| Product Summary | | Label: Uni/def Jam | | UPC: 00731454681629 | | Release Date: 11/30/1999 | | Buy.com Sku: 60371712 | | Item#: MXGHC2 | | Buy.com Sales Rank: 25079 | Format:  CD |
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| Song Listing |  |
(P) 1999 UMG Recordings, Inc.
(C) 1999 The Island Def Jam Music Group
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| | Album Notes and Credits |
Notes & Personnel Info |  | Personnel includes: Sisqo, Dru Hill, Make It Hot, Lovher (vocals); Beanie Sigel, Ja Rule, Nokio (rap vocals); Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds (various instruments); Bruce Dukov (violin); Nate Morring (piano); Jae Dea (keyboards, bass); N8 (keyboards); Jarod Barnes (drums, percussion); Kiehl (programming); Shae Jones, Butler (background vocals). | | Producers include: Sisqo, Nokio, Montell Jordan, Warren Campbell, Babyface. | | Engineers include: Jane Fairchild, CJ Devilla, Anthony Jeffries. | | Recorded at Larrabee West, Los Angeles, California; The Tracken Place, Los Angeles, California; Enterprise Studios, Burbank, California; Record Plant, North Hollywood, California. | | UNLEASH THE DRAGON was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best R&B Album, Sisqo was nominated for Best New Artist and "Thong Song" was nominated for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and for Best R&B Song. | | Personnel includes: Sisqo, Dru Hill, Make It Hot, Lovher (vocals); Beanie Sigel, Ja Rule, Nokio (rap vocals); Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds (various instruments); Bruce Dukov (violin); Nate Morring (piano); Jae Dea (keyboards, bass); N8 (keyboards); Jarod Barnes (drums, percussion); Kiehl (programming); Shae Jones, Butler (background vocals). | | Producers include: Sisqo, Nokio, Montell Jordan, Warren Campbell, Babyface. | | Engineers include: Jane Fairchild, CJ Devilla, Anthony Jeffries. | | Recorded at Larrabee West, Los Angeles, California; The Tracken Place, Los Angeles, California; Enterprise Studios, Burbank, California; Record Plant, North Hollywood, California. | | UNLEASH THE DRAGON was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best R&B Album, Sisqo was nominated for Best New Artist and "Thong Song" was nominated for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and for Best R&B Song. | | Lyricist: Beanie Sigel. | | Personnel: Dru Hill (vocals); Bruce Dukov (violin); Jarod Barnes (drums, percussion); Kiehl (drum programming); Sisq¢ The Golden Child, Babyface (background vocals). | | Audio Mixers: Manny Marroquin; Jan Fairchild; Jon Gass; Axel Niehaus. | | Audio Remixer: Sisq¢ The Golden Child. | | Recording information: Brandon's Way, Hollywood, CA; Enterprise studios, Burbank, CA; Larrabee West, Los Angeles, CA; PAcifique Recording Studios, North Hollywod, CA; The Gin House; The Record Plant, North Hollywood, CA; Tracken Place, Los Angeles, CA. | | Photographer: Joseph Cultice. | | Arrangers: Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds; Sisq¢ The Golden Child; Jazz; Montell Jordan; Babyface. | | On his debut solo album, Dru Hill's finest singer, Sisq¢, explores rhythmic patterns and beats that borrow heavily from the contemporary R&B playbook, and he loads the tracks with whispered bedroom moans. Sisq¢ unleashes his inner dragon on the club thumper "Thong Song," beginning to sound like the ferocious soulman he fancies himself to be. Make It Hot's turn on the jittery "Got to Get It" offers some sparks. ~ Michael Gallucci | | By the end of his debut solo album, Dru Hill's finest singer, Sisq¢, has beaten the same rhythmic pattern, which is churned in and out of nearly every song, into the ground. Loaded with whispered bedroom moans, which have become late-'90s R&B clich?s, Unleash the Dragon is short on any real songs to justify the pointless replay of these familiar grooves. Only when he actually unleashes his inner dragon, like on the club thumper "Thong Song," does Sisq¢ sound at all like the ferocious soulman he fancies himself to be. There's also little distinction among the guest spots here (though Make It Hot's turn on the jittery "Got to Get It" offers some sparks). And once the beats -- which borrow heavily from the contemporary R&B playbook -- are programmed, there's little for Sisq¢ to do but coast along the grooves, with all the conviction and commitment of a soul robot. ~ Michael Gallucci | | Since 1995, whenever he hasn't been guesting on tracks by artists like Mya, Sisqo has been cutting his teeth with Baltimore's gritty soulsters Dru Hill. On UNLEASH THE DRAGON, he unfurls his soulful, sultry, and sensual voice in the solo arena. While the backbeats are of the Teddy Riley stop-start variety, his baritone vocals are like those of Luther, with just a touch of a Teddy growl. While the lyrics don't cover any new ground, do soul torch-songers really need to explore new topics? Love, after all, is eternal. | | Sisqo is aided in his coming out by a requisite cast of rappers. He chose the perfect reggae-drenched toasters for UNLEASH THE DRAGON in Beanie Sigel on the title track and in the underappreciated Ja Rule on the remix of "You Are Everything." The latter is one of the more alluring male siren songs, the best urban hang joint this side of Maxwell's best efforts; that is, of course, unless you also consider "Your Love Is Incredible" or "Incomplete." Okay, so Sisqo doesn't stray far from the Dru Hill formula, but it's an appealing formula that makes for an auspicious debut. | | Since 1995, whenever he hasn't been guesting on tracks by artists like Mya, Sisqo has been cutting his teeth with Baltimore's gritty soulsters Dru Hill. On UNLEASH THE DRAGON, he unfurls his soulful, sultry, and sensual voice in the solo arena. While the backbeats are of the Teddy Riley stop-start variety, his baritone vocals are like those of Luther, with just a touch of a Teddy growl. While the lyrics don't cover any new ground, do soul torch-songers really need to explore new topics? Love, after all, is eternal. | | Sisqo is aided in his coming out by a requisite cast of rappers. He chose the perfect reggae-drenched toasters for UNLEASH THE DRAGON in Beanie Sigel on the title track and in the underappreciated Ja Rule on the remix of "You Are Everything." The latter is one of the more alluring male siren songs, the best urban hang joint this side of Maxwell's best efforts; that is, of course, unless you also consider "Your Love Is Incredible" or "Incomplete." Okay, so Sisqo doesn't stray far from the Dru Hill formula, but it's an appealing formula that makes for an auspicious debut. |
Musical Guests | | Dru Hill | | Beanie Sigel | | Ja Rule | | Babyface | | Make It Hot | | Lovher |
| | Artist Overview | | Sisqo's suggestive "Thong Song" was one of the biggest dancefloor hits of 2000. Getting his start as part of R&B superstars Dru Hill, Sisqo took a leave of absence to launch his solo career with the album UNLEASH THE DRAGON, which became a huge success and established him as an artist in his own right. He also participated in the various Dru Hill reunion tours that took place after his original hiatus. |
| | Compilation Appearances |
| | Technical Info | | Release Date : 11/30/1999 | | Original Release Date : 1999 | | Catalog ID : 546816 | | Label : Def Jam (USA) | | Number of Discs : 1 | | Runtime : 51m : 3s | | Studio/Live : Studio | | Mono/Stereo : Stereo | | SPAR Code : n/a | | UPC : 00731454681629 |
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| | Professional Reviews | | Q (1/01, p.94)
- Included in Q's "50 Best Albums of 2000".Q (3/00, p.108)
- 4 stars out of 5 - "...on the strength of this, [SisQo] looks set to enjoy a bank account-friendly solo career. The recent single, 'Got To Get It', is a scintillating slab of R&B....Like most of [his] tunes, it's about sex..." Q (1/01, p.94)
- Included in Q's "50 Best Albums of 2000". Q (3/00, p.108)
- 4 stars out of 5 - "...on the strength of this, [SisQo] looks set to enjoy a bank account-friendly solo career. The recent single, 'Got To Get It', is a scintillating slab of R&B....Like most of [his] tunes, it's about sex..." Muzik (4/00, p.106)
- 4 out of 5 - "...Showcasing both his and fellow band member Nokio's growing production skills....this is a new Dru Hill album in all but name." Muzik (4/00, p.106)
- 4 out of 5 - "...Showcasing both his and fellow band member Nokio's growing production skills....this is a new Dru Hill album in all but name." The Source (1/00, p.194)
- "...all the crisp, clean vocals and predictable, yet satisfying synthesizer instrumentation of any Dru Hill tune... The Source (1/00, p.194)
- "...all the crisp, clean vocals and predictable, yet satisfying synthesizer instrumentation of any Dru Hill tune... |
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