Notes & Personnel Info |  | Personnel include: Fantasia (vocals); Jazze Pha (rap vocals); Tank , The Underdogs (various instruments); Charles Pettaway (guitar); Eric Dawkins, Missy Elliott, Tamyra Gray, Lil Steve, Jazmine Sullivan (background vocals). | | Recording information: The Underlab, Los Angels, CA; The Hit Factory, Criteria, Miami, Florida; Soulpower Studios, Los Angeles, CA; Quad Recording, New York, New York. | | The first season of AMERICAN IDOL built up to the final week where Kelly Clarkson won most of the spoils. The second season swiftly closed to a battle between Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard, with both achieving superstardom. In its third season, the variety show seemed to result in record deals for almost all of the finalists; however, it was the tough-edged, soulful voice of Fantasia Barrino that finally overwhelmed the judges. | | Recording simply as Fantasia, the young singer with the powerful and richly seductive style debuts with FREE YOURSELF, a collection showing off her immense range, as she tries her hand (and excels) at many different types of music. She opens with the classic, mournful soul of "Ain't Gon' Beg You," followed by back-to-back 1970s-inspired songs, the title track and "Truth Is." Fantasia has certainly mastered the treat-me-right R&B ballad, but she also shows a different side on her traditional rendition of the jazz standard "Summertime." On the other end of the spectrum, she doesn't slip when served with a Jazze Pha hip-hop background on "Don't Act Right." To win AMERICAN IDOL, Fantasia had to be proficient in many genres, and FREE YOURSELF reveals her victory to be no fluke. |
Producer: The Underdogs; Missy Elliott; SoulShock & Karlin |
Engineer: Bill Malina; Steve Churchyard |
Musical Guests | | Missy Elliott | | Jazze Pha | | Tamyra Gray |
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