 Yours Truly is the debut studio album by American singer Ariana Grande. It was released on August 30, 2013, by Republic Records. Incorporating R & B, Yours Truly was influenced by Whitney Houston, Amy Winehouse, Christina Aguilera and Mariah Carey, amongst other of Grande's greatest idols. Grande describes the album's first half as a "throwback" to the R & B music of the 1990s, and the second half being "very unique and very special that I 've sort of written" which is completely original. On the album, Grande co-wrote six out of the twelve tracks. Contribution by Harmony Samuels, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Patrick "J. Que" Smith and Victorious co-star Leon Thomas III, as well as others, handling the production on the album. Grande recorded a number of songs on this album over a three-year period. The collaborations with Big Sean, Mika and Mac Miller, in addition to Mary J. Blige, who is featured on the song "Lovin' It" (which sampled her song "Real Love"), and The Wanted's Nathan Sykes, who features on the song "Almost is Never Enough" which was also included on the The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones soundtrack. Occasionally, the album dips into other genres such as adult contemporary music and dance music.
