Mahogany Soul Explained

Mahogany Soul
Type:studio
Artist:Angie Stone
Cover:Angie Stone - Mahogany Soul.png
Genre:
  • Neo soul
  • R&B
Length:74:58
Label:J
Prev Title:Black Diamond
Prev Year:1999
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Next Year:2004

Mahogany Soul is the second studio album by American singer Angie Stone. It was first released in the United States on October 16, 2001, by J Records. In the US, the album sold 71,000 copies in its first week of release. The album spawned five singles: "Brotha", "Brotha Part II", "Wish I Didn't Miss You", "More Than a Woman", and "Bottles & Cans".

Critical reception

AllMusic editor Jose F. Promis called the album "one of the best R&B albums of 2001". He found that Mahogany Soul "delivers more of the organic, gritty, rootsy yet sophisticated soul which put her on the map as a solo artist. The production is great and the songs are funky, mature, and intelligent, but when she truly shines is when she actually spreads her wings and glides away from her neo-soul trappings, which she manages effortlessly." Similarly, the Los Angeles Times wrote: "There is a sense throughout of real stories, real people, real emotions – and that's as good a definition as any for true soul music. One of the year's most commanding works." Billboard remarked: "Stronger musically and lyrically, Mahogany Soul oozes with heart-warming energy that's simultaneously contemporary and old-school. Stone once again rolls her gospel-honed vocals around real-life issues and emotion-filled lyrics."[1]

Reviewing for PopMatters in October 2001, Mark Anthony Neal hailed Mahogany Soul as "an accomplished piece of R&B music" in a year with other impressive debut albums by singers in the genre, including Alicia Keys' Songs in A Minor, Bilal's 1st Born Second, and Res's How I Do. He highlighted Stone's detailed lyrics, casually sassy "down-home" persona, and use of sophisticated samples in the context of authentic soul music. In response to the popular reception for the lead single "Brotha", Neal said he regards it as a "passionate and thoughtful defense" of African-American men, while pointing out "brutally trenchant" perspectives of men elsewhere in the album's relationship songs.[2] Rolling Stones Barry Walters found that "like its title suggests, Mahogany Soul isn't flashy [or] even all that catchy [...] Like D'Angelo, Stone specializes in dramatic moods expressed with mellow methods. Give her understated passion time to marinate, and Stone's soul picnic will satisfy."

Entertainment Weekly journalist Tom Sinclair felt that "too often Mahogany falls into the same artistic cul-de-sac that made D'Angelos Voodoo more admirable than enjoyable; the preponderance of tastefully atmospheric filler topped with melismatic vocal athletics makes Mahogany more so-so than soulful." The Village Voice critic Robert Christgau was less enthusiastic, singling out "Brotha" and "Bottles and Cans" as highlights while finding the album in general to be "longer on groove than song" and "longer on song than the brothas".[3] Stephen Dalton from NME called the album "well-made, but very boring nu-soul stuff." He found that "Stone is stranded in prematurely middle-aged MOR." Writing in 2009 for BBC Online, Daryl Easlea said Mahogany Soul "remains her masterpiece" and called it "a confident musical statement of what it means to be African-American [that] came to define the neo-soul movement of the early 21st century".[4]

Year-end lists

BillboardCritic's Choice (2001)Staff3
Rolling StoneTop Albums of 2001Steve Knopper7
PopMattersBest of 2001 – SoulMaurice Bottomley1

Chart performance

Mahogany Soul debuted and peaked at number 22 on the US Billboard 200 in the week of November 24, 2001, selling 71,000 copies in its first week of release.[5] It also entered the top five of the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, reaching number four. On February 12, 2002, it was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of more than 500,000 units. By September 2003, Mahogany Soul had sold 758,000 copies domestically.

Track listing

Notes

Sample credits

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Mahogany Soul.[6]

Musicians

Technical

Artwork

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2001–2002)! scope="col"
Peak
position
Australian Hitseekers Albums (ARIA)[7] 13
Australian Urban Albums (ARIA)[8] 19

Year-end charts

Chart (2001)!scope="col"
Position
Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[9] 172
Chart (2002)! scope="col"
Position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[10] 80
Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[11] 153
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[12] 90
US Billboard 200[13] 130
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[14] 22

Release history

Region! scope="col"
DateLabel
United StatesOctober 16, 2001J
United KingdomNovember 12, 2001Arista[15]
GermanyDecember 12, 2001BMG[16]
Japan[17]

Notes and References

  1. Reviews & Previews . . November 10, 2001 . May 30, 2023.
  2. Web site: Neal . Mark Anthony . Angie Stone: Mahogany Soul . . October 29, 2001 . May 2, 2019.
  3. News: Christgau. Robert. Robert Christgau. June 18, 2002. Consumer Guide: Down and Alt. The Village Voice. September 10, 2020.
  4. Web site: Easlea. Daryl. Review of Angie Stone – Mahogany Soul . . November 20, 2002 . April 16, 2007.
  5. Over the counter. Mayfield. Geoff. . Nielsen Business Media, Inc.. 0006-2510. 72. 24 July 2004. April 10, 2022. 116. 30. Google Books.
  6. Mahogany Soul . liner notes . . . 2001 . 80813-20013-2.
  7. ARIA Hitseekers – Week Commencing 11th March 2002 . . 628 . 17 . March 11, 2002 . February 13, 2020 . National Library of Australia.
  8. ARIA Urban Chart – Week Commencing 24th June 2002 . The ARIA Report . 643 . 14 . June 24, 2002 . February 13, 2020 . National Library of Australia.
  9. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20020726120735/http://jamshowbiz.com/JamMusicCharts/2001_r&b2.html. January 8, 2002. July 26, 2002. Canada's Top 200 R&B; albums of 2001. Jam!. January 22, 2023.
  10. Web site: Jaaroverzichten 2002 – Albums . Dutch . Ultratop . August 16, 2015.
  11. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20040906184204/http://www.jamshowbiz.com/JamMusicCharts/2002_r&b2.html. September 6, 2004. Canada's Top 200 R&B; albums of 2001. Jam!. March 25, 2022.
  12. Web site: Jaaroverzichten – Album 2002 . Dutch . dutchcharts.nl . August 16, 2015.
  13. Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2002 . Billboard . August 16, 2015.
  14. Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2002 . Billboard . May 2, 2019.
  15. Web site: Mahogany Soul: Angie Stone . Amazon . United Kingdom . August 16, 2015.
  16. Web site: Mahogany Soul: Angie Stone . Amazon . German . Germany . August 16, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160306141515/http://www.amazon.de/Mahogany-Soul-Angie-Stone/dp/B00005RTP5 . March 6, 2016.
  17. Web site: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00005MI8C . ja:マホガニー・ソウル . Mahogany Soul . Amazon . Japanese . Japan . August 16, 2015.

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