The First Lady (Faith Evans album)

The First Lady is the fourth studio album by American singer Faith Evans. Released by Capitol Records, it marked Evans' debut on the EMI subsidiary, following her departure from Bad Boy Records in 2003. Despite this, the singer reunited with many of her frequent contributors to work on the album, including The Neptunes, Chucky Thompson, and Mario Winans. Duo Carvin & Ivan of Karma Productions wrote and produced the predominant part of all songs that were included in the final track listing.

Generally well received by critics, The First Lady debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 and number one on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums with opening week sales of 157,000 units. It remains Evans' highest ranking album on either chart, and the best first week sales of her career. By the end of 2005, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, selling more than 600,000 copies in the United States alone. In support of the album, Evans embarked on a concert tour, The First Lady Tour, in the United States and Europe in mid-2005. In 2006, The First Lady was nominated for Best Female R&B/Soul Album at the 20th Soul Train Music Awards.

Background and release

Evans' third album with Bad Boy Records, named Faithfully (2001), was released in November 2001. Her first project with husband Todd Russaw as executive producer and creative partner, the album scored number 14 on the US Billboard 200 chart and number two on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, eventually being certified platinum, but yielded moderately successful singles, with the Jennifer Lopez-written "I Love You" becoming the only top twenty entry. Released amid Bad Boy Records' transition from distributor Arista Records to Universal, Evans felt Faithfully received minimum assistance by the company, and during 2004, she finally decided to end her business with Bad Boy as she was convinced Combs couldn't improve her career any more due to his other commitments.

After leaving Bad Boy, Evans contracted with Capitol Records, becoming the first contemporary R&B artist to do so, and started work on her fourth studio album The First Lady. The title of the album was inspired by Evans' original nickname with Bad Boy Records, "The First Lady of Bad Boy." On her decision to use a truncated version of the name Diddy dubbed her with, Evans commented: "[The nickname] did carry over, 'cause I'm the first artist in my genre at Capitol," she said. "More so, I chose the title The First Lady because a lot of my personality reminds me of people like Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Hillary Clinton. [...] Of course, they go through things, 'cause they're human like all of us. But when you see the first lady, you regard her [as] being the first lady. [...] I've made it my business to try and handle certain turbulence in my life with a certain dignity and [remain] ladylike."

Promotion

Singles

"Again," co-written and produced by Ivan Barias and Carvin Haggins, was released by Capitol Records as the lead single from The First Lady on February 7, 2005, Addressing Evans's 2004 arrest for drug possession, the song peaked at number 47 on the US Billboard Hot 100, while also reaching number 12 on the UK Singles Chart and number seven on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. "Mesmerized," an uptempo funk song that was produced by Andre "AJ" Johnson, Russaw, and Chucky Thompson, was issued as the album's second single on June 13, 2005. It became a top 20 hit in the Netherlands, while a remix of the song, produced by English house duo Freemasons, reached number one on the US Dance Club Songs chart.

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The First Lady received positive reviews from most music critics upon its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 72, based on 17 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". In his review for Allmusic, Andy Kellman wrote that "if there was any creative block during [Evans'] time away, it doesn't show. In fact, The First Lady proves that she only gets better with time, as she goes through more ups and downs and continues to absorb her inspirations." He called the first four tracks the highlights of the album and went on to praise The First Lady, calling it as "well-rounded as an R&B album gets, regardless of the age it's part of." Belinda Boakye from The Situation complimented the "unfailing spirit and soul" on the album, and commented that "this long anticipated album marks a metamorphosis for Faith Evans into a state of musical autonomy. With 52 minutes of silky vocals and a variation of infectious beats and slow sultry rhythm and blues, this record has all the ingredients needed making it emulate the class and tightly toned sound of Evans’ new physical appearance."

Greg Tate from The Village Voice called The First Lady Evans' "tightest set yet — song for song, production is crisp, ingenious, and bumping; lyrics meet the Chaka Khan criteria in communicating a complete thought; and Evans, often mistaken for a Blige without pitch issues, owns her emotions and isn't afraid to paint romantic pictures of them that leave pathos for the tabloids." Billboard editor Gail Mitchell wrote: "By turns playful, sexy, soulful, funky and passionate, Evans showcases the full range of her talents on her most consistent effort yet."

Raymond Fiore, writing for Entertainment Weekly, found that while the material on the album was not as stellar as on 2001's Faithfully, The First Ladys "finest moments find Evans frolicking in sunnier '70s soul soundscapes."

Blogcritics also gave it a favorable review, stating that it "is a musical mood ring, encapsulating and displaying the last ten years of her life. It’s not all reflective, however, as there are plenty of party worthy tracks spread between the affecting intensity and veteran of the game vocals. [...] Evans has released a remarkable album with wide appeal and emotional depth for the more cautious listeners. It doesn’t transcend genres or attempt to reconstruct R&B, but First Lady will surely impress those with a taste for evocative bluesy vocals, dance numbers, and solid slow jams." Tom Moon from Blender called The First Lady an "intermittently great fourth album [...] with Evans rejiggering her sordid autobiography into heartwarming tales of learning from mistakes and overcoming adversity." Sal Cinquemani from Slant gave the album three out of five stars and said "The First Lady is decidedly less "street," boasting a more adult sound that's timely enough to keep longtime fans and possibly even earn new ones." Though he dismissed songs such as "Ever Wonder," "Until You Came" and "Stop N Go," which he declared as either "cloying" or "sappy," he found that the album was "a mark of growth for Evans" following her slip from Bad Boy and Sean "Diddy" Combs. Orlando Lima, writing for Vibe, also gave the album three-and-a-half out of five stars and noted that while "Evans can still finesse notes," the album had a tendency to backtracking, "covering much of the same ground as her previous offering [...] instead of continually pushing her sound into the future." He found that Evans yet had to "sway the R&B world with the weight of say, Sade's Lovers Rock or Mary J. Blige's My Life."

Commercial performance

Despite the somewhat average commercial performance of the album's leading single, "Again," The First Lady debuted and peaked at number two on the Billboard 200, the official albums chart in the United States, on April 23, 2005. The album sold 157,000 units in its first week of release, Despite this, the album gave Evans her best sales figures of her career yet, marking both her highest-selling debut and best ever first-week sales. By the end of 2005, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and became the 158th best-selling album of that year in the US.

Track listing

Notes

<sup></sup> denotes co-producer

Sample credits

"Again" contains samples of "Genuine", written by Jerry Harris and Venus Dodson, performed by The Whatnauts.
"I Don't Need It" contains elements of "Nights Over Egypt", written by Dexter Wansel and Cynthia Biggs, performed by The Jones Girls.
"Mesmerized" contains interpolations from "Who's Making Love", written by Homer Banks, Bettye Crutcher, Don Davis and Raymond Jackson, performed by Johnnie Taylor, and "Footin' It", written by George Benson and Donald Sebesky, performed by Benson.
"Jealous" contains a sample of "Esta Noche La Paso Contigo", written by Laura Barraza, performed by Los Ángeles Negros.

Credits and personnel

Tony Aliperti – guitar
Ben Briggs – engineer
Russ Brown – guitar
Matt Cappy – trumpet
Mike Caren – engineer
Andrew Coleman – engineer
Duro – mixing
Bryan Ellis – assistant engineer
Serban Ghenea – mixing
Carvin Haggins – engineer
Eric Hunter – engineer
Manny Marroquin – mixing
Rod Morgan – keyboard
Todd Russaw – executive producer
Andrew M. Shack – executive producer
Andrew Slater – vocal producer
Jay Shawn Smith – vocal assistance
Frank Sutton – engineer
Phil Tan – mixing
Brad Todd – engineer, mixing
Harley White – bass
Howard Willing – engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+ Weekly chart performance for The First Lady

! scope="col"| Chart (2005)

! scope="col"| Peak<br/>position

! scope="row"| Australian Hitseekers Albums (ARIA)

| 10

! scope="row"| Australian Urban Albums (ARIA)

| 53

Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ Year-end chart performance for The First Lady

!Chart (2005)

!Position

!scope="row"|US Billboard 200

| style="text-align:center;"|158

!scope="row"|US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)

| style="text-align:center;"|30