Loyalty (Fat Joe album)

Loyalty
The cover features Fat Joe wearing a blue shirt, sunglasses and a Terror Squad necklace, being surrounded by people in dress shirts. The artist's name appears above him in blue, and the album title in on the lower right corner in white cursive lettering.
Studio album by
Fat Joe
ReleasedNovember 12, 2002 (2002-11-12)
Recorded2001–2002
Studio
GenreHip hop
Length59:53
Label
Producer
Fat Joe chronology
Jealous Ones Still Envy (J.O.S.E.)
(2001) 		Loyalty
(2002) 		True Story
(2004)
Singles from Loyalty
  1. "Crush Tonight"
    Released: October 1, 2002
  2. "All I Need"
    Released: December 17, 2002

Loyalty is the fifth studio album by American rapper Fat Joe. It was released on November 12, 2002, via Terror Squad/Atlantic Records. Recording sessions took place at Sony Music Studios and TMF Studios in New York, PatchWerk Recording Studios in Atlanta and The Hit Factory Criteria in Miami. Production was handled by Cool & Dre, Alchemist, Armageddon, Buckwild, Chink Santana, Irv Gotti, Larry "Precision" Gates, Ron Browz, Teflon and Ty Fyffe. It features guest appearances from fellow Terror Squad members Tony Sunshine, Remy Ma, Armageddon and Prospect, as well as Birdman, Ginuwine, Lamagic, Ronda Blackwell and Scarface.

The album debuted at number 31 on the US Billboard 200 and number 11 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts in the United States. It was supported with two singles: "Crush Tonight" and "All I Need". Its lead single, "Crush Tonight", peaked at number 77 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 42 on the UK singles chart. The second single from the album, "All I Need", made it to number 86 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song "Take a Look At My Life" can be heard in the 2004 video game Def Jam: Fight for NY, which featured Fat Joe as a playable character.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
HipHopDX2.5/5[2]
laut.de[3]
RapReviews7.5/10[4]
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide[5]

Mr. S of RapReviews gave praise to the production quality throughout the track listing, singling out Cool & Dre for their contributions that showcase their talents, and Joe for delivering on his lyrical content with hard-edged, introspective street bangers and romantic rap ballads despite getting a "little too commercial for his own good" in the middle portion of the album, concluding that "when all things are considered, Fat Joe did a nice job of balancing this album for different crowds and fanbases, if not a great job of doing so like he did on Don Cartagena and J.O.S.E.".[4] Mike Oduro of HipHopDX wrote: "Fat Joe's Loyalty isn't anything more than average in the end. The hodge-podge of grimy, ghetto inspired tracks and commercially acceptable songs leave this album in staccato. Overall, as a product it's easy to recommend to the radio hungry hip hop fan, it's just that Fat Joe is not going to be remembered for the time he put into this release".[2]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Take a Look at My Life"
Buckwild4:00
2."Bust at You" (featuring Baby, Scarface and Tony Sunshine)
Alchemist4:37
3."Prove Something"
  • Cartagena
  • Marcello Valenzano
  • Andre Lyon
  • Thomas David Richardson
  • Doug Edwards
Cool & Dre3:55
4."TS Piece" (featuring Remy Ma and Tony Sunshine)
Cool & Dre3:50
5."It's Nothing" (featuring Tony Sunshine)
Ty Fyffe4:06
6."Turn Me On" (featuring Ronda Blackwell)
3:41
7."Born in the Ghetto" (featuring Lamajic)
Cool & Dre3:50
8."Crush Tonight" (featuring Ginuwine)
Precision5:17
9."Gangsta"
  • Cartagena
  • Eaddy
Armageddon3:54
10."All I Need" (featuring Tony Sunshine and Armageddon)
  • Cartagena
  • Eaddy
  • Valenzano
  • Lyon
  • James Harris III
  • Terry Lewis
  • Winfred Lovett
Cool & Dre4:39
11."Life Goes On"
  • Cartagena
  • Valenzano
  • Lyon
Cool & Dre4:53
12."Loyalty" (featuring Armageddon, Prospect and Remy Ma)
  • Cartagena
  • Eaddy
  • Richard Perez
  • Smith
  • Valenzano
  • Lyon
  • Michael Denne
  • Ken Gold
Cool & Dre4:57
13."We Run This Shit"
Ron Browz3:58
14."Shit Is Real Pt. III"
  • Cartagena
  • Sheldon Harris
Teflon4:21
Total length:59:53

Personnel

  • Joseph "Fat Joe" Cartagena — vocals, executive producer
  • Bryan "Baby/Birdman" Williams — vocals (track 2)
  • Brad "Scarface" Jordan — vocals (track 2)
  • Antonio "Tony Sunshine" Cruz — vocals (tracks: 2, 4, 5, 10), additional vocals (track 8)
  • Reminisce "Remy Martin" Smith — vocals (tracks: 4, 12)
  • Ronda Blackwell — vocals (track 6)
  • Floyd "Lamagic" Massey — vocals (track 7)
  • Elgin "Ginuwine" Lumpkin — vocals (track 8)
  • John "Armageddon" Eaddy — vocals (tracks: 10, 12), producer (track 9), executive producer
  • Richard "Prospect" Perez — vocals (track 12)
  • Charlie Rock — additional vocals (track 13)
  • David Cabrera — guitar (track 4)
  • Chris Feinstein — bass (tracks: 5, 14)
  • Tom DeKorte — Wurlitzer electric piano (track 14), recording assistant (tracks: 2–5, 7–14)
  • Anthony "Buckwild" Best — producer (track 1)
  • Alan "The Alchemist" Maman — producer (track 2)
  • Marcello "Cool" Valenzano — producer (tracks: 3, 4, 7, 10–12)
  • Andre "Dre" Lyon — producer (tracks: 3, 4, 7, 10–12)
  • Tyrone "Ty" Fyffe — producer (track 5)
  • Irving "Irv Gotti" Lorenzo — producer (track 6)
  • Andre "Chink Santana" Parker — producer (track 6)
  • Larry "Precision" Gates — producer (track 8)
  • Rondell "Ron Browz" Turner — producer (track 13)
  • Sheldon "Teflon" Harris — producer (track 14)
  • Christian "Soundboy" Delatour — recording
  • Fabian Marasciullo — recording (track 6)
  • Josh Butler — additional recording (track 2)
  • Geoff Rice — recording assistant (tracks: 1, 2, 4, 6), mixing assistant (tracks: 3, 7)
  • Toshikazu Yoshioka — recording assistant (tracks: 2–5, 7–14)
  • Kent Hertz — recording assistant (track 6)
  • Ken "Duro" Ifill — mixing (tracks: 1, 2, 5, 6, 13)
  • Jason Goldstein — mixing (tracks: 3, 4, 7–12, 14)
  • Nick Howard — mixing assistant (tracks: 1, 2, 5, 6, 13)
  • Pablo Arraya — mixing assistant (tracks: 3, 4, 8–12, 14)
  • Chris Gehringer — mastering
  • Chris Athens — additional mastering
  • Rob "Reef" Tewlow — co-executive producer, A&R
  • Ola Kudu — art direction, design
  • Christina Dittmar — art direction
  • Kon Trubkovich — additional design
  • Vincent Soyez — photography
  • Anne DeClemente — A&R
  • Craig Rosen — A&R
  • Tara Balzano — A&R

Charts

Chart (2002) Peak
position
UK R&B Albums (OCC)[6] 28
US Billboard 200[7] 31
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[8] 11

References

  1. ^ Bush, John. "Loyalty - Fat Joe | Album | AllMusic". AllMusic. Archived from the original on December 10, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Oduro, Mike (December 5, 2002). "Fat Joe - Loyalty". HipHopDX. Archived from the original on June 25, 2023. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  3. ^ Johannesberg, Stefan. "Entkleidet bis auf die nackte Musik wirkt der fette Joe ziemlich mager". laut.de (in German). Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Fat Joe :: Loyalty :: Terror Squad/Atlantic Records". www.rapreviews.com. November 15, 2002. Archived from the original on July 6, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  5. ^ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 296. ISBN 978-0-7432-0169-8 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  7. ^ "The Billboard 200". Billboard. Vol. 114, no. 48. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. November 30, 2002. p. 64. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  8. ^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums". Billboard. Vol. 114, no. 48. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. November 30, 2002. p. 23. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved April 25, 2024.