Tomorrow is the second studio album by Jamaican-American singer Sean Kingston. The album was released on September 7, 2009.[2] Despite "Fire Burning" being a commercial success in 2009, the album only peaked at #37 on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart with only 13,000 copies sold in the first week of release. It dropped out of the top 40 the next week, falling 50 spots to #87.[3]
| Tomorrow | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 7, 2009 | |||
| Recorded | 2008–2009 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 44:58 | |||
| Label |
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| Producer | ||||
| Sean Kingston chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Tomorrow | ||||
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Background and composition
editThe majority of the album was produced by J.R. Rotem, while also featuring productions from Detail, RedOne, Emanuel Kiriakou, DJ Frank E and others. Kingston worked with various songwriters on Tomorrow, including then-unknown American singer Bruno Mars, who co-wrote five tracks, Philip Lawrence, Diane Warren and Somali-Canadian rapper K'naan.[4]
Tomorrow marks a detachment from the sound of Kingston's debut album, incorporating 1990s Eurodance and electropop, and instruments like Roland 808 drum machine, Auto-Tune and synthesizers, to his signature reggae and pop music style.[5][6] "Shoulda Let Go", featuring American rock band Good Charlotte, melds together genres of punk rock and soft rock, while "Fire Burning", "Face Drop", and "My Girlfriend" showcase influences of nu-disco, Euro disco and electropop. The song "War" was originally supposed to feature hip-hop artist Lil Wayne, but he was not included on the official album version of the song.
Critical reception
edit| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 62/100[7] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| About.com |    link |
| AllMusic | link |
| BBC | fairly positive link |
| Boston Globe | fairly positive link |
| Entertainment Weekly | C+ [2] |
| Now | link |
| Rolling Stone | link |
| USA Today | link |
David Jeffries of AllMusic favored songs "Fire Burning", "Face Drop", "My Girlfriend", "Shoulda Let U Go", and "Ice Cream Girl" and feels ""Tomorrow" proves Kingston can provide a whole album's worth of pool-side entertainment even without the 'Beautiful Girls'-sized single."[8] Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone said "For the most part--despite Auto-Tuned slow songs--Kingston's mix of young-adult desire and disco heat shows he can cross over in unexpected directions."[6] Simon Vozick-Levinson of Entertainment Weekly felt that "Although he's got plenty of hooks, personality is in much shorter supply".[9] While some of his reviews are positive, others feel his album lacks novelty and interest. Jason Richards of Now Magazine said that although he is a good singer-songwriter, his album lacks novelty and feels irritating.[5] Apparently to Sarah Rodman of The Boston Globe, Kingston's collections of "silly lyrics and robotic tempos of Sean Kingston’s sophomore album slide if it were mid-July and we were in the mood for Euro-disco/reggae mash-ups, and straight-up electro-pop."[10] Bill Lamb of About.com:
It's abundantly clear on Tomorrow that Sean Kingston plans to stick around for awhile. [sic] He demonstrates he can play well with other artists on the bouncy "Shoulda Let Go" which is co-produced by Drum Up (LaMar Seymour, LaNelle Seymour) for Drum Up Digital and featuring a rock chorus from Good Charlotte and a rhythmic vocal workout with Wyclef Jean on "Ice Cream Girl." At least half of the songs here could be pop hit singles and fit easily into contemporary pop radio playlists. Sean Kingston may want to consider stripping his sound down a bit more, but Tomorrow is far from an unpleasant listening experience. Sean Kingston has successfully delivered the goods he has to offer a second time around.[11]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Welcome to Tomorrow" | J.R. Rotem | 0:57 | |
| 2. | "War" |
| J.R. Rotem | 2:59 |
| 3. | "Fire Burning" |
| RedOne | 4:03 |
| 4. | "My Girlfriend" |
| Garibay | 3:24 |
| 5. | "Face Drop" |
| Secon | 3:04 |
| 6. | "Magical" |
|
| 3:09 |
| 7. | "Island Queen" |
| The Smeezingtons | 3:42 |
| 8. | "Tomorrow" |
| J.R. Rotem | 2:56 |
| 9. | "Twist Ya Around" |
|
| 3:24 |
| 10. | "Wrap U Around Me" | Diane Warren | J.R. Rotem | 3:22 |
| 11. | "Shoulda Let U Go" (featuring Good Charlotte and DJ Frank E) |
| 3:08 | |
| 12. | "Over" |
| J.R. Rotem | 3:06 |
| 13. | "Ice Cream Girl" (featuring Wyclef Jean) |
|
| 4:01 |
| 14. | "Why U Wanna Go" |
|
| 3:43 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 15. | "Addicted" | 3:40 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 15. | "Fire Burning" (Dave Audé Club) | 7:39 |
| 16. | "Face Drop" (Lucas DH Remix) | 4:08 |
Singles
edit- "Fire Burning" was the first official single from the album, released on April 24, 2009. It peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the most successful single from the album.
- "Face Drop" was the second official single from the album. It was released to radio stations on August 18, 2009 and iTunes on September 1, 2009. Lyrically, "Face Drop" is plea to not judge by appearance. It peaked at #61 on the Billboard Hot 100, which was of moderate success compared to Kingston's previous hits.
Promotional singles
editiTunes released promotional singles from the album as part of "Countdown to Tomorrow". All singles received the same animated artwork, each with a different color background.[12]
- "My Girlfriend" was the first promo single and was released digitally on July 28, 2009.[13]
- "Wrap U Around Me" was the second promo single and was released digitally on August 4, 2009.[13]
- "Tomorrow" was the third promo single and was released digitally on August 11, 2009.[13]
- "Island Queen" was the fourth promo single and was released digitally on August 18, 2009.[12]
- "War" was the fifth promo single and was released digitally on August 25, 2009. Originally "War" featured rapper Lil Wayne, but this version was not included on the album.[12]
- "Face Drop" was the sixth promo single and was released digitally on September 1, 2009. It was also released as the second official single from the album, and it was sent to radio on August 18, 2009.
References
edit- ^ https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sean-kingston-mn0000922471#biography
- ^ "Tomorrow by Sean Kingston". Apple Inc. iTunes. Retrieved July 3, 2012.
- ^ https://www.billboard.com/artist/sean-kingston/chart-history/billboard-200
- ^ https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/bruno-mars-songs-didnt-know-wrote-adele-adam-lambert-kanye-west-jay-z-7549853/amp/
- ^ a b Richards, Jason. "Now Magazine // Music // Sean Kingston". Nowtoronto.com. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
- ^ a b [1] Archived September 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Tomorrow by Sean Kingston". Metacritic. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
- ^ Jeffries, David (2009-09-22). "( Tomorrow > Review )". allmusic. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
- ^ Simon Vozick-Levinson (2009-09-16). "Tomorrow". EW.com. Archived from the original on April 24, 2011. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
- ^ "Sean Kingston's 'Tomorrow' targets the wrong season - The Boston Globe". Boston.com. 2009-09-21. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
- ^ "Sean Kingston - Tomorrow - Review of the Sean Kingston Album Tomorrow". Top40.about.com. 2007-08-09. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
- ^ a b c "iTunes Countdown to Tomorrow | The Official Sean Kingston Site". Seankingston.com. 2009-07-29. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
- ^ a b c "Singles: Sean Kingston". Archived from the original on 2009-04-27. Retrieved 2009-08-12.