Free Yourself (Fantasia album)

Free Yourself is the debut studio album by American singer Fantasia, released by on November 23, 2004. After winning American Idol, Fantasia signed to J Records with 19 Entertainment and began recording her debut album, working with a variety of writers and producers, including Louis Biancaniello, Craig Brockman, Bryan-Michael Cox, Clive Davis, Jermaine Dupri, Missy Elliott, Sean Garrett, Jazze Pha, Darkchild, Harold Lilly, Ric Rude, Soulshock & Karlin, The Underdogs, Sam Watters and Nigel Wright.

The album earned largely mixed reviews from music critics, most of whom praised her voice but were critical with the production on the album. Upon its release, Free Yourself debuted and peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 240,000 units in its first week. It went on to sell 1.8 million copies in the United States and was nominated for a number of awards, including three Grammy Awards. The album produced several singles, including American Idol winner's single "I Believe," Fantasia's first number-one hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 as well as the R&B hit singles "Truth Is" and "Free Yourself."

Promotion
In June 2004, Fantasia released her debut single, "I Believe", which later debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, making her the first artist in history to achieve this with a first single. On the sales chart, the song spent eleven consecutive weeks at number one, giving it the longest consecutive stay on top of that chart for an American Idol contestant. The CD single, "I Believe", went on to become the top selling single of 2004 in the United States. The song was later included as the closing track on Free Yourself.

"Truth Is," produced by Soulshock and Karlin, was the second single to precede Free Yourself. Released on December 7, 2004 as the album's lead single, it peaked at number twenty-one on Billboard Hot 100, and number two on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. The most successful single taken from the album, it topped the Adult R&B Songs chart for 13 weeks. "It's All Good" was released as the second single digitally on April 12, 2005 in a remix EP format. Due to its remixes, produced by The Scumfrog and Nate Skaten, it reached number 21 on the Dance Club Songs chart.

"Baby Mama," co-written and produced by Harold Lilly, was released on May 9, 2005 as the third single from Free Yourself. It peaked at number sixty on the Billboard Hot 100 and number sixteen on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It was followed by "Free Yourself" which was released on June 1, 2005 as the fourth single. The song peaked at number forty-one on the Billboard Hot 100 and number three on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, also becoming Fantasia's second number-one hit on the Adult R&B Songs chart. "Ain't Gon' Beg You," penned by The Underdogs, was released as the albums's fifth and final single on August 8, 2005 and reached the top 40 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

Critical reception
Free Yourself was released to largely mixed reviews from music critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic rated the album three out of five stars and wrote: "Free Yourself is looser and hipper than any previous American Idol album. Gone is Matthew Wilder, who contributed to Kelly's debut; gone are Neil Sedaka and Aldo Nova, who featured heavily on Clay's album. In their place are Missy Elliott, Jermaine Dupri and Rodney Jerkins, hip-hop hitmakers who give a good indication that this album is striving to seem fresh and hip, something that no other American Idol album has even attempted." IGN critic Chris Carle "note that "there are a few missteps on Free Yourself, but the album as a whole is solid, old-fashioned R&B featuring thee best voice yet to come from America's most popular show."

Christian Hoard from Rolling Stone found that Free Yourself "leaves too much room for the pyrotechnics that constitute vocal talent on the show. But Barrino has gotten crucial help from a cavalcade of top urban songwriters and producers. The result is solid, up-to-date R&B; that puts some sexy bounce into its soccer-mom pop and bookends a cover of "Summertime" with a Missy Elliott jam." Sal Cinquemani, writing for Slant Magazine, described the album as "a smattering of everything that’s going on in mainstream R&B right now." He added: "These are artists we’ve gotten to know in a live context, and like most of the albums by the Idols before her, Free Yourself doesn't fully capture the Fantasia we watched make Paula weep on TV week after week." Neva Chonin from San Francisco Chronicle felt that Fantasia's "first CD doesn't do her justice [...] Layered vocals pour like waterfalls, Fantasia's skills are extolled in sundry shout-outs, and faux-vinyl scratchiness lends touches of nostalgic verite. Even the Elliott-produced title track is clinically smooth and forgettable."

Commercial performance
Free Yourself debuted and peaked at number eight on the US Billboard 200 in the week ending November 12, 2004, with first week sales of 240,000 copies. It also reached number two on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. A steady seller, it remained 42 weeks on the chart and was eventually certified platinum by Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on January 6, 2005. By August 2010, Free Yourself had sold 1.8 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen Soundscan.

Track listing
Notes Sample credits
 * undefined signifies co-producer
 * undefined signifies additional producer
 * "Truth Is" contains a sample from "The Highways of My Life", performed by The Isley Brothers.
 * "Selfish (I Want You to Myself)" contains a sample from "Dil Aaj Shair Hai", performed by Kishore Kumar.
 * "Baby Mama" contains a sample from "There Will Never Be Any Peace (Until God Is Seated at the Conference Table)", performed by The Chi-Lites.

Personnel

 * Kamel Abdo – engineer, mixing
 * Gerald Albright – saxophone
 * Maxi Anderson – choir, chorus
 * Carlos Bedoya – engineer, mixing, programming
 * Charile Bereal – drum programming
 * Louis Biancaniello – arranger, keyboards, mixing, producer, programming
 * Leslie Brathwaite – mixing
 * Craig Brockman – keyboards, producer
 * Chris Brown – assistant
 * Eric Butler – choir, chorus
 * Debra Byrd – choir, chorus
 * David Campbell – string arrangements, string conductor
 * Darius Campo – violin
 * Vadim Chislov – assistant
 * Steve Churchyard – audio engineer, engineer
 * Nicholas Cooper – choir, chorus
 * Larry Corbett – cello
 * Bryan-Michael Cox – producer
 * Eric Dawkins – main personnel, backing vocals
 * Joel Derouin – violin
 * Kevin Dorsey – choir, chorus
 * Laura Marie Duncan – stylist
 * Jermaine Dupri – producer
 * Missy Elliott – audio production, main personnel, producer, backing vocals
 * Fantasia Barrino – vocals
 * Angela Fisher – choir, chorus
 * Gloria Elias Foeillet – make-up
 * Matthew Funes – viola
 * Armen Garabedian – violin
 * Berj Garabedian – violin
 * Sean Garrett – engineer, producer, vocal producer
 * Jon Gass – mixing
 * Tamyra Gray – main personnel, backing vocals
 * Laurence Greenfield – violin
 * Julian Hallmark – violin
 * Dabling Harward – editing, engineer
 * David Heuer – assistant
 * Ross Hogarth – engineer
 * John Horesco IV – engineer
 * Bill Hughes – orchestra contractor
 * Jun Ishizeki – assistant engineer
 * Jazze Pha – main personnel, producer, rap
 * Rodney Jerkins – mixing, producer
 * Jeff Kanan – assistant
 * Karlin – arranger, instrumentation, producer
 * Mark Kiczula – assistant engineer
 * Darlene Koldenhoven – choir, chorus
 * Chris LeBeau – artwork
 * Natalie Leggett – violin
 * Mario de León – violin
 * Lil' Steve – main personnel, backing vocals
 * Allison Lilly – backing vocals
 * Harold Lilly – producer
 * Bill Malina – audio engineer, engineer
 * Manny Marroquin – mixing
 * Yolanda McCullough – digital editing, engineer
 * Byron Motley – choir, chorus
 * Neeko – hair stylist
 * Bobbi Page – choir, chorus
 * Alyssa Park – violin
 * Sara Parkins – violin
 * Michael Parnin – mixing
 * Bob Peterson – violin
 * Charles Pettaway – guitar, main personnel
 * Greg Phillinganes – piano
 * Ric Rude – producer
 * Tom Ranier – orchestration
 * Aaron Renner – assistant
 * Brian Scheuble – engineer
 * Robin Sellars – engineer
 * Gabe Sganga – assistant engineer
 * Deborah Sharpe-Taylor – choir, chorus
 * Dan Smith – cello
 * Isabel Snyder – photography
 * Nico Solis – engineer
 * Soulshock – arranger, instrumentation, producer
 * Soulshock & Karlin – audio production
 * Nisan Stewart – drums
 * Jazmine Sullivan – main personnel, backing vocals
 * Phil Tan – mixing
 * Tank – main personnel, various instruments
 * Melanie Taylor – choir, chorus
 * The Underdogs – audio production, instrumentation, main personnel, producer, various instruments
 * Sam Watters – arranger, producer, backing vocals
 * Tony Wilkins – choir, chorus
 * Yvonne Williams – choir, chorus
 * Evan Wilson – viola
 * John Wittenberg – violin
 * Terry Wood – choir, chorus
 * Nigel Wright – producer
 * Alexis Yraola – art direction, design