| East Atlanta Love Letter | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | 6lack |
| Cover: | 6lackEastAtlantaLoveLetter.jpg |
| Released: | September 14, 2018 |
| Studio: |
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| Length: | 47:53 |
| Producer: |
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| Prev Title: | Free 6lack |
| Prev Year: | 2016 |
| Next Title: | 6pc Hot EP |
| Next Year: | 2020 |
East Atlanta Love Letter is the second studio album by American singer 6lack. It was released on September 14, 2018 by LVRN and Interscope Records. This is the follow-up to his 2016 release, Free 6lack. The production on the album was handled by multiple producers including T-Minus, Cardiak, Joel Little and Bizness Boi among others. The album also features guest appearances from Future, J. Cole, Offset and Khalid.
East Atlanta Love Letter was supported by two singles: "Switch" and "Nonchalant".[1] The album received positive reviews from music critics and was a commercial success. It debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 chart, earning 77,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. The album was also certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in December 2020.
In June 2018, 6lack posted a picture on his social media saying "I think my album is done".[2] While talking about the album in interview with Highsnobiety, 6lack said;
On August 13, 2018, he announced that it will be titled East Atlanta Love Letter".[3] On August 29, he announced the album's release date and posted the artwork, which features him in a makeshift studio with his daughter, Syx Rose Valentine.[4] On September 11, he shared the official track listing and released the album on September 14.[5]
The first single from the album, "Switch", was released on June 22, 2018.[6] The music video for "Switch" was released on July 16, 2018.[7] "Nonchalant" was released as the album's second single on August 17, 2018, with its accompanying music video.[8] [9]
For further promotion of the album, 6lack started a tour in October 2018. He is joined by THEY., Boogie, Tierra Whack, Summer Walker, Deante' Hitchcock, and Ari Lennox.[10]
East Atlanta Love Letter received positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 74 based on 4 reviews.[11] In a positive review, Kitty Richardson of The Line of Best Fit concluded 6lack "trumped his opponents and influences with a fragile grace and solid talent for songwriting, echoing that of our most decorated balladeers. It's a hope that the album's use of an undeniably fashionable sound doesn't hinder its potential for timelessness; there is so much here to fall for." Luke Fox of Exclaim! described East Atlanta Love Letter as "impeccably cohesive", praising the minimalist production and adding the album is "a record that captures the trap-soul zeitgeist that will best catch you in your feelings." Online hip hop publication HipHopDX praised the album, stating: "In an era where artists hype up projects that turn out to be nothing but half-baked playlists, 6LACK’s thoughtful embrace of the album format is refreshing. East Atlanta Love Letter is a moody masterpiece that may very well take the artist’s career to new heights."
In a mixed review, Dean Van Nguyen of Pitchfork criticised the album's lyrical content, commenting that 6lack "traps listeners within the four walls of his drab hotel room, exposing us to his joyless, low-energy meditations that don’t capture relationships or the human experience in any kind of meaningful way."
| Publication | Accolade | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billboard | The 10 Best R&B Albums of 2018 | 6 | [12] |
| Capital XTRA | 20 Best Albums of 2018 | 9 | [13] |
| Clash | The Best Albums of 2018 | 3 | [14] |
| Complex | The Best Albums of 2018 | 25 | [15] |
| HipHopDX | R&B Albums of the Year | 2 | [16] |
| PopSugar | 27 Best Albums of 2018 | 9 | [17] |
| Vibe | 30 Best Albums of 2018 | [18] | |
East Atlanta Love Letter debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 chart, earning 77,000 album-equivalent units (including 20,000 copies as pure album sales) in its first week.[19] This became 6lack's first US top-ten debut and his highest-charting release in the US to date.[19] In its second week, the album dropped to number 12 on the chart, earning an additional 32,000 units.[20] On December 10, 2020, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over 500,000 units in the United States.
Notes
Sample credits
| Peak position | |
| US Billboard 200 | 3 |
|---|---|
| Position | ||
| US Billboard 200[21] | 188 | |
|---|---|---|
| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[22] | 66 |