a sample from "The Other Side of Town" as written and performed by Curtis Mayfield. "Revelations 2010" contains samples from Isaac Hayes's "The Look of Love," Mobb Deep's "Survival of the Fittest," and Jay-Z's "Can I Live." "Wing & a Prayer" contains a sample from "I Found the Spirit" as performed by The Four Tops.

Personnel Credits for The Love & War MasterPeace adapted from Allmusic.[ Credits: The Love & War MasterPeace]. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2010-03-05.

Musicians

Algebra – vocals Eugenia "Chinablac" Bess – background vocals Bilal – vocals Mike Ciro – bass, guitar, sitar Citizen Cope – vocals Phil Cornish – keyboards Rudy Currence – vocals Dave Darlington – keyboards Alfredo de la Fé – strings Chico DeBarge – vocals Raheem DeVaughn – executive producer, vocal arrangement, vocals Dwele – vocal arrangement, vocals Anthony Hamilton – vocals Patrick Hayes – guitar

Shelby Johnson – vocals Debbie Knapper – guitar Ledisi – vocals Ludacris – vocals Damian Marley – vocals Chrisette Michele – vocals James Preston – keyboards Luisito Quintero – percussion Jill Scott – vocal arrangement, vocals Jerard Snell – drums Leonard "E-Flat" Stephens – keyboards Wale – vocals Shawn Whitley – bass, keyboards Malik Yusef – vocals

Production

Ivan "Orthodox" Barias – engineer, keyboards, producer, programming Leslie Brathwaite – mixing DJ Wayne Williams – A&R Kenny Dope – producer John Drye – mixing Jeff Fenster – A&R John Frye – mixing Carvin "Ransum" Haggins – engineer, producer Yas Inoue – engineer Ronnie "Lil Ronnie" Jackson – producer Jaycen Joshua – mixing Jamil "Face" Johnson – engineer Larry "Rock" Campbell – A&R Chris "Symfonikz" Lewis – programming Giancarlo Lino – assistant

Joyal McNeil – make-up Jackie Murphy – art direction Ne-Yo – producer Richie Owings – prop stylist Herb Powers – mastering Mike Pratt – assistant Tennyson Richards – groomer Nick Roache – engineer Brea Stinson – stylist Randee St. Nicholas – photography Stereotypes – producer Symfonikz – producer Big Bob Terry – producer, programming Denise Trotman – art direction, design Jerry Vines – executive producer, management, producer

Charts

Weekly charts + Weekly chart performance for The Love & War MasterPeace Chart (2010) Peak position

Year-end charts + Year-end chart performance for The Love & War MasterPeace Chart (2010) Position US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) 51

References

External links

Raheem DeVaughn: Class Act at Blues & Soul R&B's Raheem DeVaughn... 'Masterpeace' at The Washington Post