| B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray | ||||
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| Studio album by B.o.B | ||||
| Released | April 27, 2010 | |||
| Recorded | 2008–2010 | |||
| Genre | Pop rap, alternative hip hop | |||
| Length | 47:57 | |||
| Label | Grand Hustle, Rebel Rock, Atlantic | |||
| Producer | T.I. (exec.), B.o.B (also exec.), Jim Jonsin (also exec.), Alex da Kid, DJ Frank E, Dr. Luke, Da Honorable C.N.O.T.E., Eminem, The Knux, Kuttah, Lil' C, Luis Resto, The Smeezingtons, T.I. | |||
| B.o.B chronology | ||||
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| Singles from B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray | ||||
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B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray is the debut studio album of American rapper B.o.B, released April 27, 2010, on Grand Hustle Records, Rebel Rock Entertainment, and Atlantic Records. Production for the album took place during 2008 to 2010 and was handled by B.o.B, Crada, Dr. Luke, The Smeezingtons, Jim Jonsin, Lil' C, Alex da Kid, Polow da Don, and DJ Frank E.
The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 84,000 copies in its first week. It attained some international charting and produced three singles that achieved chart success, including the Billboard hit "Magic", and international hits "Nothin' on You" and "Airplanes". Upon its release, B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray received positive reviews from most music critics.
Contents |
The album's release date was pushed up to April 27, 2010, in response to the success of the single "Nothin' on You".[3] It was released with the bonus tracks "Letters from Vietnam" and "I See Ya" in the US.[4] During the 2009 BET Hip Hop Awards, B.o.B revealed that Eminem and Lupe Fiasco will be featured on his debut album.[5]
The album's first single, "Nothin' on You", achieved double platinum sales in the US.[6] The promotional single "Don't Let Me Fall" peaked at number 67 on the Billboard Hot 100.[7] The second official single, "Airplanes", was released on April 13, 2010.[8] It charted in nine countries and peaked at number two in the US.[9] The fourth single, "Don't Let Me Fall," was released on September 28, 2010 in the US.[1] The fourth UK single after "Magic" was "I'll Be in the Sky", which was released on January 31, 2011.[2]
The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 84,000 copies.[10] It also entered at number one on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Albums,[11] Digital Albums,[12] and Rap Albums charts.[13] It fell to number 12 in its second week on the Billboard 200, selling 36,000 additional copies.[10] By its second week, it had sold 148,000 copies in the United States.[14] The album sold 23,000 copies at number 13 in its third week on the Billboard 200.[15] It dropped to number 15 with 20,000 copies sold in its fourth week on the chart.[16] It remained at number 13 and sold 20,000 copies in its fifth week on the chart, bringing its total domestic sales to 210,000 copies by June 6, 2010.[17] On December 16, 2010, the album was certified gold for shipments of 500,000 copies in the US.[18][19] As of August 16, 2011, the album had sold 568,000 copies in the United States.[20]
Internationally, B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray achieved some chart success.[21] In Canada, the album debuted at number seven on the Top 100 albums chart.[22] It also entered at number 42 on the ARIA Top 50 Albums in Australia,[23] and in New Zealand, it entered at number 23 on the RIANZ Top 40 Albums chart.[24] It peaked at number 21 and spent five weeks on the latter chart.[21] In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number 22 on the Top 40 Albums and at number four on the R&B Albums Chart.[25][26]
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [27] |
| Entertainment Weekly | (B)[28] |
| The Guardian | [29] |
| The Independent | [30] |
| Los Angeles Times | [31] |
| Pitchfork Media | (4.2/10)[32] |
| Rolling Stone | [33] |
| Slant Magazine | [34] |
| Spin | (5/10)[35] |
| The Washington Post | (favorable)[36] |
B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray received positive reviews from most music critics.[37] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 67, based on 18 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[37] Allmusic writer David Jeffries gave it four out of five stars and noted "how effortless [B.O.B] makes all this genre-juggling seem, especially on repeat listens as the album evolves from a high-caliber collection of singles to a unified body of work".[27] The Washington Post's Sarah Godfrey commended its varied sound and wrote that B.o.B "thoughtfully creates tracks to suit the strengths of each guest, with the one constant being his ability to adapt to almost any style".[36] The Independent's Andy Gill wrote that "he shares [André 3000]'s fancy for a concept [...] developing a theme about the schizoid confusion between the real Bobby Ray and the fantasy superstar".[30] Mike Diver of BBC Online called him "a musician with creativity on tap and enough of it to burn through a little filler here while ensuring the prime cuts emerge perfectly".[38] XXL's Chris Yuscavage gave the album an XL rating and called it "genre-blending".[39]
In contrast, Kenny Herzog of Spin viewed that the album struggles to "establish a distinctive identity", noting "When 'eclectic' is just another word for 'a mess'".[35] Rolling Stone's Jody Rosen viewed B.o.B.'s lyricism as a weakness, calling his boasts "witless".[33] Giving it a 6.5/10 rating, Jesal Padania of RapReviews called it "a potentially divisive album" and found its lyrical depth inconsistent.[40] The Guardian's Paul MacInnes perceived "a distinct lack of passion", stating "all the Chris Martinesque piano lines and calibrated guest appearances... can't obscure an absence of soul throughout".[29] Jayson Greene of Pitchfork Media called it "a dishearteningly generic and hollow product with no soul or demographic or viewpoint", and perceived that the album's production purposely overshadows his rapping, stating "B.o.B is a fantastically gifted rapper, with an astonishing rhythmic command and a tricky, limber way with phrasing. On Bobby Ray he's reduced to a guest rapper on his own songs".[32]
Despite writing that its "middle sags futilely", Slant Magazine's M.T. Richards praised its "vibrant energy" and B.o.B's "burning charisma".[34] Entertainment Weekly's Simon Vozick-Levinson stated "when the combination of styles works, he hits a sweet spot that's sure to advance his crossover career".[28] Los Angeles Times writer Todd Martens wrote favorably of B.o.B's "middle-class tales", stating "at his best, [B.o.B] channels the spirit of a young Kanye West".[31] Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club complimented his lyrics concerning "relationships, fame, ambition, and identity", stating "B.o.B’s soulful, Southern-fried sensitivity dominates this assured, thoughtful debut".[41] USA Today's Steve Jones praised his "boldly inventive rhymes" and musicianship, stating "He colors outside the hip-hop box both lyrically and sonically, mixing and matching soul, rock, pop, folk, rap and funk with abandon. He shifts moods and varies themes touching on such topics as the cost of fame, staying hopeful and being hopelessly infatuated".[42]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Don't Let Me Fall" | Bobby Ray Simmons, Jr., Clarence Montgomery III | B.o.B | 4:35 |
| 2. | "Nothin' on You" (featuring Bruno Mars) | Simmons, Jr., Peter Gene Hernandez, Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine | The Smeezingtons | 4:29 |
| 3. | "Past My Shades" (featuring Lupe Fiasco) | Simmons, Jr., Wasalu Muhammad Jaco | B.o.B | 3:33 |
| 4. | "Airplanes" (featuring Hayley Williams) | Simmons, Jr., Alexander Grant, Jeremy Dussolliet, Justin Franks, Tim Sommers | Alex da Kid, DJ Frank E | 3:01 |
| 5. | "Bet I" (featuring T.I. and Playboy Tre) | Simmons, Jr., Clifford Harris, Montgomery III, Jesse McMullen, Jr. | Kuttah | 4:17 |
| 6. | "Ghost in the Machine" | Simmons, Jr. | B.o.B | 4:53 |
| 7. | "The Kids" (featuring Janelle Monáe) | Bobby Simmons, Jr., Franks, Ezra Koenig, Rostam Batmanglij, Chris Baio, Chris Tomson | DJ Frank E | 3:26 |
| 8. | "Magic" (featuring Rivers Cuomo) | Simmons, Jr., Lukasz Gottwald, Rivers Cuomo | Dr. Luke | 3:16 |
| 9. | "Fame" | Simmons, Jr., Zekuumba Zekkariyas, George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, DuBose Heyward, Dorothy Heyward, Christopher Lanier, Montgomery III, Alvin Lindsay, Kentrell Lindsay, Howard Coney, Dwight Watson | The Knux | 3:41 |
| 10. | "Lovelier Than You" | Simmons, Jr. | B.o.B | 4:04 |
| 11. | "5th Dimension" (featuring Ricco Barrino) | Simmons, Jr., Marvin Gaye, Harris, James Nyx, Kassim Vonricco Washington, Cordale Quinn | B.o.B, T.I., Lil' C | 3:23 |
| 12. | "Airplanes, Part II" (featuring Hayley Williams and Eminem) | Simmons, Jr., Dussolliet, Grant, Luis Resto, Marshall Mathers, Sommers | Alex da Kid, Eminem, Luis Resto (co) | 5:19 |
| iTunes Deluxe edition | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Producer(s) | Length | ||||||
| 13. | "Letters from Vietnam" | B.o.B | 4:13 | ||||||
| 14. | "I See Ya" | Da Honorable C.N.O.T.E. | 3:18 | ||||||
| 15. | "B.o.B interview" | B.o.B | 30:10 | ||||||
| 16. | "Nothin' on You" (featuring Bruno Mars) (video) | The Smeezingtons | 3:37 | ||||||
Credits for B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray adapted from Allmusic.[43]
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Chart positions
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Year-end charts
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| Preceded by Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna by Cast of Glee |
U.S. Billboard 200 number-one album May 15, 2010 |
Succeeded by The Oracle by Godsmack |
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