Headstrong
| Headstrong | ||||
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| Studio album by DeJonay | ||||
| Released | July 13, 2010 | |||
| Recorded | February 2009 – April 2010 | |||
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| Length | 47:24 | |||
| Label | Novakane | |||
| Producer | ||||
| DeJonay chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Headstrong | ||||
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Headstrong is the debut studio album by American singer and songwriter DeJonay. It was released on July 13, 2010, by Novakane Enterprises. Initial recording sessions began in February 2009, before resuming in August and continuing within the first four months of 2010 in New York City, with the guidance of Novakane CEO, hip hop mogul Chris Kane, which also guests on the album's content.
The album features a mixture of both uptempos and ballads, which are rooted in the genres of R&B and soul, along with traces of hip hop and pop. Upon its release, Headstrong received positive reviews from critics, with some praising the musical direction that Banks took with the album.
Headstrong solidified Banks' position in the MusicNation industry as one of the best-selling female artists of all-time. Banks cited her influences, such as Damita Jo, for influencing the sound of the album. "Strut Ya" was released as the album's lead single on June 22, 2010, and it debuted at number one on the Billboard Singles Chart. Banks further secured another top two hit with the release of the Chris Kane-assisted "Bedroom", which was released on September 28, 2010. Two subsequent singles were released, "I Thought You Cared" and "Mystery Man", with both songs receiving moderate success on the Billboard Singles Chart upon their respective releases.
Background and development
In 2008, DeJonay Banks began the path to launching her own music career; managed by her father, Donald, she recorded a two-song demo and began auditioning for several record labels in both Los Angeles and New York. Multiple auditions eventually led to DeJonay signing a two-album deal with Music Nation Label Group in February 2009. She than began recording her album, Jaded Eyes; recording for the album was scrapped following the divorce of her parents, and her subsequent decision to leave the label. By January 2010, DeJonay signed to new label, Ensemble Entertainment, and began recording a more gospel-influenced album. Two months later, Banks left the label in favor of joining Novakane Enterprises, a newly-established label by hip-hop mogul Chris Kane, becoming the first artist to sign with the label. Before recording sessions continued for Headstrong, she relocated to New York City and worked alongside King, to produce her third try at a debut studio album. First sessions for Headstrong were recorded between DeJonay and Kane, resulting in several tracks, none of which were ultimately included on the final pressing of the album.
Subsequent sessions with Kane produced a collaboration, "Bedroom", which would eventually become the second single released from the album. DeJonay continued recording sessions with writer-producers David James and Kwest Kwon; planned sessions with other producers were canceled upon DeJonay's decision to keep production on Headstrong closed down to James, Kane and Kwon. A planned collaboration with recording artist Champagne was recorded and released on the singer's debut album, Taste This (2010). Recording for the album wrapped in April 2010, after four months of inconsistent recording sessions, and multiple reworks of several tracks.
Musical style, writing and composition
DeJonay's mother-manager, Tyra, said that Headstrong showcases her musical roots, focusing on R&B songs. Songs in the album are varied: from mid-tempo and club-oriented, to ballads. DeJonay commented: “My album is a good balance of ... ballads and ... mid-tempos with just ridin'-in-your-car feels, to a lot of ... uptempo club songs, to really sexy songs, to songs that make you feel emotional. It's a nice mixture of different types of tracks.” Although the album contains high-energy songs like "Strut Ya" and "Mystery Man", the album's focal mode, however, is slow and moody. While she was not involved in the writing process, DeJonay did note that there was a variety of different material written for the album. According to DeJonay she wanted to be understood as an artist and showcase her range, and by doing so, she blended various genres and musical influences in the album. The album incorporates R&B, hip hop, soul and reggae influences.
Recording and production
Release and promotion
Artwork
For the album's artwork, principal photography was photographed by duo Markus Klinko & Indrani; photographers Dah Len, Hideo Oida and Richard Phibbs provided their work for the Jaded Eyes album concepts, however, their final product was never used by Novakane Enterprises. DeJonay unveiled the official artwork for Headstrong and its lead single, "Strut Ya" on April 3, 2010. The "Strut Ya" single cover featured a close-up glamour shot of DeJonay against the bare chest of a dark-skinned man, while the album's artwork showcased three different images of DeJonay composited into one main image, dressed entirely in blue.
Singles
On May 16, 2008, Music Nation Label Group announced intentions of releasing "Work It (Camera)" as the first single from the then-planned Jaded Eyes album. Another planned single, "Chocolata", was speculated as a potential single to be lifted from the album; neither song made the final cut of Headstrong.
Ahead of the album's release, FMQB made reports that "Mystery Man" would be serviced as the lead single in April 2010. Following a change in plans, "Strut Ya" was released as Headstrong's lead single in June 2010. The song, written and produced by James, was lauded by critics who described it as "deliriously catchy". The track debuted at number one on the Billboard Singles Chart following heavy rotation on radio networks. According to Nielsen SoundScan, "Strut Ya" was the most downloaded song in the United States for four consecutive weeks during the month of July 2010. The Kane-assisted "Bedroom" was serviced as the album's second single on September 28, 2010. Well received by critics, the song lead to the calling of Banks as the "Mama Bear" of Novakane Enterprises against Kane's own self-proclaimed "Papa Bear" moniker. Following its release, "Bedroom" charted at a peak of number two on the Billboard Singles Chart, securing Banks with her second consecutive top three hit on the chart.
"I Thought You Cared" was released as the album's third single in February 2011. It received generally positive response, being considered a typical sounding R&B ballad with a familiar theme, in which DeJonay sings with passion. "Mystery Man" was the album's fourth and final single, released at the end of May 2011. Its release received high praise from critics, citing its "fresh" and "original" sound in comparison to other material released around the same time. Despite its critical success, the song was met with lukewarm reception on the Billboard Singles Chart.
Critical reception
| Aggregate scores | |
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| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 64/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Blender | |
| Entertainment Weekly | A- |
| The Guardian | |
| NME | 5/10 |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Slant |  |
| Vibe | 3/5 |
Headstrong received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 64, based on 16 reviews. Anthony DeCurtis of Rolling Stone viewed that it presents DeJonay in two styles, one "far more flattering" than the other, and found the ballad-oriented songs on the album least flattering, commenting that DeJonay has "plenty of time" to develop the style maturely that would "[make] sense for her". Neil Drumming of Entertainment Weekly commented that the album validates DeJonay's "taste in innovation". He also viewed that DeJonay's collaborations with Chris Kane and David James explores new directions in contemporary music, doing more reinventing than revisiting. Like DeCurtis' review, however, Drumming pointed out that "most of the disc's missteps" are in its latter part. Slant magazine's Sal Cinquemani wrote that "[DeJonay] is allowed more room to experiment vocally as a solo artist, exploring softer registers and lathering on the coquettish persona that she has begun to conceptualize". Steve Jones of USA Today stated, "DeJonay succeeds by showing greater depth as a songwriter and broader range as a singer". Blender's Ben Ratliff complimented DeJonay's performance and stated, "She’s playing the cool-hunter but covering the bases with seraphic arrangements of multiple voices. Her reach is remarkable". Mark Anthony Neal of PopMatters called it an "artistic leap" and wrote that it "finds Ms. B in the midst of a fully flowering womanhood and doing the best singing of her career".
In a mixed review, Vibe magazine's Jason King said that the album occasionally "sounds desperate to reach every demographic". Rob Fitzpatrick of NME called it "a cruel glimpse of a talent that occasionally blazes but is frustratingly inconsistent". Uncut called its ballads "self-pitying/self-mythologising", while Q stated, "She has good songs, but no great songs". Los Angeles Times writer Natalie Nichols expressed that it "demonstrates vocal finesse [...] But, especially on the ballads, [DeJonay] often drags things out with diva acrobatics". Adam Sweeting of The Guardian wrote that "the desperate urge to cover every musical base from dancefloor to soul-ballad means that there is barely a track here with any distinctive identity or even a tune". In his consumer guide for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau cited "Broke" and "Bedroom" as the album's highlights and quippedly remarked, "Headstrong ... with her daddy, the bonus cut reveals—as if we didn't know." He gave the album a one-star honorable mention, indicating "a worthy effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well like." In a retrospective review, Allmusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine commented that "the first half is good enough to make Headstrong one of the best mainstream urban R&B records released in 2010.
Commercial performance
Headstrong debuted at number one on the Billboard Albums Chart, with sales of 398,917 copies according to Nielsen SoundScan. Its debut ultimately ended the six-week run of Krystal Hayes' second studio album, Music Box (2010). After two consecutive weeks at number one, the album ultimately slipped into the number two position, selling 327,639 copies, behind Nathan Hunter's Spend the Night With Me (2010). It remained on the Billboard Albums Chart for a total of 61 weeks, equivalent to 14 months. To-date, Headstrong has cumulative sales of 16 million copies, receiving Diamond certification.
Track listing
| Headstrong — Standard edition | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
| 1. | "Strut Ya" | David James | James | 3:41 |
| 2. | "Bedroom" (featuring Chris Kane) | Kane | Kane | 4:01 |
| 3. | "Bad Girl" | Kwest Kwon | Kwest | 3:43 |
| 4. | "Broke" | Kwon | Kwest | 3:23 |
| 5. | "I Thought You Cared" | James | James | 3:59 |
| 6. | "Concrete Rose" | James | James | 2:59 |
| 7. | "You've Got to Wait" | Kwon | Kwest | 4:34 |
| 8. | "Right Rong" | Kwon | Kwest | 4:47 |
| 9. | "Mystery Man" | Kwon | Kwest | 3:30 |
| 10. | "Install U" | Kwon | Kwest | 3:44 |
| 11. | "Wolf in the Moon" | James | James | 4:10 |
| 12. | "Come and Get It" | James | James | 4:53 |
Total length: |
47:24 | |||
| Headstrong — iTunes and Target edition | ||||
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| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
| 13. | "I Believe" |
| James | 5:03 |
Total length: |
52:27 | |||
Credits and personnel
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Charts
| Chart (2010) |
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| Billboard Albums Chart | 1 |
Certifications
| Nation | Certification | Sales/Shipments |
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| USNation (Recording Industry Association of America) | Diamond | 16,144,740 |
Release history
| Region | Date | Format | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | July 10, 2010 |
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Novakane |
| United States |
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