Love Story (Yelawolf album)

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Love Story
File:Yelawolf-Love-Story-Album-Cover.jpg
Studio album by Yelawolf
Released April 21, 2015
Recorded 2012–15
Studio
Genre
Length 74:48
Label
Producer
Yelawolf chronology
Trunk Muzik Returns
(2013)Trunk Muzik Returns2013		 Love Story
(2015)
Singles from Love Story
  1. "Box Chevy V"
    Released: January 28, 2014
  2. "Till It's Gone"
    Released: September 17, 2014
  3. "Whiskey in a Bottle"
    Released: February 17, 2015
  4. "American You"
    Released: March 23, 2015
  5. "Best Friend"
    Released: April 14, 2015

Love Story is the second studio album by American rapper Yelawolf. It was released on April 21, 2015, by Shady Records and Interscope Records. The album was described by Yelawolf as a more passionate album than his debut album. Recording process took place primarily in Nashville, Tennessee from 2012 to 2015. The production on the album was handled by Yelawolf himself, along with Eminem (who also served as the executive producer), Malay and WLPWR, among others. The album was influenced by aspects of country and rock.

Love Story was supported by the singles "Box Chevy V", "Till It's Gone", "Whiskey in a Bottle", "American You" and "Best Friend" featuring Eminem. Love Story received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the album's emotional feel as well as its ambition and production, but criticized its length. The album debuted at number 3 on the US Billboard 200, selling 51,000 copies in its first week.

Background

In April 2012, Yelawolf said, "The focus of the album is the experience since Radioactive (2011) and just putting all that into a project."[1] In December 2012, Yelawolf addressed the status of all of his upcoming projects in an interview.[2] He also spoke about Love Story, and how it would be different compared to his debut effort Radioactive. He said, "With Radioactive, I gave up a lot of creative space, and like I predicted would happen, there were some records that didn't translate to my audience."[3] Yelawolf also said this album contains more straight up passion in the songs and there is no guidelines for the album.[4] He also said, "I’m telling the truth about a lot of things. This album is in line with it having a concept and a theme. This is what makes my music special and makes me want to keep making music. I try to be as honest as I can with everything I do."[5] Yelawolf also stated on Facebook that rapper 50 Cent was originally going to appear on the "Johnny Cash" track.[citation needed]

Release and promotion

Following the release of his debut album, Radioactive (2011), Yelawolf had been touring with Lil Wayne and Travis Barker on the I Am Music Tour. During the tour, he frequently collaborated with Barker, with whom he released an EP, Psycho White, on November 13, 2012.[6] In 2012, Yelawolf's first collaborative album (The Slumdon Bridge with Ed Sheeran) and his fifth mixtape (Heart of Dixie) were released.[7] On March 14, 2013, his sixth mixtape Trunk Muzik Returns, was released, containing ten tracks with guest appearances from Raekwon, Paul Wall, Killer Mike and ASAP Rocky. The mixtape was also entirely produced by his go-to producer WLPWR.[8]

On October 31, 2013, Yelawolf released another mixtape, titled Black Fall, and at this time it was produced entirely by Three 6 Mafia's DJ Paul.[9] From November 14 to November 23, 2013, Yelawolf have been touring with Funk Volume's artist Hopsin, in promotion of Love Story, on the Fuck It Tour. The tour consists of primarily small, intimate venues in the West Coast of the United States.[10] At first the album was set to be released during 2012, however, that would be pushed to 2013, due to time constraints. In November 2013, Yelawolf confirmed to XXL stating that the album is now will be released during 2014.[11] On January 28, 2014, in an interview with Sway Calloway, Yelawolf revealed that the album has been scheduled to be released for May 2014.[citation needed]

Singles

On January 3, 2014, Yelawolf announced that the album's lead single would be the fifth installment in the Box Chevy series, titled "Box Chevy V". It would be released on January 27, 2014, and on the following day, it would be made available for digital download. The production on the song handled by WLPWR.[12][13][14] The song has a mellow groove, and the WLPWR made production features twinkling keys and guitar licks.[15][16] The music video was filmed in Granville, Tennessee, and was released on April 4, 2014.[17][18]

On September 16, 2014, the album's second single, "Till It's Gone" premiered on episode 2 of the seventh season of Sons of Anarchy, on the following day, it was released on the web.[19][20][21] On October 14, 2014, the music video was released for "Till It's Gone".[22] The production on the song was handled by WLPWR.

On February 17, 2015, the album's third single, "Whiskey in a Bottle" was released.[23] The production on the song was handled by WLPWR.

On March 23, 2015, the album's fourth single, "American You" was released.[24] The production on the song was handled by Malay, co-produced by Eminem and the additional production by Luis Resto.

On April 14, 2015, the album's fifth single, "Best Friend" featuring Eminem, was released.[25] The production on the song was handled by WLPWR and it was co-produced by Eminem.

Other songs

On July 1, 2014, the track, titled "Honey Brown", was released for digital download. The song was produced by DJ Paul and Malay.[26]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 64/100[27]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 3/5 stars[28]
Complex 3/5 stars[29]
DJBooth 4/5 stars[30]
HipHopDX 3.5/5 stars[31]
Pitchfork Media 4.9/10[32]
RapReviews.com 6/10[33]
Rolling Stone 3/5 stars[34]
Spin 6/10[35]
XXL XL (4/5)[36]

Love Story received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 64 based on 10 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[27] Ken Capobianco of The Boston Globe gave the album a positive review while calling the album "a striking improvement over 2011's messy, compromised "Radioactive"....if you scratch his songs' surfaces, you hear a smart, sensitive outsider searching for some solace." He would go on to praise the album for its "undeniable emotional pull".[37] Renato Pagnani of Rolling Stone gave the album 3 out of 5 stars, calling the album a "stronger embrace of his southern roots", while also adding that "Yelawolf's populist ambitions haven't gone away."[34] Chris Mench of Complex gave the album 3 out of 5 stars saying "The album layers the trailer park swagger of his early work over rootsy country music instrumentals, and it's largely successful". He would go on to criticize the albums length by saying "If Love Story ended at its title song, it could have been a truly great project...its solid momentum really fizzles out in the last few songs, making for a disappointing finale of an otherwise solid effort".[29] Marcus Dowling of HipHopDX said, "On Love Story, the effort, creativity and ambition is more than there, and his tremendous talents as an emcee and clear artistic voice are very much present." He would go on to say the album is "disjointed but not jagged...the closer Yelawolf stays to his more organic-to-his-roots style of Southern rap, he excels."[31] In a positive review, Lucas Garrison of DJBooth called the production "phenomenal", and would go on to state that the album is a "rich, diverse, and deep experience". He would note that it "may have been a little too long for my liking but that's a small price to pay for listening to something this remarkably unique...I know enough about hip-hop to know nobody is making music like this."[30] Miranda J. of XXL gave the album an XL rating (4 out of 5) stating that Yelawolf is "in tune with his southern roots on Love Story...there's a sense of self awareness and confidence that seems to have been missing before...He’s fully aware of who exactly he wants to be in hip-hop: a proud, raw, unapologetically Southern MC, something the game’s been missing".[36]

In a mixed review, Drew Millard of Spin gave the album a 6 out of 10. He would state "Nobody else has tried to mash murder ballads, hardcore rap, bluegrass, backwoods country, and feather-light guitar-pop into one album, pretty much ever." He would also add, "your enjoyment of Love Story will directly correlate with the amount that you enjoy Yelawolf’s singing, because boy howdy is there a lot of it here", and would go on to criticize Yelawolf's lyrics by saying "he utters the word "faggot" multiple times on the record, which, come on, guy. It's 2015...whenever he's got space in a verse to fill, it seems the guy drops some sort of complaint about the music industry...or a straight-up lyrical clunker."[35] In a mostly negative review, Jay Balfour of Pitchfork Media said "Love Story is far too long to accomplish so little...it's draining...Yelawolf sounds like he's just going through the motions instead of actually covering ground".[32]

Commercial performance

In the United States, Love Story debuted at number 3 on the Billboard 200, with 58,000 equivalent album units; it has sold 51,000 copies in its first week. It marked as Yelawolf's first top ten entry on the Billboard 200, his first number one album on Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums, and the best sales week of his career so far.[38][39] The album dropped to number 15, in its second week, selling 14,000 copies.[40]

Track listing

No. Title Writer(s) Producer(s) Length
1. "Outer Space"  
WLPWR 4:01
2. "Change"  
Malay 3:12
3. "American You"  
  • Malay
  • Eminem (co.)
  • Resto (add.)
 3:32
4. "Whiskey in a Bottle"  
  • Atha
  • Washington
  • Antonio Cezar Albuquerque de Merces
  • Jorge Pereira da Neves
 WLPWR 4:08
5. "Ball and Chain"   Atha
  • Yelawolf
  • WLPWR (co.)
 1:35
6. "Till It's Gone"  
  • Atha
  • Washington
  • Hartnett
  • Hayes
 WLPWR 4:35
7. "Devil in My Veins"  
  • Atha
  • Caleb Owens
  • Joshua Winkler
 Yelawolf 3:58
8. "Best Friend" (featuring Eminem)
  • Atha
  • Washington
  • Mathers
  • Resto
  • WLPWR
  • Eminem (co.)
 5:14
9. "Empty Bottles"  
  • Atha
  • Ho
 Malay 4:17
10. "Heartbreak"  
  • Eminem
  • Batson (add.)
  • Elizondo (add.)
 4:25
11. "Tennessee Love"  
  • Atha
  • Washington
  • Hayes
 WLPWR 4:54
12. "Box Chevy V"  
WLPWR 3:29
13. "Love Story"  
  • Atha
  • Washington
  • Hayes
 WLPWR 4:13
14. "Johnny Cash"  
Track Bangas 4:45
15. "Have a Great Flight"  
  • Atha
  • Ho
 Malay 5:03
16. "Sky's the Limit"  
  • Atha
  • Washington
  • Hayes
 WLPWR 4:28
17. "Disappear"  
  • Atha
  • Ho
 Malay 5:14
18. "Fiddle Me This"  
  • Atha
  • Washington
  • Hayes
 WLPWR 3:45
Total length:
 74:48
Notes
  • "Change" features vocals by Jessy Wilson.
  • "Devil in My Veins" features vocals by the McCrary Sisters.
Sample credits
  • "Whiskey in a Bottle" contains elements of "Adormeceu", written by Antonio Cezar Albuquerque de Merces and Jorge Pereira da Neves.
  • "Johnny Cash" contains excerpts from "Heaven", written by Dean Honer, Dean Manuel, Jarrod Gosling and Jim Reeves.
  • "Outer Space" contains excerpts from "Walkin' After Midnight", written by Alan Block and Donn Hecht, performed by Patsy Cline.
  • "Box Chevy V" contains elements of "Still D.R.E", written by Andre Young, Shawn Carter and Scott Storch, performed by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg.
  • "Fiddle Me This" contains elements of "Player's Ball" by OutKast.

Personnel

Musical

Technical

Charts

Chart (2015) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[41] 19
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[42] 39
French Albums (SNEP)[43] 227
German Albums (SNEP)[44] 51
Italian Albums (FIMI)[45] 65
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[46] 18
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[47] 13
UK Albums (OCC)[48] 25
US Billboard 200[49] 3
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[50] 1
US Top Rap Albums (Billboard)[51] 1

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Yelawolf – Love Story". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
  42. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Yelawolf – Love Story" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
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  46. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Yelawolf – Love Story". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  47. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Yelawolf – Love Story". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  48. ↑ "Yelawolf | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  49. ↑ "Yelawolf – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Yelawolf. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  50. ↑ "Yelawolf – Chart history" Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums for Yelawolf. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  51. ↑ "Yelawolf – Chart history" Billboard Top Rap Albums for Yelawolf. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
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