Round 2 (J. Holiday album)

Round 2
Studio album by J. Holiday
Released	March 10, 2009[1]
Recorded	2008–2009 Carrington House Christian Boy Studios (Atlanta, Georgia) Signature Sound Studios The Red Room The Music House (Sherman Oaks, California)
Genre	R&B, Hip hop
Length	47:04
Label	Music Line, Capitol
Producer	The-Dream, Ne-Yo, Jasper Cameron, The Co-Stars, Allstar, The Platinum Brothers
J. Holiday chronology
Back of My Lac' (2007) Round 2 (2009) Guilty Conscience (2014)
Singles from Round 2
"It's Yours" Released: December 16, 2008

Round 2 is the second studio album by American recording artist J. Holiday. The album was released on March 10, 2009, by Music Line Group and Capitol Records.^[1] It is the follow-up to his debut album, Back of My Lac', which was released in 2007. As of May 2009, the album has sold 300,000 copies in the United States.

Upon release, Round 2 received critical acclaim from critics, who saw it as an improvement from his previous album.

Singles

The first single "It's Yours", was released on December 16, 2008. A music video was released.

The second single that was supposed to be released was Fall, but due to label problems it was canceled like "Come Here" on his previous album.

Commercial performance

The album sold 55,000 copies in its first week and debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200.^[2] The album has sold 300,000 copies in the United States.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
About.com	[3]
Allmusic	[4]
Associated Press	(favorable)[5]
DJBooth	[6]
Pop Matters	6/10[7]
Rolling Stone	[8]
Vibe	(mixed)[9]

The album received critical acclaim from music critics. Andy Kellman of Allmusic said, "Holiday instead delivers a second album that is not a retread. It's not a reinvention, either, but the roster of collaborators is almost completely different, and Holiday all but eliminates the tough guy and stoner talk". Mark Edward Nero of About.com said Round 2 is a well-sung, well-written, well-produced album, but the one negative is that it's a little bland and leans too much on love songs.^[3] Slavik Nathan of DJBooth.net stated Round 2 finds Holiday shifting away from Lac’s harder-edged image in favor of a smoother sound, resulting in a well-crafted album that shows that while Holiday’s got a ways to go before he reaches elite status, no one will ever be able to call him a one-hit wonder again.^[6]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Intro"	Nahum Grymes	J. Holiday	0:36
2.	"It's Yours"	Cameron, Grymes	Jasper Cameron, Big Reese	4:06
3.	"Fall"	Gibbs, Chesser, Austin, Smith, Wright, Green	The Platinum Brothers	3:32
4.	"Don't Go"	Shaffer Smith, Charles Harmon,	Chuck Harmony	3:31
5.	"Wrong Lover" (featuring Rick Ross)	Gibbs, Chesser, Austin, Travis Cherry, Grymes, Wellington, William Roberts II, Mcnair, Jr., Biggs, Wansel	The Platinum Brothers, Travis Cherry	4:12
6.	"Run into My Arms"	Gibbs, Chesser, Austin, Cherry, Grymes	The Platinum Brothers	4:04
7.	"Sing 2 U"	Grymes, Bowen, Hamlet	Reginald Hamlet	3:15
8.	"Lights Go Out"	Grymes, Bowen, Gordon	Allstar	3:52
9.	"Make That Sound"	Gibbs, Chesser, Cherry, Antoine, Grymes, Brown	The Platinum Brothers, Travis Cherry,^[a] Karl Antoine^[a]	4:07
10.	"Forever Ain't Enough"	Grymes, Jean, Orom, Wolfson	Jules Wolfson, Jon Orum^[a]	4:22
11.	"Fly"	Babbs, Grymes, Dinkins Jr., Colapietro	The Co-Stars	4:17
12.	"Homeless"	Grymes, Scantlebury, Austin	State of Emergency	3:43
13.	"I Tried"	Grymes, Scantlebury, Austin	State of Emergency	3:49

iTunes bonus track[10]
No.	Title	Length
14.	"Magic Man"	3:18

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies an co-producer

Sample credits

• "Wrong Lover" contains interpolations from the composition "Hurry Up This way Again" written by Cynthia Biggs & Dexter Wansel.

Personnel

Credits for Round 2 adapted from Allmusic.^[11]

All-Star - Audio Production, Engineer, Producer Karl Antoine - Composer Luke Austin - Audio Production, Composer, Keyboards, Producer Babbs - Composer Chris Bellman - Mastering Big Reese - Audio Production Cynthia Biggs - Composer Bowen - Composer Ronette Bowie - A&R David Brown - Composer, Vocal Arrangement Cameron - Composer Travis Cherry - Audio Production, Composer, Producer Julie Chesser - Composer Cmillions - Producer Colapietro - Composer Vito Colapietro - Composer The Co-Stars - Audio Production Chris Dave - Drums Chris 'Daddy' Dave - Drums, Woodwind Kevin "KD" Davis - Mixing Neely Dinkins - Engineer Neely Dinkins, Jr. - Composer Nicole Frantz - Creative Director Moses Gallart - Mixing Assistant Gibbs - Composer Gordon - Composer Green - Composer Grymes - Composer Reggie Hamlet - Producer Reginald Hamlet - Audio Production, Composer Chuck Harmony - Audio Production, Composer, Producer J. Holiday - Arranger, Audio Production, Engineer, Executive Producer, Primary Artist, Producer, Vocals (Background) Elizabeth Isik - A&R Jasper - Arranger, Audio Production, Drum Programming, Keyboards, Vocals (Background)

Jaycen Joshua - Mixing Jean - Composer Mike Johnson - Engineer Darius Jones - A&R Kori Lewis - Stylist Giancarlo Lino - Mixing Assistant Carlton Lynn - Engineer Erik Madrid - Mixing Assistant Ankur Malhotra - A&R Jonathan Mannion - Art Direction, Photography Manny Marroquin - Mixing McNair Jr. - Composer Ne-Yo - Audio Production, Producer Jon Orom - Audio Production, Composer, Producer David Oromaner - Composer Dave Pensado - Mixing Christian Plata - Mixing Assistant The Platinum Brothers - Audio Production Geno Regist - Engineer Roberts - Composer April Roomet - Stylist Rick Ross - Featured Artist, Primary Artist Scantlebury - Composer Donnie Scantz - Arranger, Engineer, Keyboards, Programming Smith - Composer S. Smith - Composer State of Emergency - Audio Production Mark Stowbridge - Guitar Mark Strowbridge - Guitar James Thompson - Guitar (Bass) Randy Urbanski - Mixing Assistant Dexter Wansel - Composer John Webb - Guitar (Bass) John Webb - Guitar (Bass) Wellington - Composer Wolfson - Composer Jules Wolfson - Audio Production, Producer Wright - Composer Andrew Wuepper - Mixing Assistant

Charts

Chart (2009)	Peak position
US Billboard 200[12]	4
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[13]	2

References

1. "J. Holiday Returns For ‘Round 2`". Rap-Up. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
2. http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/269179/kelly-clarkson-tops-billboard-200
3. http://randb.about.com/od/reviews/fr/JHolidayRound2.htm
4. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r1484651
5. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090309/ap_en_re/music_review_j_holiday
6. "J Holiday - Round 2, Album Review, Stream". DJBooth.
7. http://www.popmatters.com/review/112443-j.-holiday-round-2/
8. http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/26218056/review/26749314/round_2
9. http://www.vibe.com/music/revolutions/2009/03/j_holiday_round_2/
10. "Itunes - J. Holiday - Round Two". Itunes Mp3 (Apple Inc). 2009-03-10.
11. http://www.allmusic.com/album/round-2-mw0000811112/credits
12. "J. Holiday – Chart history" Billboard 200 for J. Holiday.
13. "J. Holiday – Chart history" Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums for J. Holiday.

External links