Toni Braxton is the debut studio album by American singer Toni Braxton, released on July 13, 1993, by LaFace Records and Arista Records. The album was primarily produced by L.A. Reid, Babyface, and Daryl Simmons.
The album has sold 5,135,000 copies in the United States and 10 million copies worldwide.
It earned Braxton several awards, including three Grammy Awards (for Best New Artist and two consecutive awards for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance in 1994 and 1995). She also won two American Music Awards (for Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist and Favorite New Adult Contemporary Artist) in 1994 and another one in 1995 (for Favorite Soul/R&B Album).
Background
Braxton and her four sisters—Traci, Towanda, Trina, and Tamar—signed with Arista Records as the Braxtons in 1989. The following year, the group released their debut single, "Good Life". Though the song was commercially unsuccessful, it attracted the attention of record executive Antonio "L.A." Reid and record producer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, who were shopping around for talent for their new label LaFace Records.
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Toni Braxton received mixed to positive reviews from music critics. Ron Wynn from AllMusic said that the album showcased Braxton as "an elegant and earthy songstress, nicely balancing those seemingly divergent sentiments [...] Braxton's husky, enticing voice sounds hypnotic, dismayed, and disillusioned [...] but she's never out of control, indignant, or so anguished and hurt that she fails to retain her dignity."
Mitchell May, writing for the Chicago Tribune, noted that "Braxton wisely lets the mood of a tune dictate her approach, allowing her to supply an emotional depth that perhaps even the songwriters didn't know was there." He also found, however, that "the disc loses steam around midpoint."
Accolades
The album earned Braxton several awards, including three Grammy Awards (for Best New Artist and two consecutive awards for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance in 1994 and 1995). She also won two American Music Awards (for Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist and Favorite New Adult Contemporary Artist) in 1994 and another one in 1995 (for Favorite Soul/R&B Album).
Commercial performance
Toni Braxton debuted at number 36 on the Billboard 200 for the week ending July 31, 1993. Following Braxton's appearance at the American Music Awards of 1994, the album rose from number seven to number one in its 31st week on the chart, on the issue dated February 26, 1994, becoming the first number-one album for LaFace Records. It spent a second non-consecutive week atop the Billboard 200 for the week ending March 19, 1994, following the 36th Annual Grammy Awards. The album has sold 5,135,000 copies in the United States and 10 million copies worldwide.
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Notes
- Despite not being credited as songwriters of "How Many Ways" in the album's liner notes, Keith Miller, Philip Field, and Anthony Beard are listed as songwriters by ASCAP and BMI.
- signifies a co-producer
- signifies a remixer and additional producer
- signifies a remix producer
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Toni Braxton.
Musicians
- Toni Braxton – lead vocals ; background vocals
- Kayo – bass
- Babyface – keyboards ; background vocals
- L.A. Reid – drums
- Debra Killings – background vocals
- DeRock – percussion
- Vance Taylor – keyboards ; acoustic piano
- Pamela Copeland – background vocals
- Tammy Davis – background vocals
- Keisha Jackson – background vocals
- Tim & Ted – drums, keyboards
- Skip Pruitt – saxophone
- Tim Thomas – background vocals
- Tye-V – background vocals
- Bo Watson – keyboards ; synthesizer programming, vocal arrangement, rhythm arrangement
- McArthur – guitar
- Tomi M – guitar
- Trina Broussard – background vocals
- Valerie Davis – background vocals
- Rex Rideout – keyboards, programming
- Ernesto Phillips – guitar
- Orlando Phillips – bass guitar
Technical
- L.A. Reid – production ; mixing ; executive production
- Babyface – production ; executive production
- Daryl Simmons – production
- Jim "Z" Zumpano – engineering
- John Rogers – engineering
- Barney Perkins – mixing ; engineering
- Dave Way – mixing
- John Frye – mixing assistance ; additional MIDI programming ; engineering assistance
- Tim & Ted – production
- Ron Horvath – engineering
- Phil Tan – engineering
- Thom Kidd – engineering
- Ted Bishop – engineering
- Brad Gilderman – engineering
- Randy Walker – technician
- Bo & McArthur – production
- Jason Schablik – engineering assistance
- Jon Gass – mixing
- Fil Brown – engineering
- Steve Schwartzberg – engineering
- Matt Westfield – engineering
- Sean Young – engineering
- Milton Chan – mixing assistance
- Vassal Benford – production
- Victor Flores – engineering, mixing
- Vincent Herbert – production, mixing
- Ben Garrison – engineering, mixing
- Ernesto Phillips – production, mixing
- Toni Braxton – co-production
- Bill Plummer – engineering
- Bob Rosa – mixing
- Dana Vlcek – mix engineering assistance
- Herb Powers Jr. – mastering
- Constance Armstrong – album coordination
- Davett Singletary – project coordination
Artwork
- Susan Mendola – art direction
- Daniela Federici – photography
Charts
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ Weekly chart performance for Toni Braxton
! scope="col"| Chart (1993–1997)
! scope="col"| Peak<br>position
|-
|-
|-
|-
! scope="row"| European Albums (Music & Media)
| 21
|-
|-
|-
! scope="row"| Japanese Albums (Oricon)
| 79
|-
|-
|-
|-
! scope="row"| Spanish Albums (AFYVE)
| 17
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|}
Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ 1993 year-end chart performance for Toni Braxton
! scope="col"| Chart (1993)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| 69
|-
! scope="row"| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)
| 10
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ 1994 year-end chart performance for Toni Braxton
! scope="col"| Chart (1994)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)
| 56
|-
! scope="row"| Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)
| 17
|-
! scope="row"| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)
| 34
|-
! scope="row"| European Albums (Music & Media)
| 58
|-
! scope="row"| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)
| 83
|-
! scope="row"| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)
| 19
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! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)
| 49
|-
! scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| 7
|-
! scope="row"| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)
| 3
|}
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ 1995 year-end chart performance for Toni Braxton
! scope="col"| Chart (1995)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| 172
|-
! scope="row"| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)
| 82
|}
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ 1997 year-end chart performance for Toni Braxton
! scope="col"| Chart (1997)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)
| 52
|}
Decade-end charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ Decade-end chart performance for Toni Braxton
! scope="col"| Chart (1990–1999)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| 68
|}
All-time charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ All-time chart performance for Toni Braxton
! scope="col"| Chart
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| US Billboard 200 (Women)
| 94
|}