Liberation (Mýa album)
Liberation is the fourth studio album by American singer Mýa. It was intended to be Harrison's debut release with her then new record label Universal Motown following her departure from Interscope in 2005. Before leaving, she had begun work on an album for Interscope called "Control Freak" set for a summer release 2005 with production by a host of other producers. Ultimately, she decided to leave A&M and Interscope Records and her management; subsequently Harrison made the transition within Universal Music Group to Universal Motown. Within a three-month period Harrison had completed and submitted "Liberation  to her new label. Production on the album, which was classified as energetic [and] ghetto" with a less classic R&B edge, was primarily handled by Scott Storch and J.R. Rotem with additional contributions from Bryan Michael Cox, Kwame, Carvin & Ivan, longtime contributor Tricky Stewart, and a handful of others. Guest appearances included Long Beach native Snoop Dogg, Murder Inc. rapper Charlie Baltimore and New Orleans rapper Lil Wayne. "Liberation" spawned two singles, the Storch collaboration "Lock U Down" and R&B ballad "Ridin'". Both singles failed to make an impact at radio and on the charts. Due to the industry's  budget cuts, the album suffered numerous delays and pushbacks. However while delaying the album's release again Universal Motown accidentally leaked the album in Japan, and "Liberation" was subsequently released as a digital download only in Japan on October 22, 2007. "Liberation" marked Harrison's only release on Universal Motown label following her departure in 2008. Background. In July 2003, Mýa released her third studio album "Moodring". Her first full-length studio album since the release of her worldwide number-one hit "Lady Marmalade", a collaboration recorded for director Baz Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge!" film soundtrack, it opened to positive  reviews and first week sales of 113,000 copies, reaching number three on the US "Billboard" 200 album chart. While it marked the singer's highest debut and opening sales yet, "Moodring" sold less than its predecessor, 2000's "Fear of Flying", which was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and sold 1.2 million units in the United States. Lead single "My Love Is Like...Wo" became a top twenty hit on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and performed similarly on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, however second single "Fallen" performed modestly and therefore not given  an international release; resulting in no further releases from the album. Though promotion for "Moodring" ended, nevertheless Harrison embarked on a nationwide tour, the "Moodring Tour", a twenty-three day city tour that began October 11, 2003 and concluded on November 10, 2003. In 2004, Harrison subsequently appeared in "" and "Shall We Dance?". By 2005, Mýa had started her own non-profit organization, the Mya Arts Foundation, a group that does outreach work to inner-city kids through the arts and technology. Additionally, she became a Ford model and appeared in a variety of ad campaigns. Next, Harrison landed a  supporting role in Wes Craven's horror film "Cursed" which she received an MTV Movie Award nomination. Conception and production. Intermitted by several recording pauses, Mýa had been working on her fourth studio album since 2004. Originally conceived as a project called "Control Freak", the main production of the album was initially financed by A&M Records, following Mýa's departure from the Interscope label after the mediocre commercial success of her previous effort "Moodring" in 2003, and expected to involve contributions by producers and songwriters Scott Storch, Dr. Dre, Jodeci, Lil Jon, Rockwilder and songwriter Sean Garrett. Mýa, who took  control of the album in her own hands by producing part of the record herself, described the album as "a combination of a Gwen Stefani, because it's energetic, and Lil Jon, very ghetto," with a less classic R&B edge, explaining further: ""Control Freak" is basically learning how to gain control of a situation yourself, gaining control in order to be [a] free and beautiful person in life." However, although she intended to release a dance track called "Let It Go" at a particular time, she eventually decided to leave both her management and A&M Records in fall 2005 due  to personal differences, before signing a new contract with Universal Motown. During the following months Mýa began consulting a few other producers to collaborate on the album, renamed "Liberation", including Tim & Bob, Bryan Michael Cox, Kwamé, J. R. Rotem and Tricky Stewart. In search of a new vibe for the album, she drew inspiration by leaving Los Angeles, California and moving back to Washington, D.C., where she spent her formative years. "I just knew that I had to get back to my roots and rediscover what had made me excited in the first place," she said in an interview with  Billboard magazine. "I have all this creative energy and all these ideas but LA it was too impersonal of a place to develop a real creative family." Back home, Mýa bought a house and enlisted her brother to build a recording studio, where she began experimenting, laying down rudimentary tracks and learning how to engineer. Pushed by her newfound abilities in mixing and production, Mýa once again intensified work on the re-worked "Control Freak" album, with most of it eventually being completed in a stretch of only three month. "It was an easy process because I knew what I  wanted to do when I went in," she commented, comparing the making of the album with a therapy. "I've been honest with myself and have been able to admit some things and analyze myself and save myself at the end of the day [...] "Liberation" is a clean slate; my most expressive, vulnerable album." Music and compositions. "Liberation" opens with "I Am", a throbbing uptempo song produced by Kwamé. One of the first songs recorded for "Liberation", Mýa recalled creating it "kind of therapy" and described it as "very grown and sexy, very spring time, just an all-around feel -good record." Early versions of the song featured guest vocals by St. Louis rapper Penelope Jones instead of Charlie Baltimore. "Walka Not a Talka" incorporates an organic Cali ambiance and harks back to the exoticism of Britney Spears's "I'm a Slave 4 U". It begins with the sound of a siren, while Mýa addresses listeners by saying, “I never should’ve left you.” Lyrically, the reflective song chronicles a self-conversation with Mýa reminding of all the things she had to get rid of in order to get what she want in life. West Coast rapper Snoop Dogg  appears as a guest vocalist on the track. Aggressive "Still A Woman" tells the story an independent woman who needs a man's touch at the end of the day, declaring that she's "always on the hustle doing what a man would do". "No Touchin'" is a seductive mid-tempo ballad, produced by Konvict inhouse musician Noel "Detail" Fisher. It combines ancient tribal beats and oriental sounds. Similarly, "Lock U Down" featuring Lil Wayne mixes a prominent Eastern harp sample with a guitar riff. A street-but-sweet hip-hop soul jam, it exposes what kind of man a  woman wants and needs. "Lights Go Off" is a slow jam, produced by duo Carvin & Ivan, that features Mýa adopting a low, subtle vocal tone. Built around a piano, the song starts out with Mýa's man leaving her a voice message and ends with another girl answering Mýa's boyfriends phone. Ballad "Ridin'" is a break-up throwback to her earlier work in the late 1990s and was inspired by a former relationship in which Mýa suspected her ex-boyfriend of cheating. Frustrated and fed-up with the situation, it details her traffic route past the homes of people  important to her man, including his mother, ex-girlfriends, and new lover. The Carvin & Ivan-produced "Switch It Up" served as the album's ninth track. With a hard hand clap beat and hard lyrics to match, "Switch It Up" shows Mýa's man a different side to her. She's being his waitress, his mistress, his everything, but not for long. She's being all these things as a soon to be slap in the face for cheating on her. Mýa continues to "Switch It Up" until the end of the song when she begins a little rap verse . Track ten, "Give a Chick a Hand" is a new kind of futuristic crunk sound of music. A different approach to the typical "she stole my man" song, Mýa is actually giving kudos to the woman who stole her man. She knows she's hot, but wants to learn how the next woman actually got what was hers. "All in the Name of Love," the album's eleventh track was produced by J. R. Rotem and samples the chilling theme song from the classic scary movie "Halloween" (1978). Produced by Bryan-Michael Cox, "Life's Too Short" begins with a  piano being the only sound you hear. The title is self-explanatory whereas Mýa isn't going to dwell on anything bad that has happened in her past. She's forgetting all those things that don't matter. She strongly expresses that "life is too short for tears." "Liberation"s final track, "Nothin' at All," was a pleasant way to end this album "Rap-Up" noted. Produced by Tricky Stewart, "Nothin' at All" sounds like snap music but in slow motion. In the song, Mýa addresses plenty of issues that have occurred in her life in the industry. It's very  personal and true. "Rap-Up" commented, in this ballad, she clearly is singing her soul out. You can hear and feel her passion. Every line of the song has meaning behind it, even when she sings, "What don’t kill you makes you stronger, stand up longer." Release and promotion. A release date for her Mýa's fourth studio album was first suggested in February 2005, when she expressed her intention of releasing it the same year on her longtime label A&M Records through its partnership with Interscope under the Universal umbrella. In June, she confirmed in an interview with  MTV News that recording for the album was concluding and she was looking at a late summer release for her the album, tentatively titled "Control Freak" then, with a first single "Let It Go" to drop soon. However, in January 2006, "Billboard" magazine announced that the singer had left A&M Records in 2005 to transition to Universal Motown Records, then headed by Sylvia Rhone. While much of the earlier material recorded under A&M was left with the label, Mýa set up new recording sessions for her fourth album and renamed it "Liberation". In September 2006, promotional single "Ayo!" was released . Although two further singles from the albums followed throughout the following year, "Liberation" was repeatedly bumped from the US schedule, lastly in September 2007. Mýa appointed the delay to "litigations, court, transitioning from label to label, teaching kids [at the Mya Art & Tech Foundation] and building a studio" at first, also citing business related differences as a reason for its push backs. "It's just business you know [...] The music industry is suffering so record companies have to scrap for money. Plus I would rather wait for them to get it right before I do an album." In October 2007 , "Liberation" was accidentally released to the Japanese music market due to label changing the release date again, leading to its overall leak on the Internet. As a result, Universal Motown decided to shelf a physical CD release elsewhere as the company feared that heavy bootlegging would affect sales. Though "Liberation" was never released officially. Harrison heavily promoted the album. First, she headlined the 8th annual Seagram's Live Tour with rap duo Clipse. Next, she was featured on the 2007's BET Black College Tour where she performed at various historical black universities. Mýa was invited to perform at the  WNBA's All-Star festivities where she performed a medley of her hits as well as a new song "Still A Woman" during the game's halftime show. Singles. Universal Motown issued a three singles from "Liberation". Initially, "Ayo!" was intended to be the album's first single, however the single was scrapped. Produced by Chris "Deep" Henderson, the Go-go inspired "Ayo!" featuring DJ Kool was released August 21, 2006 and peaked at number seventy on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. A music video was planned, however nothing ever materialized. Next up, the street but sweet hip -hop soul jam "Lock U Down" featuring Lil Wayne. Released March 27, 2007, the song was appointed as the album's official first single. A Scott Storch production, the single peaked at number 101 on the bubbling under Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart only. A commercial failure due to poor radio airplay and lack of promotion thus delaying the album's release. Ballad "Ridin" was the second and final single taken from "Liberation" and peaked at number fifty-eight on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Though the single fared better than its predecessor, it received little radio  support and general promotion as well. Universal Motown had also planned to release "Walka Not a Talka" as a single at some point. David LaChapelle was originally supposed to direct a music video for the song, with Patricia Field consulted for styling — but the then-head of marketing of the label thought it was “too weird.” Reception. Reviewed by a few American critics only, "Liberation" garnered a generally mixed reception. Dorian Lynskey of "Blender" magazine gave the album two and a half stars out of five, stating: "A decade into her career, two songs raise the 27-year-old's  game — the insidious snake-charmer melody of "'Walka Not a Talka' and the bracing blast of betrayed-housewife rage of 'All in the Name of Love.' Elsewhere, boilerplate slow jams and generic sass paint Mya, her claims to the contrary, as a talka not a walka." Writing for "Vibe", Julianne Shepherd gave "Liberation" a favorable review, noting, "on her fourth album Mya breaks out and swaggers into an intriguing new role.