Liberation (Mýa album)
Encyclopedia
Liberation is the fourth studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

 by American singer Mýa
Mya
-A person:* Bo Mya , Chief Commander of the Karen National Union* Mýa , American R&B singer-songwriter and actress** Mýa , a 1998 album by Mýa-A code:* Burmese language, ISO 639-3 code is mya* Moruya Airport's IATA code...

, released by Universal Motown on 22 October 2007 in Japan as a digital download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...

 only. The album marks the singer's only release on the Motown label, which she left the year after.

The album involves production by Scott Storch
Scott Storch
Scott Storch is an American record producer. He produces a variety of music, particularly hip hop, reggaeton, and R&B. His label, Storch Music Company responsible for signing Brooke Hogan and Nox...

 and J. R. Rotem
J. R. Rotem
- Early life :Rotem was born in South Africa to Israeli immigrant Jewish parents. He moved to Toronto at the age of two and finally to Moraga, California when he was twelve.Rotem's entry point into music was in receiving classical piano tuition at a young age...

, with additional production from Bryan Michael Cox
Bryan Michael Cox
Bryan-Michael Cox is a GRAMMY award winning American songwriter and record producer.-History:Bryan-Michael Cox was born in Miami and grew up in Houston, where he attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. While in the eleventh grade he met and was mentored by Greg Curtis...

, Kwame
Kwame
Kwame or Kwamé is a Twi and Akan day name given to a boy born on a Saturday, originating in Ghana. People with this name include:* Osei Kwame Panyin, an 18th century leader of the Ashanti Confederacy, located in what is today southern and central Ghana...

 and Tricky Stewart, among others, and features guest appearances by rappers Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...

, Lil Wayne
Lil Wayne
Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. , better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. At the age of nine, Lil Wayne joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label, and half of the duo, The B.G.'z, with B.G.. In 1997, Lil Wayne joined the group Hot Boys, which also included...

, and Charlie Baltimore. Liberation spawned two singles, including the Scott Storch
Scott Storch
Scott Storch is an American record producer. He produces a variety of music, particularly hip hop, reggaeton, and R&B. His label, Storch Music Company responsible for signing Brooke Hogan and Nox...

-produced "Lock U Down
Lock U Down
"Lock U Down" is an R&B/Hip-Hop song by American singer-songwriter Mýa and features rapper Lil Wayne. The track was produced by Scott Storch for Harrison fourth studio album Liberation. Lock U Down was written by Dwayne Carter, Mýa, and Scott Storch....

" and R&B-ballad "Ridin'." Both singles failed to make an impact at radio and on the charts, and thus, after numerous delays in the United States, the album was shelved as a domestic release.

Conception and production

Intermitted by several recording pauses, Mýa had been working on her fourth studio album since 2004. Originally conceived as a project called Control Freak, the main production of the album was initially financed by A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...

, following Mýa's departure from the Interscope
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:...

 label after the mediocre commercial success of her previous effort Moodring
Moodring
Moodring is the third studio album by American recording artist Mýa, released July 22, 2003 on A&M and Interscope records. Recorded after the number one success of "Lady Marmalade" and her appearance in the box office hit Chicago, the album featured contributions from noteworthy hitmakers Ron Fair,...

in 2003, and expected to involve contributions by producers and songwriters Scott Storch
Scott Storch
Scott Storch is an American record producer. He produces a variety of music, particularly hip hop, reggaeton, and R&B. His label, Storch Music Company responsible for signing Brooke Hogan and Nox...

, Dr. Dre
Dr. Dre
Andre Romelle Young , primarily known by his stage name Dr. Dre, is an American record producer, rapper, record executive, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is the founder and current CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and a former co-owner and artist of Death Row Records...

, Jodeci
Jodeci
Jodeci is an American band, whose repertoire includes R&B, soul music, and new jack swing. The group consists of two pairs of brothers from Hampton, Virginia and Charlotte, North Carolina: Cedric & Joel Hailey and Donald & Dalvin DeGrate, all respectively known by their stage names: K-Ci & Jojo,...

, Lil Jon
Lil Jon
Jonathan Mortimer Smith , better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, music producer, entrepreneur, and occasional disc jockey who was a member of the group Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz. Lil Jon formed the group in 1997, and the group released several albums between then and 2004...

, Rockwilder
Rockwilder
Rockwilder is an American hip hop and R&B record producer, rapper, and R&B Singer. A long term friend of Def Jam rapper Redman, Rockwilder got his start producing for East Coast Hip Hop artists in the mid 1990s. In 1999 Rockwilder produced Method Man & Redman's hit single "Da Rockwilder"...

 and songwriter Sean Garrett
Sean Garrett
Garrett Hamler, better known by his stage name Sean Garrett is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, and record producer. He has produced fifteen number one singles in only seven years of producing music. That number puts him in fifth place on the Billboard list of producers with the most number...

. Mýa, who took control of the album in her own hands by producing part of the record herself, described the album as "a combination of a Gwen Stefani
Gwen Stefani
Gwen Renée Stefani is an American singer-songwriter and fashion designer. Stefani is the lead vocalist for the rock and ska band No Doubt. Stefani recorded her first solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. in 2004. The album was inspired by music of the 1980s, and was a success with sales of over...

, because it's energetic, and Lil Jon
Lil Jon
Jonathan Mortimer Smith , better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, music producer, entrepreneur, and occasional disc jockey who was a member of the group Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz. Lil Jon formed the group in 1997, and the group released several albums between then and 2004...

, very ghetto," with a less classic R&B edge, explaining further: "Control Freak is basically learning how to gain control of a situation yourself, gaining control in order to be [a] free and beautiful person in life." However, although she intended to release a dance track called "Let It Go" at a particular time, she eventually decided to leave both her management and A&M Records in fall 2005 due to personal differences, before signing a new contract with Motown Records
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...

.

During the following months Mýa began consulting a few other producers to collaborate on the album, renamed Liberation, including Tim & Bob
Tim & Bob
Tim & Bob aka Funktwons, are Grammy Award-winning songwriting musicians and a Hip-hop/R&B pop production duo. Tim & Bob have discovered and or worked on some of the biggest artists in the music industry and has helped develop the Atlanta music scene as it is widely known for today...

, Bryan Michael Cox
Bryan Michael Cox
Bryan-Michael Cox is a GRAMMY award winning American songwriter and record producer.-History:Bryan-Michael Cox was born in Miami and grew up in Houston, where he attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. While in the eleventh grade he met and was mentored by Greg Curtis...

, Kwamé
Kwamé
Kwamé Holland is an American emcee who enjoyed brief popularity in the late-1980s and early-1990s. He is currently a music producer sometimes credited as K-1 Million or K1 Mil.-Biography:...

, J. R. Rotem
J. R. Rotem
- Early life :Rotem was born in South Africa to Israeli immigrant Jewish parents. He moved to Toronto at the age of two and finally to Moraga, California when he was twelve.Rotem's entry point into music was in receiving classical piano tuition at a young age...

 and Tricky Stewart. In search of a new vibe for the album, she drew inspiration by leaving Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 and moving back to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, where she spent her formative years. "I just knew that I had to get back to my roots and rediscover what had made me excited in the first place," she said in an interview with Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

magazine. "I have all this creative energy and all these ideas but LA it was too impersonal of a place to develop a real creative family." Back home, Mýa bought a house and enlisted her brother to build a recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...

, where she began experimenting, laying down rudimentary tracks and learning how to engineer. Pushed by her newfound abilities in mixing
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...

 and production, Mýa once again intensified work on the re-worked Control Freak album, with most of it eventually being completed in a stretch of only three month. "It was an easy process because I knew what I wanted to do when I went in," she commented, comparing the making of the album with a therapy
Therapy
This is a list of types of therapy .* Adventure therapy* Animal-assisted therapy* Aquatic therapy* Aromatherapy* Art and dementia* Art therapy* Authentic Movement* Behavioral therapy* Bibliotherapy* Buteyko Method* Chemotherapy...

. "I've been honest with myself and have been able to admit some things and analyze myself and save myself at the end of the day [...] Liberation is a clean slate; my most expressive, vulnerable album."

Release and reception

"I feel as though Liberation was my best project to date, of course I wanted it released in the US, but things happen, so maybe it wasnt meant to be [...]"

Mýa

Mya
-A person:* Bo Mya , Chief Commander of the Karen National Union* Mýa , American R&B singer-songwriter and actress** Mýa , a 1998 album by Mýa-A code:* Burmese language, ISO 639-3 code is mya* Moruya Airport's IATA code...

, ThatGrapeJuice


Although a release date for the album was announced numerous times since 2004, more than two years passed until Liberation was eventually brought on the music market in 2007. Originally expected to drop under a different title in 2005, the album was repeatedly bumped from the U.S. schedule, lastly in September 2007 — at a time when Mýa had already started work on follow-up album Sugar & Spice
Sugar & Spice (Mýa album)
-The Perfect Edition:-Chart:-Release history:-External links:* — official site...

(2008). While the singer appointed the delay to "litigations, court
Court
A court is a form of tribunal, often a governmental institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law...

, transitioning from label to label, teaching kids [at the Mya Art & Tech Foundation] and building a studio" at first, the delays were actually caused by "business related" differences: "It's just business you know," Mýa explained, "the music industry is suffering so record companies have to scrap for money. Plus I would rather wait for them to get it right before I do an album." As a result, Liberation received a digital
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...

-limited release in Japan only on 22 October 2007.
Reviewed by a few American critics only, Liberation garnered a generally mixed reception. Dorian Lynskey
Blender (magazine)
Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....

 of Blender magazine
Blender (magazine)
Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....

 gave the album two and a half stars out of five, stating: "A decade into her career, two songs raise the 27-year-old’s game — the insidious snake-charmer melody of “'Walka Not a Talka' and the bracing blast of betrayed-housewife rage of 'All in the Name of Love.' Elsewhere, boilerplate slow jams and generic sass paint Mya, her claims to the contrary, as a talka not a walka."

Musical content

Liberation opens with the Kwamé
Kwamé
Kwamé Holland is an American emcee who enjoyed brief popularity in the late-1980s and early-1990s. He is currently a music producer sometimes credited as K-1 Million or K1 Mil.-Biography:...

-produced "I Am," one of many uptempo recordings on the album. "Walka Not A Talka", the album's third track, was written and produced by J. R. Rotem
J. R. Rotem
- Early life :Rotem was born in South Africa to Israeli immigrant Jewish parents. He moved to Toronto at the age of two and finally to Moraga, California when he was twelve.Rotem's entry point into music was in receiving classical piano tuition at a young age...

 and features West Coast
West Coast hip hop
West Coast hip hop is a hip hop music subgenre that encompasses any artists or music that originates in the westernmost region of the United States, as opposed to East Coast hip hop, based originally in New York alone...

 rapper Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...

. The song was considered a single at one point by Mýa's label Motown.

Scott Storch
Scott Storch
Scott Storch is an American record producer. He produces a variety of music, particularly hip hop, reggaeton, and R&B. His label, Storch Music Company responsible for signing Brooke Hogan and Nox...

-produced "Still A Woman" is the album's fourth track and tells the story an independent woman but needs a man's touch at the end of the day. Track seven, "Lights Go Off," is a mid
MID
-Computers and electronics:* MapInfo Interchange Format; .mid is also sometimes used as the filename extension for some MapInfo files* Media Identification Code , a code indicating the manufacturer of a DVD...

-tempo
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...

 song produced by Carvin & Ivan. The song starts out with Mýa's man leaving her a voice message and ends with another girl answering Mýa's boyfriends phone. It the beginning of the storyline and intro to the album's second single.

"Ridin'
Ridin' (Mýa song)
"Ridin" is a ballad by American singer-songwriter Mýa. The track was produced by Tricky Stewart for Harrison fourth studio album Liberation. Ridin' was written by Ester Dean, Traci Hale, Mýa, Jevon Sims, and Christopher Tricky Stewart....

," the album's second single and eighth track was co-written by Jevon Sims, Esther Dean
Ester Dean
Ester Renay Dean is an American singer and songwriter, and record producer signed to Zone 4 Records/Interscope Records. She is most notable for her dual appearance on Rio: Music From The Motion Picture and her 2009 US hit single "Drop It Low", which featured singer Chris Brown...

, and Traci Hale and produced by Tricky Stewart. The song is inspired by a relationship Mýa was in at one point. The song became a minor success on the charts, reaching number fifty-eight on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...

 chart and the album's final release. The Carvin & Ivan-produced "Switch It Up" is the album's ninth track and was a favorite among music critics. "Give A Chick A Hand," is a Crunk&B
Crunk&B
Crunk&B is a type of music that combines crunk music and contemporary R&B. Both term and music were coined by Lil Jon after he produced Yeah! for Usher and Okay for Nivea in 2004.- Notable songs :* "Yeah!" – Usher featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris...

-inspired song and tells the story of a woman giving kudos to the next woman who stole her man.

"All In The Name Of Love," the album's eleventh track was produced by J. R. Rotem
J. R. Rotem
- Early life :Rotem was born in South Africa to Israeli immigrant Jewish parents. He moved to Toronto at the age of two and finally to Moraga, California when he was twelve.Rotem's entry point into music was in receiving classical piano tuition at a young age...

 and incorporates the movie Halloween
Halloween (1978 film)
Halloween is a 1978 American independent horror film directed, produced, and scored by John Carpenter, co-written with Debra Hill, and starring Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut and the first installment in the Halloween franchise. The film is set in the fictional midwestern...

theme music. "Life's Too Short," is the album's second ballad and twelfth track. "Nothin' At All," is the album's final track. It was produced by Tricky Stewart and written by Mýa herself. The song itself tells the story of Mýa's career in the music industry and the ups and downs that comes with the price of fame.

Singles

  • "Lock U Down
    Lock U Down
    "Lock U Down" is an R&B/Hip-Hop song by American singer-songwriter Mýa and features rapper Lil Wayne. The track was produced by Scott Storch for Harrison fourth studio album Liberation. Lock U Down was written by Dwayne Carter, Mýa, and Scott Storch....

    " featuring Lil Wayne
    Lil Wayne
    Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. , better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. At the age of nine, Lil Wayne joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label, and half of the duo, The B.G.'z, with B.G.. In 1997, Lil Wayne joined the group Hot Boys, which also included...

     was the first single from the album. The song, produced by Scott Storch
    Scott Storch
    Scott Storch is an American record producer. He produces a variety of music, particularly hip hop, reggaeton, and R&B. His label, Storch Music Company responsible for signing Brooke Hogan and Nox...

    , peaked at number 101 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
    Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
    Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...

     chart. The single was a commercial failure due to poor radio airplay and lack of promotion.

  • "Ridin", the second single off the album, peaked at number 58 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
    Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
    Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...

     chart. The single fared better than the first but received little radio support and general promotion as well.

Tracklisting

Leftover tracks

  • "Ayo!" (featuring DJ Kool
    DJ Kool
    John W. Bowman, Jr., better known by his stage name DJ Kool is a rapper who, in the late 1990s, produced several popular rap singles. Born in 1959 in Washington, D.C., his influence from his years of working the go-go and rap circuits became apparent in his music...

    )
  • "Blame Myself"
  • "Climb the Walls" (written by Nwanery)
  • "Escape"
  • "How We Carry" (produced by J. R. Rotem)
  • "I Got That" (featuring The Game
    The Game (rapper)
    Jayceon Terrell Taylor , better known by his stage name Game, formerly The Game, is an American rapper and actor. As a member of G-Unit, he rose to fame in 2005 with the success of his debut album, The Documentary, which earned him two Grammy Award nominations...

    ) (produced by Scott Storch)
  • "I'll Still Be Around" (written by Jennifer Lopez
    Jennifer Lopez
    Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...

    )
  • "It Don't Matter" (written by Sean Garrett
    Sean Garrett
    Garrett Hamler, better known by his stage name Sean Garrett is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, and record producer. He has produced fifteen number one singles in only seven years of producing music. That number puts him in fifth place on the Billboard list of producers with the most number...

    )
  • "Let It Go"
  • "Like Crazy" (produced by The-Dream
    The-Dream
    Terius Youngdell Nash , better known by his stage name The-Dream, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. He is known for co-writing "Umbrella" for Rihanna and "Single Ladies " for Beyoncé, as well as for his three solo albums, Love Hate, Love vs...

    )

  • "Mercy" (written by Jason Boyd, S. Storch)
  • "One Night" (produced by Tim & Bob
    Tim & Bob
    Tim & Bob aka Funktwons, are Grammy Award-winning songwriting musicians and a Hip-hop/R&B pop production duo. Tim & Bob have discovered and or worked on some of the biggest artists in the music industry and has helped develop the Atlanta music scene as it is widely known for today...

    )
  • "Qualified"
  • "Serious"
  • "Smilin'"
  • "Shake It Like a Dog"
  • "Sorry" Later released on her album K.I.S.S.
  • "The Hills"
  • "The Only One"
  • "Wanna Love Me Now" (written by Nwanery)


External links

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