Royalty is the seventh studio album by American singer and songwriter Chris Brown. It was released on December 18, 2015, by CBE and RCA Records. The album was anticipated by the mixtape Before the Party, released as its prelude, and serves as the follow-up to his sixth album X (2014). The album is named after the singer's first daughter, Royalty, whom the album is dedicated to.
Royalty is mainly an R&B and alternative R&B album, while also exploring funk, pop and trap music. Brown described the lyrical content as a representation of his life experiences during that period. While collaborating with various producers on the album, it showcases the least number of guest appearances compared to his previous works. Royalty received mixed reviews from music critics.
The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200, selling 184,000 units in its first week, marking an improvement over Brown's last three studio albums. It also became his eighth consecutive album to debut in the top-ten in the United States. Royalty was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for combined equivalent units of 1,000,000 units.
Four singles preceded the album's release: "Liquor", "Zero", "Back to Sleep", and "Fine by Me". Its third single "Back to Sleep" became the album's biggest success, peaking at number 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Brown directed and released eight music videos for the songs of the album, serializing them to construct a linear story.
Background and recording Brown discussed the possibility of releasing two distinct versions of the album: an urban edition tailored for the US market and a global version that would substitute some urban tracks with uptempo, pop-oriented songs. Ultimately, he decided to release the majority of these tracks on an EP titled Royalty International, opting to primarily include R&B tracks in the album.
Recording sessions for Royalty took place in late 2014 and throughout 2015 at Record Plant in Los Angeles, California. In November 2015, during an interview with Hot 97, Brown talked about the significance of the title, named after his daughter Royalty Brown: Brown also explained why Royalty is his album with fewer guest appearances: "this body of work had to be about me. Me getting my rhythm back into doing my thing, what I experienced during my evolution as a man into becoming a father. It's about the life that i am living right now, and i wanted to tell it by myself (...) on this album you hear what I've been through, where I'm at, and where I'm tryna go, all in one".
Composition Royalty is an R&B and alternative R&B album that encompasses funk, trap and pop music. According to Iyana Robertson of Vibe, Brown on the album "sticks to the absence of a sonic script", showcasing "a pure, palpable display of an “outside of the box” approach to music". Its lyrical content explores promiscuity, breakup, recklessness and unconditional love. Robertson said that lyrically the album "waves goodbye to amour on its way out the door", noting it to be "a stark contrast to 2014's X, which included professions of affection".
The opening track "Back to Sleep" is an R&B slow jam about late night sex, that features beats and minor influences of funk music, reminiscent of Marvin Gaye's 1982 song "Sexual Healing". "Fine by Me" is a nu-disco song, inspired by 80s music, with lyrics about the singer feeling comfortable not being the love interest of a specific lady, but only her sex partner. "Wrist" is a trap song that also borrows from R&B and hip hop. Brad Wete of Billboard defined it as "a syrupy thumper blending hip-hop and R&B, almost serving as a Southern update of his 2011 hit “Look at Me Now”". "Make Love" is a "90s-inspired" R&B slow jam. "Zero" and "No Filter" are disco and funk records that were compared by some critics to works of American band Chic and French electronic music duo Daft Punk, with lyrics that have been described as "unapologetic". "Anyway" is a dance-pop song which features an auto-tuned chorus sung by Tayla Parx. "Picture Me Rollin’" is a G-funk song about living the thug life, featuring different references from West Coast rap. "Who's Gonna (Nobody)" is a "lascivious" R&B and alternative R&B slow-jam, that interpolates "Nobody" performed by Keith Sweat featuring Athena Cage.
"Proof" and "Discover" are alternative R&B songs, with lyrics about painful perspectives in romantic relationships.Vice.com "Proof" was described by Brad Wete of Billboard as “a slow-winding tornado where [Brown] struggles to mend a relationship mangled by lies and insecurity. He's severed ties with exes and uses lines like “Whenever shit got deep, I would've drowned for you” as evidence of his dedication"”, while "Discover" was noted for its "dreamy atmosphere" and "sorrowful vocals", with Brown "futilely yearning for the second chance he doesn't deserve". The album's standard edition ends with "Little More", a pop record where the singer explains to his daughter his love for her.
"Day One" is an urban midtempo song. "KAE" is a song dedicated to the singer's ex-girlfriend, Karrueche Tran. According to Brown “The song is saying that the relationship is no more. I'm expressing the time apart and the space that's between two people who loved each other”. The last track of the deluxe edition of Royalty is "U Did It", an "atmospheric" slow alternative R&B song with elements of trap music, featuring vocals from American rapper Future.
Artwork The artwork of the album was revealed on October 16, 2015, and was shot by Italian photographer Francesco Carrozzini, portraying Brown holding his daughter Royalty in his arms while she is sleeping, in a black and white picture. The photoshoot for the album took place in October 2015, a few days prior to the announcement of the album cover. Billboard described the cover as a "tender representation of Brown's private feelings". Rap-Up said that the cover shows "a genuine intimate portrait of father and daughter".
Release and promotion In the latter months of 2014 and throughout 2015, Chris Brown shared snippets of his upcoming music by posting short videos on his social media accounts and performing unreleased tracks during club appearances.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: On June 25, 2015, the singer announced that his seventh album would be released during autumn 2015. The following day he released the album's lead single, titled "Liquor". On August 22, 2015, the singer revealed on his Twitter account, that his upcoming album would be titled "Royalty", in honor of his daughter (named Royalty Brown).
On October 13, 2015, Brown announced that Royalty would be released on November 27, 2015. On October 16, 2015, he revealed the album cover. After it was revealed that the album had been pushed back to December 18, 2015, in exchange on November 27, 2015, he released a free 34-track mixtape, called Before the Party, as a prelude to Royalty. The mixtape features guest appearances from Rihanna, Wiz Khalifa, Pusha T, Wale, Tyga, French Montana and Fetty Wap.
On December 3, 2015, the track "Wrist" featuring Solo Lucci was released along with an iTunes pre-order of the album. On December 11, 2015, the track "Anyway" was released as an instant grat with pre-orders. The next day, iTunes offered a preview of the first 30 seconds of each track from the album.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:
Brown promoted Royalty through a series of radio interviews and live performances of songs from the album on various televised shows, including Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Taraji & Terrence's White Hot Holidays Power 106 Cali Christmas 2015 and at the 3rd iHeartRadio Music Awards. Brown also did three shows leading up to the December 18 release date of Royalty, all at relatively small venues for the arena-touring singer, to promote the release. The live shows took place on December 13 at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, on December 16 at The Masonic in San Francisco, and on December 18 at Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles.
The album was released on December 18, 2015, by CBE and RCA, in a standard edition containing 14 tracks, an international deluxe edition with four additional tracks, and a Japanese and f.y.e. deluxe edition featuring two more tracks than the international deluxe edition. On Christmas Day, the EP Royalty International was released. The four-track EP contained the two tracks that were previously exclusive to the Japanese deluxe edition.
Singles The album's lead single, "Liquor" was released on June 26, 2015. The song was produced by ToneStith. On September 22, 2015, the music video premiered, sharing along with the music video for "Zero". The song has since peaked at number 60 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
The album's second single, "Zero" was released on September 18, 2015. The song was produced by Riley Bell, Matthew Burnett and Tushar Apte. On September 22, 2015, the music video was released for "Zero", while sharing along with the music video for "Liquor". The song has since peaked at number 80 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
The song, titled "Back to Sleep" was premiered via SoundCloud on November 5, 2015. It was officially released as the album's third single on November 9, 2015. The song was produced by Vinylz and Boi-1da. On December 14, 2015, Brown uploaded and released the music video for "Back to Sleep" on his YouTube and Vevo account. The video begins, after the conclusion of Brown's "Fine By Me" music video. The song has since peaked at number 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100 making it Brown's highest-charting single from Royalty in the United States.
"Fine by Me" was released, along with the pre-order on iTunes on November 26, 2015. On the following day, it was officially released as the album's fourth single. The song was produced by The Monsters and the Strangerz. The video begins at the end of his video "Zero", and shows a clip from his other video "Liquor".Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:
Other songs The track "Wrist" featuring Solo Lucci, was released as part of the countdown single, with the pre-order of the album on December 4, 2015. On December 15, 2015, Brown uploaded the music video from the song.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:
The track "Anyway" was released as an instant grat with pre-orders on December 11, 2015. It was produced by BLAQTUXEDO and features guest appearances from Tayla Parx.
The music video for "Picture Me Rollin’" was uploaded and released on December 17, 2015. Scott Disick, French Montana, Cal Scruby, Kid Red, ASAP Ferg, and ASAP Rocky, all make their cameo appearances in this video.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:
On December 18, 2015, Brown uploaded the music video for "Little More (Royalty)" on his YouTube and Vevo account.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: The song has since peaked at number 91 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Music video series Brown directed and released eight music videos for Royalty, serializing them to construct a linear story. Vice described the music video series as a "34-minute magnum opus". At the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards Royalty was nominated for "Breakthrough Long Form Video".
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