LeToya (album)

LeToya is the debut solo studio album by American R&B singer LeToya Luckett. It was released by Capitol Records on July 25, 2006. Luckett who co-wrote nine of the album's 16 songs, worked with a variety of producers on the album, including Teddy Bishop, The CornaBoyz, Bryan-Michael Cox, Jermaine Dupri, Just Blaze, Lil Walt, Candice Nelson, Jazze Pha, J. R. Rotem, and Scott Storch. It marked her first solo project after her departure from girl band's Destiny's Child and Anjel.

The album garnered mostly positive reception from music critics, who found that it was demonstrating individuality, while others called the project disjointed and generic. LeToya debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 and was eventually certified Platinum by the RIAA in December 2006. The album spawned three singles: "Torn", "She Don't" and "Obvious". Besides the officially released singles, Luckett's debut album also includes the promo singles, "U Got What I Need" and "All Eyes On Me".

Production
Luckett rose to fame in the late 1990s as a founding member of the R&B girl group Destiny's Child, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. As a member of band, she achieved four US Top 10 hit singles and won two Grammy Awards. In March 2000, she and former fellow group member LaTavia Roberson were ousted from the group. Ensuing breach-of-contract and defamation of character lawsuits were settled out of court in 2002. A subsequent pairing with Roberson in a new girl group called Anjel was aborted and in 2002, Luckett established boutique Lady Elle, a clothing and accessory store in Houston, with her mother.

Moving to Los Angeles for six months, Luckett traveled modeling and acting agencies while recording demos that eventually secured her a recording deal with Capitol Records. Under the label, in 2004, Luckett began work on her solo debut album. Stretching from "soulful, sensuous ballads and club jams to spotlighting the city's trademark screwed-up style," the singer worked with producers Scott Storch, Jazze Pha, Just Blaze and Jermaine Dupri on material for LeToya. Luckett who co-wrote nine of the album's 16 songs, commented on the album: "I'm a southern belle who likes heavy-hitting beats. I can give it to you hard or I can be soft and soulful, hip-hop with grace."

Promotion
The first promotional single from the album was "U Got What I Need," released with non-commercial purpose in 2004, while "All Eyes on Me," issued in 2005, served as another promotional single prior to the album's release. Selected as the album's "right urban lead single," "Torn" was released as the lead single from LeToya in March 2006. Released to strong airplay, it peaked at number 31 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and became a hit on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, peaking at number two. It also entered the top twenty on the Rhythmic Top 40 and Adult R&B Songs charts. Second single "She Don't," produced by Walter Milsap III and Candice Nelson, was issued on June 29, 2006. Less successful, it became a top 20 hit on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

Critical reception
The album garnered mostly positive reception from music critics. Prefix's Norman Mayers called LeToya an "excellent debut from an artist who was destined to become a footnote. The album is a classy affair of quality soul as well as a statement of Letoya's own individuality." Entertainment Weekly's Raymond Fiore found that "on her solo debut, the 25-year-old Houston native forgoes musical risk and lets hitmakers like Jermaine Dupri, Just Blaze, and Scott Storch ensure that almost every urban-radio formula – from a Southern club-rattler to a Mariah-like midtempo love jam – is represented on the self-titled Letoya. LeToya lacks Beyoncé-caliber pipes, but she’s got enough memorable tunes to make a surprisingly solid bid for solo stardom." AllMusic editor Anthony Tognazzini felt that the album's "polished, hip-hop-inflected R&B sound recalls Destiny's Child. LeToya gives the singer's former bandmate Beyoncé a run for her money." The Guardian's Caroline Sullivan noted that "there's almost nothing to dislike, such is its smartly coiffed cheeriness. This album has a voice of its own, nipping and tucking club tracks and slouchy love songs into a cohesive whole that reminds you Destiny's Child was a long time ago."

Michael Freedberg from The Phoenix found that "LeToya’s debut CD [...] has it all. Great songs, funky sexy songs, romantic songs, intense songs, gangsta-girl songs, fun and exotic songs, sexy dance music, a soulful version of regggaetón, and songs reminiscent of 1970s Philly soul. LeToya can sing; her voice hasn’t the luminescent high notes of Beyoncé, but she can riff a melody almost as forcefully as Mary J. Blige." On the contrary, Evan Serpick from Rolling Stone, wrote: "Unfortunately, on the disc her voice is lost in a sea of tepid R&B; arrangements and hip-hop hybrids. On about half the tracks, LeToya tries to position herself as a passionate emoter in the mold of Mary J. Blige [...] But LeToya's voice has neither the grit nor the exuberance to fill those shoes. On the album's other half, LeToya proves her hometown pride but loses the vibe by collaborating [...] on a series of underbaked, disjointed club tracks." Now critic Jason Richards called LeToya a "really boring solo disc" as well as "a wellspring of clichés," while Wendy Martin from The Skinny summed the project as a "slickly produced album [with] good backing singers, and a selection of male rappers. The result? Twelve tracks that all sound the same."

Commercial performance
Initially scheduled for a 2005 release, LeToya was released on July 19, 2006 in Japan and on July 25, 2006 in the United States. The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 and the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, with first week sales of 165,000 copies. On August 31, 2006, it was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Platinum on December 11, 2006. By November 2008, the album had sold 529,000 copies in the US.

Track listing
Notes Sample credits
 * $undefined$ denotes original producer(s)
 * $undefined$ denotes additional vocal producer(s)
 * $undefined$ denotes co-producer(s)
 * "U Got What I Need" contains a sample of Love Unlimited's "Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love" (1972).
 * "Torn" contains elements of The Stylistics's "You Are Everything" (1971).
 * "She Don't" features samples from The Spinners's "We Belong Together" (1973).
 * "Outro" contains elements of "Just a Prayer" (1991) by Yolanda Adams.

Personnel

 * Executive producers: LeToya Luckett; Carl "Mister C" Cole; Terry Ross
 * Mixing: Manny Marroquin (tracks 1, 6, 8–12, 14); Dave Russell (5); Kevin "KD" Davis (7); Jean-Marie Horvat (2, 3, 4); Jermaine Dupri (13, 15); Phil Tan (13, 15); Josh Houghkirk (assistant – 15)
 * Recording Engineers: Phil Tan (track 15); Jermaine Dupri (15); Danny Cheung (1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 14, additional music – 2, 11, 12), Walter Millsap (additional music – 6), Dave Lopez (6); Terrence Cash (10), Dave Ashton (8); Ryan West (2), Tadd Mingo (assistant – 15); Pierre Medor of Tha Corna Boys (5); Sam Thomas (11); Leslie Brathwaite (7); John Horesco IV (13, 15); Conrad Golding (12)
 * Additional vocals from: Candice Nelson (additional background vocals- 6); Dave Young (additional vocals- 11)
 * Art directions: Eric Roinestad
 * Design: Eric Roinestad
 * Photography: Dusan Reljin