Brave (Jennifer Lopez album)

Brave
Studio album by Jennifer Lopez
Released	October 4, 2007 (2007-10-04) (see release history)
Recorded	2006–07
Genre	Dance-pop, R&B
Length	47:53
Label	Epic
Producer	Bigg D, Bloodshy & Avant, Chuck Brody, Cory Rooney (exec.), Hit-Boy, Jennifer Lopez (exec.), Johnny Rodeo, Julio Reyes, J. R. Rotem, Lynn & Wade LLP, Midi Mafia, Ryan Tedder, The Clutch, The Platinum Brothers, Travis Cherry, Oak
Jennifer Lopez chronology
Como ama una Mujer (2007) Brave (2007) Love? (2011)
Singles from Brave
"Do It Well" Released: September 18, 2007 "Hold It Don't Drop It" Released: January 14, 2008

Brave is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Jennifer Lopez, released on October 4, 2007 by Epic Records. It debuted at number twelve on the U.S. Billboard 200 with 53,000 copies sold in its first week. Though the album was generally praised by fans, it got mixed reviews from most critics and subsequently became Lopez's least commercially successful album to date. Brave is the last album Lopez released under Epic Records.

Production

In a MTV News interview while on the music video set for "Me Haces Falta", Lopez promised fans "danceable music" on this album. This album returned Lopez to pop, R&B, and hip hop sound after her previous English-language studio album, Rebirth.^[1] She stated the album would be "dance, funk, R&B, hip-hop, all that stuff, all mixed up together to make some great pop music".^[1] She described Brave as "a little Jamiroquai, a little Sade. It's real feel-good music".^[2] Lopez recruited producers including J. R. Rotem, Bloodshy & Avant, Midi Mafia, and Ryan Tedder.^[2][3] On March 27, 2007, on Total Request Live, Lopez stated there would be no featured appearances and chose between four uptempo songs for the first single. The first single chosen was "Do It Well". Lopez played a track in Las Vegas in late April and stated she was going on her first tour with a mix of English and Spanish music.

Singles

"Do It Well" was released as the lead single from the album on September 25, 2007. The music video premiered a few weeks before the official release, on September 17, 2007. The song debuted No.1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play. The song was considered somewhat successful, reaching the top ten in Italy and Brazil, the top twenty in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway and the top 40 in the United States.

"Hold It, Don't Drop It" was released as the second and final single from the album on January 21, 2008. The single was never released in the United States, making "Do It Well," the only US single. The video premiered December 4, 2007.

Notable songs

The third single was set to be the title track "Brave", and it was even posted on Michael Haussman's official website that filming of the music video for the single had completed. However, it was never released as a single. The song reached No.1 on the South Korean chart, and held its place inside the top five for more than twenty-three weeks after its debut.

Due to digital sales, "Mile in These Shoes" charted in Finland at number sixteen on the singles chart^[4] and number fourteen on the download chart.^[5] The song was believed to be the fourth and final single from Brave until all promotion was cancelled. The song was the promotional song used for season four of Desperate Housewives.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[6]
Billboard	(positive)[7]
Entertainment Weekly	(C)[8]
The Guardian	[9]
New York Post	[10]
NOW	(2/4)[11]
PopMatters	(3/10)[12]
Rolling Stone	[13]
Slant Magazine	[14]
Yahoo! Music	(unfavorable)[15]
Yahoo! Music UK	[16]

Reviews were generally mixed. Billboard said that "The album is another market-smart collection of radio fodder, rather than Lopez's artistic breakout. That said, no one does classy pop quite like she does".^[17] Dotmusic said that "Brave is actually one of her strongest albums to date".^[18] All Music said that "It's nothing more than modest music for mellow good times, but it's lively enough to be fleeting fun, with enough good tunes for a mild party, preferably one that's held at home".^[19] Now Magazine said that "The songs are formulaic but catchy, and the production is meticulous".^[20] The Guardian said that "The sound harks back to the genre's golden age at the turn of the century: chunky bass lines, disco strings and purring beats dominate, and the brassy melodies are engineered for maximum dancefloor impact".^[21] Rolling Stone said that "J. Lo has turned away from the slick, minimalist future funk currently ruling the pop zeitgeist for chintzy production that screams 1990".^[22]

Other reviews were negative. Entertainment Weekly stated that "Expensive beats and uplifting material are offset by listless vocals".^[23] Vibe Magazine was in a similar agreement with Entertainment Weekly, "That Brave on the whole is almost unapologetically poor isn't surprising—Jenny's never made a viable Album of the Year. But never before has the fly-girl-cum-cover girl been so listless".^[20] Yahoo Music's review said: "Given Jennifer Lopez's thin voice, it's hard to expect greatness when she puts out an album. But Brave disappoints even for J.Lo-adjusted standards. Chock full of tepid dance grooves, Lopez's voice has never sounded so weak and marginal as on this record."^[24] PopMatters said that "Brave has neither a strong artistic personality nor boffo production, and as a result, ends up being just another disposable pop record with no redeeming value".^[25] About.com said that "The tracks on Brave that try to be club records fall short, containing such light beats and unexciting vocals, that few will be drawn to the dance floor".^[26] Entertainment Weekly placed the album at number 5 on their list of worst albums of 2007.^[27]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Stay Together"	Jonathan Rotem, Chasity Nwagbara, E. Kidd Bogart	J. R. Rotem	3:30
2.	"Forever"	Balewa Muhammad, Candice Nelson, Ezekiel Lewis, Patrick Smith, Chauncey Hollis	Hit-Boy, The Clutch*	3:39
3.	"Hold It Don't Drop It"	Kevin Risto, Waynne Nugent, Jennifer Lopez, Allen Phillip Lees, Tawana Dabney, Janet Sewell, Cynthia Lissette, Dennis Lambert, Brian Potter	Dirty Swift, Bruce Wayyne	3:55
4.	"Do It Well"	Ryan Tedder, Leonard Caston, Jr., Anita Poree, Frank Wilson	Tedder	3:05
5.	"Gotta Be There"	Adam Gibbs, Michael Chesser, Crystal Johnson, Travis Cherry, Leon Ware, Arthur Ross	The Platinum Brothers, Cherry*	3:57
6.	"Never Gonna Give Up"	Michelle Lynn Bell, Peter Wade Keusch, Lopez	Keusch, Bell, Julio Reyes	4:21
7.	"Mile in These Shoes"	Nwagbara, Onique Williams	Oak	3:16
8.	"The Way It Is"	Bell, Keusch, Lopez, Rhonda Robinson, Gennaro Leone, Bruce Rudd	Keusch, Bell	3:07
9.	"Be Mine"	Bell, Keusch, Robinson, John Hill, Caleb Shreve, Lopez	Keusch, Bell, Johnny Rodeo, Chuck Brody	3:19
10.	"I Need Love"	Bell, Keusch, Robinson, Hill, Schreve, Lopez	Bell, Keusch, Rodeo, Brody	3:52
11.	"Wrong When You're Gone"	Lewis, Smith, Muhammad, Nelson, Keri Hilson	Bigg D, The Clutch	3:58
12.	"Brave"	Christian Karlsson, Pontus Winnberg, Lewis, Muhammad, Smith, Nelson	Bloodshy & Avant, The Clutch	4:21
13.	"Do It Well" (featuring Ludacris)	Tedder, Christopher Bridges, Caston, Poree, Wilson	Tedder	3:33
Total length:				47:53

(*) Denotes co-producer

Notes

• "Hold It Don't Drop It" – Contains a sample of Tavares' "It Only Takes a Minute" (Dennis Lambert, Brian Potter)
• "Do It Well" – Contains a sample of Eddie Kendricks' "Keep on Truckin'" (Leonard Caston, Jr., Anita Poree, Frank Wilson)
• "Gotta Be There" – Contains a sample of Michael Jackson's "I Wanna Be Where You Are" (Leon Ware, Arthur Ross)
• "The Way It Is" – Contains a sample of Great Pride's "She's a Lady" (Gennaro Leone, Bruce Rudd)
• "Be Mine" – Contains a sample of Paul Mauriat's "Sunny" (Bobby Hebb)
• "I Need Love" – Contains a sample of Bill Withers' "Use Me" (Bill Withers)

Personnel

Pedro Alfonso – Violin, Viola Jim Annunziato – Engineer Scott Barns – Make-Up Michelle Lynn Bell – Producer, Vocal Arrangement Michelle Bell – Vocals (bckgr) Big D – Producer Chuck Brody – Producer CFOS – Mixing Assistant Travis Cherry – Producer Clutch – Producer Brandon Creed – A&R Alec Deruggiero – Engineer Warren "Oak" Felder – Producer William Garrett – Keyboards, Engineer Larry Gold – Conductor, String Arrangements Alexei Hay – Photography John Hill – Producer, Mixing Keri Hilson – Vocals (bckgr) Hit Boy – Programming, Producer, Instrumentation Peter Wade Keusch – Synthesizer, Programming, Producer, Engineer, Vocal Arrangement Gelly Kusuma – Assistant Engineer, Mixing Assistant Jennifer Lopez – Executive Producer Manny Marroquin – Mixing Julie Ann Marsibilio – A&R

Josh McDonnell – Guitar, Engineer Keith Naftaly – A&R Candice Nelson – Vocals (bckgr) Chasity Nwagbara – Vocals (bckgr) Ken Paves – Hair Stylist Philosophy – Producer Herb Powers – Mastering Julio C. Reyes – Engineer, String Arrangements, Vocal Producer Jared Robbins – Mixing Assistant Corey Rooney – Executive Producer, Brass Arrangement, Vocal Producer José Juan Sánchez – Engineer Ryan Santomauro – A&R Sizzler Ponderosa – Vocals (bckgr) Chris Soper – Mixing Assistant Corey Stocker – Engineer Bruce Swedien – Mixing Ryan Tedder – Programming, Producer, Instrumentation Mike Tschupp – Assistant Engineer, Mixing Assistant Peter Wade – Synthesizer, Guitar, Programming, Mixing Chasity Wagbara – Vocals (bckgr) Bruce Waynne – Producer, Engineer Daniel Werner – A&R Monique Williams – Vocals (bckgr)

Charts and certifications

Charts Chart (2007) Peak position Australian ARIA Albums Chart[28] 46 Austrian Albums Chart[28] 35 Belgian Ultratop 50 Albums (Flanders)[28] 36 Belgian Ultratop 50 Albums (Wallonia) 18 Canadian Albums Chart[29] 13 Dutch Albums Chart[28] 24 French SNEP Albums Chart[28] 28 German Albums Chart[28] 41 Greek International Albums Chart[30] 2 Greek Albums Chart[31] 5 Hungarian Mahasz Albums Chart 17 Italian FIMI Albums Chart 10 Japanese Oricon Albums Chart[32] 6 Mexican Albums Chart[33] 36 Polish Albums Chart[34] 31 Spanish Albums Chart[35] 21 Swedish Albums Chart[28] 59 Swiss Albums Chart[28] 6 UK Albums Chart[28] 24 U.S. Billboard 200 12 U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums 7[36]

Sales and certifications Region Certification Sales/shipments Russia (NFPF)[37] 2× Platinum 40,000* *sales figures based on certification alone

Release history

Region	Date
Netherlands	October 4, 2007
Denmark
Poland
Germany	October 5, 2007
Italy
Switzerland
Ireland
Australia	October 6, 2007
United Kingdom	October 8, 2007
France
Spain
Portugal
Greece
Czech Republic
Philippines
Hungary
Romania
United States	October 9, 2007
Canada
Mexico
Brazil
Argentina
Chile
Cuba
Puerto Rico
Israel
South Korea
China
Japan	October 10, 2007
Thailand	October 11, 2007
Russia	October 13, 2007
Ukraine
New Zealand
India	October 16, 2007

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Rodriguez, Jayson (June 19, 2007) J. Lo promises "danceable music" on next album. Retrieved August 7, 2007.
2. ^ ^{a b} ‘Brave’ Ambitions for Jennifer Lopez. Retrieved August 7, 2007. Archived October 13, 2007 at the Wayback Machine
3. ^ Cohen, Jonathan Lopez Returns To English For 'Brave' New CD. Retrieved August 13, 2007.
4. ^ "finnishcharts.com – Jennifer Lopez – Mile In These Shoes". FinnishCharts.com. http://finnishcharts.com/showitem.asp?key=367486&cat=s. Retrieved November 7, 2008. 
5. ^ "Latauslista.fi: Jennifer Lopez – Mile In These Shoes" (in Finnish). Latauslista. http://latauslista.fi/osta/jennifer+lopez/mile+in+these+shoes. Retrieved November 5, 2008. 
6. ^ Allmusic review
7. ^ Billboard review^{[dead link]}
8. ^ Entertainment Weekly review. Ew.com (October 8, 2007). Retrieved on August 12, 2011.
9. ^ The Guardian review^{[dead link]}
10. ^ New York Post review^{[dead link]}
11. ^ NOW review
12. ^ PopMatters review. Popmatters.com. Retrieved on August 12, 2011.
13. ^ Rolling Stone review^{[dead link]}
14. ^ Slant Magazine review. Slantmagazine.com. Retrieved on August 12, 2011.
15. ^ Yahoo! Music review. New.music.yahoo.com. Retrieved on August 12, 2011.
16. ^ Yahoo! Music UK review. Uk.launch.yahoo.com (October 22, 2007). Retrieved on August 12, 2011.
17. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
18. ^ "Jennifer Lopez Brave Album Review, New album reviews and latest album releases on Yahoo! Music". Uk.launch.yahoo.com. October 22, 2007. http://uk.launch.yahoo.com/071022/33/21nk2.html. Retrieved October 7, 2009. 
19. ^ Thomas, Stephen (October 9, 2007). "((( Brave > Overview )))". allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r1208434. Retrieved October 7, 2009. 
20. ^ ^{a b} "Brave reviews at". Metacritic.com. October 9, 2007. http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/lopezjennifer/brave?q=brave. Retrieved October 7, 2009. 
21. ^ MacPherson, Alex (October 12, 2007). "CD: Jennifer Lopez, Brave | Music". The Guardian (UK). http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2007/oct/12/popandrock.shopping1. Retrieved October 7, 2009. 
22. ^ (Posted: Oct 18, 2007) (October 18, 2007). "Jennifer Lopez: Brave : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/jenniferlopez/albums/album/16657741/review/16682672/brave. Retrieved October 7, 2009. 
23. ^ Bernstein, Jonathan. "Brave | Music Review | Entertainment Weekly". Ew.com. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20144965,00.html. Retrieved October 7, 2009. 
24. ^ "Jennifer Lopez News – Yahoo! Music". New.music.yahoo.com. October 9, 2007. http://new.music.yahoo.com/jennifer-lopez/news/music-review-jennifer-lopez-brave--50006587. Retrieved October 7, 2009. 
25. ^ "Jennifer Lopez: Brave < Reviews". PopMatters. http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/jennifer-lopez-brave. Retrieved October 7, 2009. 
26. ^ "Jennifer Lopez – Brave". Top40.about.com. http://top40.about.com/od/albums/fr/jlopezbrave.htm. Retrieved October 7, 2009. 
27. ^ "The Best (and Worst) Albums of 2007". December 21, 2007. http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20166853_20383569,00.html. Retrieved February 3, 2011. 
28. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} "Jennifer Lopez – Brave worldwide chart positions and trajectories". aCharts.us. Retrieved October 23, 2007.
29. ^ ""Canadian Top 100 Albums". Jam.canoe.ca. http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Charts/ALBUMS.html. Retrieved October 7, 2009. 
30. ^ "Greek International Albums Chart". Ifpi.gr. http://www.ifpi.gr/chart01.htm. Retrieved October 7, 2009. 
31. ^ "Greek Albums Chart". Ifpi.gr. http://www.ifpi.gr/chart03.htm. Retrieved October 7, 2009. 
32. ^ ""Japan Top 30 Albums"". Oricon.co.jp. June 20, 2008. http://www.oricon.co.jp/music/release/d/730787/1/. Retrieved October 7, 2009. 
33. ^ "Mexican Albums Chart" (PDF). http://greaves.tv/amprofon3/Top100.pdf. Retrieved October 7, 2009. 
34. ^ ""Polish Albums Chart"". Olis.onyx.pl. September 27, 2009. Archived from the original on July 31, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080731205122/http://olis.onyx.pl/listy/index.asp?lang=en. Retrieved October 7, 2009. 
35. ^ "Spanish Top 100 Albums"^{[dead link]}
36. ^ 27, 2007
37. ^ "Russian album certifications – Jennifer Lopez – Brave" (in Russian). National Federation of Phonogram Producers (NFPF). http://web.archive.org/web/20090124001155/http://2m-online.ru/gold_n_platinum/detail.php?COUNTRY=5077.