Suit (album)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Suit
Studio album by
ReleasedSeptember 13, 2004 (2004-09-13)
Recorded2003–2004
Genre
Length48:43
Label
Producer
Nelly chronology
Sweat
(2004)
Suit
(2004)
Sweatsuit
(2005)
Singles from Suit
  1. "
    My Place
    "

    Released: July 17, 2004
  2. "Over and Over"
    Released: September 12, 2004
  3. "N Dey Say"
    Released: February 23, 2005

Suit is the fourth

Universal Records. Production for the album was handled by several producers, including the Neptunes, Jazze Pha, Doe, AHM, Jayson "Koko" Bridges, Kuya Productions, Soulshock and Karlin, Ryan Bowser, Big Boi and Beat Bullies. Released in conjunction with Sweat
, Nelly intended to release a single album before conceptualizing and releasing two albums simultaneously, both of which would contrast each other's themes. Nelly characterized Sweat as "more up-tempo" and "energetic" while describing Suit as more of "a grown-up and sexy vibe [...] it's more melodic".

The album produced three singles: "

UK single charts, becoming Nelly's second number one on the former and latter charts. It peaked at number four on the US Billboard Hot 100. "Over and Over" featuring country singer Tim McGraw was also a success, peaking at number three on the Hot 100, and topping several charts worldwide, including the Irish, Australian and UK Singles Charts. "My Place" and "Over and Over" were certified gold and platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA), for shipments of 500,000 and one million copies, respectively. Suit's final single, "'N' Dey Say", achieved moderate chart success, peaking at number sixty-four on the Hot 100 and number six on the UK Singles Chart.

Suit was generally well received by

.

Background

Country singer Tim McGraw contributes vocals on "Over and Over".

While recording material for his third studio album, Nelly had his intention of producing one album. Songs were being recorded at a steady pace, with Nelly composing more ideas, to which he established the idea of two albums released simultaneously to house all the tracks.[1] On April 27, 2004, Nelly's representative initially described the upcoming albums as thematically dissimilar, "one is more melodic and party-oriented in the vein of records like "E.I." and "Tip Drill", while the other was described as having a "harder edge".[2] Nelly would release singles accompanied by music videos from both albums.[2] Talking to MTV News, Nelly went on to describe the differences between both albums; their titles of Sweat and Suit were announced on May 27, 2004.[3] He noted Sweat as "more up-tempo" and "energetic", while characterizing Suit as more of "a grown-up and sexy vibe [...] it's more melodic".[1]

Release

Sweat and Suit were intended to be released on August 17, 2004, but was pushed back and released on September 14 in the United States, Canada and Japan.[3][4][5][6] Suit was released on September 13, 2004 in the United Kingdom and Germany.[7][8]

Composition

The lead single "

strings, which "interweave uneasily".[13]

Singles

"

UK Singles Chart on the week of September 11, 2004, again following "Dilemma".[20] On the US Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts, it peaked at number four.[21][22] "My Place" was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Recorded Music NZ, for shipments of 500,000 and 7,500 units, respectively. It was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association
(ARIA), for shipments of 70,000 copies.

"

My Place". The song remained at number one in Australia for five consecutive weeks,[24] and stayed atop in the UK for one week.[20] "Over and Over" peaked within the top five on the New Zealand Singles Chart and the Hot 100,[16] Nelly's second top five hit on the Hot 100 from the album .[21]
"Over and Over" was certified two times platinum by the ARIA, denoting shipments of 140,000 copies. The RIAA awarded the song with a single platinum certification, for shipments of one million copies.

"

Finnish Singles Chart,[27] New Zealand Singles Chart and Australian Singles Chart.[16][17] "'N' Dey Say" peaked at number sixty-four on the Hot 100,[21]
achieving moderate chart success in other territories.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
Blender[28]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[29]
The Guardian[30]
The New York Timespositive[12]
NME1/10[31]
RapReviews.com9/10[11]
Robert Christgau(1-star Honorable Mention)[32]
Rolling Stone[33]
Stylus MagazineD+[13]

Suit received generally mixed reviews from music critics. At

Allmusic was hesitant of the simultaneous release of two album's, as they may suffer from being one dimensional, but liked the musical content within both Suit and Sweat, noting the former's to be more diversified.[10] Birchmeier summed up Suit as "a brief album with absolutely no filler", describing its tracks as "fun" and "catchy."[10]

In a mixed review, Jason King of The Village Voice wrote that tracks on Suit have the "sole intention of ending up as your next ringtone".[35] King noted some songs to "crumble" due to their "simplistic approach", while tracks like "Flap Your Wings" as "addictive".[35] Stylus Magazine's Todd Burns praised several tracks on Suit, including "Over and Over" and "Nobody Knows", praising the former for combining Nelly's sedate side with Tim McGraw’s guitar and vocals.[13] Despite this, Burns saw the album's highlights as "minimal at best", and closed his review disapproving of the album's mainstream approach.[13] In a negative review, The Guardian's Alexis Petridis showed distaste for both Nelly's vocal technique and Suit's tracks.

47th Grammy Awards,[36] losing to Kanye West's The College Dropout.[37]

Commercial performance

In its opening week, Suit debuted atop the US

Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart simultaneously. He is the second artist, following American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, to achieve the same feat but on the Billboard 200 chart.[38] Guns N' Roses attained the accomplishment in 1991 with Use Your Illusion II and Use Your Illusion I, with the former debuting at number one and the latter at number 2, selling 770,000 and 685,000 copies, respectively.[38] The following week of Suit's release, it fell to number 2 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 160,000 copies, being replaced by Green Day's American Idiot (2004).[39] In its third week, Suit sold 118,000 copies, dropping to number 5.[40] In the album's fourth week of release, its sales increased to 122,000 copies, the only album of the week to have its sales rise; it sustained its position at number 5.[41] In its fifth week, Suit's sales further increased to 144,000 units, gaining the title of Greatest Gainer, and rising from number 5 to number 3 on the chart.[42] The album's sales continued to increase in its sixth week of release, selling 153,000 copies, moving from number 3 to number 2.[43] It had passed one million copies in sales in the US that week.[44] On November 1, 2004, Suit went on to be certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA), denoting shipments of 500,000 copies. On January 19, 2005, the album was certified three times platinum by the RIAA, for shipments of three million copies.

On the

French Albums Chart.[25][52] The album's lowest charting position was on the Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia), at number 83. It remained on it for three weeks.[26]

Track listing

Suit track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Play It Off" (featuring Pharrell)The Neptunes3:47
2."Pretty Toes" (featuring Jazze Pha and T.I.)
My Place" (featuring Jaheim
)
Doe5:36
4."Paradise"
  • Haynes, Jr.
  • Moore
  • Ahmed "AHM" Oliver
  • Doe
  • AHM
4:36
5."She Don't Know My Name" (featuring Snoop Dogg and Ronald Isley)
4:26
6."
'N' Dey Say
"
  • Haynes, Jr.
  • Jayson "Koko" Bridges
Bridges3:37
7."Woodgrain and Leather wit a Hole"
  • Haynes, Jr.
  • Bridges
Bridges5:13
8."In My Life" (featuring Avery Storm and Mase)
Kuya Productions3:40
9."Over and Over" (featuring Tim McGraw)
  • Haynes, Jr.
  • Bridges
  • James Hargrove
  • Samuel McGraw
Bridges4:14
10."Nobody Knows" (featuring Anthony Hamilton)
Jermaine Dupri4:39
11."Die for You"
Soulshock & Karlin
4:28
Total length:48:43
United Kingdom bonus tracks
City Spud
)
  • Haynes, Jr.
  • Jason "Jay E" Epperson
Epperson4:05
13."
Ali
)
Ryan Bowser4:38
Total length:57:26

Notes[9]

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic.[53]

Charts

Certifications

Certifications for Suit
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[70] Gold 35,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[71] Gold 7,500^
United Kingdom (BPI)[72] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[73] 3× Platinum 3,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Release history and formats for Suit
Country Date Format(s) Label Edition(s)
United Kingdom[7] September 13, 2004 CD, digital download
Universal Records
Standard
Germany[8]
United States[4] September 14, 2004
Canada[5]
Japan[6]

See also

References

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  2. ^ a b Reid, Shaheem (April 27, 2004). "Nelly To Pull A Guns N' Roses This Summer, With Mase In Tow". MTV News. Archived from the original on June 22, 2004. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Reid, Shaheem (May 27, 2004). "Tail Feathers Sore? Time To 'Flap Your Wings,' Nelly Says". MTV News. Archived from the original on June 6, 2004. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  4. ^
    Amazon.com
    . Retrieved June 29, 2013.
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  8. ^ a b "Suit: Nelly". Amazon.de. Retrieved June 29, 2013.
  9. ^
    Universal Records
    . 2004. 986 393-6.
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  11. ^ a b c d Juon, Steve (September 14, 2004). "Nelly's "Sweat" + 'Suit'". RapReviews.com. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
  12. ^ a b c d e f Sanneh, Kelefa (September 19, 2004). "Rap of Ages". The New York Times. Retrieved June 29, 2013.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g Burns, Todd (September 17, 2004). "Nelly – Suit". Stylus Magazine. Retrieved June 29, 2013.
  14. ^ a b Browne, David (September 14, 2004). "Suit Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
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  19. ^ "Charts.nz – Nelly feat. Jaheim – My Place". Charts.nz. Retrieved April 21, 2019.
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External links