| Kimberly: The People I Used to Know | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | K. Michelle |
| Cover: | K.Michelle-The-People-I-Used-To-Know.jpg |
| Border: | yes |
| Released: | December 8, 2017 |
| Recorded: | 2016–2017 |
| Genre: | R&B |
| Length: | 62:59 |
| Label: | Atlantic |
| Prev Title: | More Issues Than Vogue |
| Prev Year: | 2016 |
| Next Title: | All Monsters Are Human |
| Next Year: | 2020 |
Kimberly: The People I Used to Know is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter K. Michelle, released on December 8, 2017, through Atlantic Records.[1] The album was preceded by the release of the singles "Birthday", "Either Way", "Make This Song Cry" and "Crazy Like You". Kimberly: The People I Used to Know debuted on the US Billboard 200 at number fifty-six with 8,804 copies sold, becoming the lowest selling debuting album of Michelle's career so far and continuing a downward trend in her commercial success.
On December 21, 2016, K. Michelle announced that her fourth album would be released in 2017 via Twitter with an acronym "TCE".[2] During the final season of her reality show ", the singer revealed a song titled "Heaven",[3] calling the song "one of my most personal records on my new album".[4] [5] On September 8, 2017, in an interview with Billboard, the album's title was revealed "Kimberly: The People I Used to Know". On October 13, 2017, the album cover, track list and release date was revealed.[6]
"Birthday" was released as the album's lead single on September 8, 2017.[7] "Either Way" featuring American singer Chris Brown was released as the album's second single on September 15, 2017.[8] The song debuted at number 19 on the US Billboard R&B Digital Song Sales chart for the week beginning October 7, 2017.[9] "Make This Song Cry" was released as the album's third single on October 6, 2017.[10] "Crazy Like You" was released as the album's fourth single on August 12, 2018.[11]
On AllMusic, Andy Kellman gave the album four stars out of five, stating that "she has too much on her mind - and has such an imaginative and proficient way of getting it all out - to truly bail." Glenn Gamboa from Newsday wrote that "It’s a shoot-from-the-hip style given to hits and misses, but when K. Michelle connects, she hits hard."
Pitchforks Alfred Soto graded it 7 points out of 10, commenting that "KIMBERLY: The People I Used to Know may lack a thumper like "V.S.O.P." or a slow jam as urgent as "Drake Would Love Me," still her greatest performance, but it continues a remarkable four-album streak." Rachael Scarsbrook of Renowned for Sound gave the album 4 stars out of 5, wrote that "There is enough differentiation to maintain intrigue even if the album is some 20+ tracks long. K Michelle is never one to mince her words, and she’s certainly not going to be changing that any time soon.
Notes
Sample credits
| Date | Format | Label | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | December 8, 2017 | Digital download, CD | Atlantic | |
| Canada | [12] | |||
| United Kingdom | December 10, 2017 | [13] | ||
| Spain | [14] | |||
| France | [15] | |||
| Germany | [16] |