| Beauty Killer | ||||
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| Studio album by Jeffree Star | ||||
| Released | September 22, 2009[1] (see release history) |
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| Recorded | 2007–June 2009 | |||
| Genre | Electropop Synthpop Electronic rock |
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| Length | 41:40 | |||
| Label | Popsicle Records | |||
| Producer | Nathaniel Motte, Lester Mendez, Gods Paparazzi, Oh, Hush!, Smile Future, Oligee, FUTRLVRS, Simon Wilcox, Tommy Coops, Heather Peggs | |||
| Jeffree Star chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Beauty Killer | ||||
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Beauty Killer is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Jeffree Star, released September 22, 2009[1] under Popsicle Records through Warner Music Group's Independent Label Group.[2] The album was mostly produced by God's Paparazzi[2] and debuted at number two in the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart.[3]
Contents |
It was announced that recording was underway for Star's first studio album in late 2007.[4] He stated that the new songs "are more sexy, some are more "guy"ish and some are me screaming my heart out. I'm still finding what "Jeffree Star" really is. And I think I'm almost there..."[5] Star also said that with this album he "embraced a lot of rock elements, mixed it with dance and kind of made something really unique that no one's ever heard before," and "I've just never really made music that I guess I've been 100-percent proud of, you know? It was time for me to take myself more seriously. It's like my big, 'How are you?' to the world."[6] The album is produced by Lester Mendez, 3OH!3's Nathaniel Motte, Luke Walker (commonly known as his alias God's Paparazzi),[2] Simon Wilcox, and Oh, Hush!.
Recording for the album was done in the span of nearly a year. The tracks "Get Away with Murder", "Prisoner" and "Louis Vuitton Body Bag" were recorded at Mad Dog Studios in Burbank, California. Star also recorded the album's title song, "Beauty Killer", at UVS Labs in Los Angeles, California. While in Silverlake, California, Star recorded the songs "Love Rhymes with Fuck You", "Fame & Riches, Rehab Bitches" and "Queen of the Club Scene" at Pulse Recording. While there, Star also recorded part of the track "Electric Sugar Pop". The recording for that song was finished in Chicago, Illinois. Star also stopped in Santa Monica, California. While there, he recorded multiple songs for the album, including "Bitch, Please!", "Get Physical" and "Fresh Meat", which were recorded at EMI Publishing Studios. "Lollipop Luxury" was recorded at The Tree Fort and Sound City in Los Angeles, California and Hot Beats in Atlanta, Georgia.
The music found on Beauty Killer is mainly dance-pop music. Elements of rock and punk music can be found on the album as well. During an interview, Star said of the album's music, "I think in the beginning I was just kinda like joking around and just making shit up – y’know, for fun. I wasn’t taking anything really seriously. So for Beauty Killer, I’d toured for two years and worked with a lot of different people. I knew what I wanted to sound like and I had way more production and spent more time on the lyrics too."[7]
Beauty Killer is my way of saying 'fuck you' to what everyone’s idea of what beauty stands for.
The first announcement of Beauty Killer mentioned a scheduled release in spring 2008.[4] However, the album's release date was later pushed back to summer 2009, which in the meantime Star released his second extended play Cupcakes Taste Like Violence.[9] In an interview with OrangeCounty.com regarding the release date of the album, Star explained that the repetitive postponing was due to him doing "a bit of community service because of a felony weapons charge".[10] To promote the new album and "tide fans over" until the first single from the album was released, on April 21, 2009, Star released a remix cover of The Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow" which was made available for free download.[6] "Bitch, Please!" was also made available for stream on Star's MySpace page in late August. This was shortly followed by "Fame & Riches, Rehab Bitches" making its stream debut on Star's PureVolume account in September. The next day, Star posted "Louis Vuitton Body Bag" onto his YouTube account. The entire album was available for streaming on his MySpace homepage on September 19, 2009.
Star performed at Warped Tour 2009 followed by the America leg of his "I'm Pregnant, Let's Party" tour for the rest of the summer. Shortly after the album was released, Star announced a two week winter "I'm Cold, Keep Me Warm... Bitch!" tour in North America. However, due to "personal things [that] have gotten out of hand in [his] family" the tour was cancelled. Star will be embarking on his "2 DRUNK 2 FUCK" 2010 world tour where he says he will "be going everywhere...and yes that means Europe and Australia". This will be his first headlining tour supporting the album.A music video for "Prisoner" was originally planned in September 2009. It has since been replaced with "Get Away With Murder" which was filmed on November 7, 2009. The video premiered on the front page of MySpace on January 23, 2010.[11] A music video for "Beauty Killer", which was filmed in May 2010, premiered on Star's YouTube channel on June 19, 2010.
The album cover photo was taken by tattoo artist and friend, Kat Von D including all photos in the album booklet, excluding two taken by Austin Young. The layout and design was created by Sons of Nero.
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [12] |
| OutImpact.com | (favorable)[13] |
| Plug in Music | (C)[14] |
| PopMatters | [15] |
| Shut Up! Magazine | [16] |
The album received mixed comments from critics.
The album debuted at #122 in the US Billboard 200 albums chart. It also debuted at #7 in the US Billboard Top Dance/Electronic Albums Chart and fell to #12 in its second week.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Get Away with Murder" | Jeffree Star, Luke Walker, Ollie Goldstein | God’s Paparazzi | 3:42 |
| 2. | "Prisoner" | Star, Walker | God’s Paparazzi, Oligee | 3:50 |
| 3. | "Louis Vuitton Body Bag" (featuring Matt Skiba) | Star, Walker | God’s Paparazzi | 3:14 |
| 4. | "Beauty Killer" | Star, Sami Diament, Sarah Hudson | FUTRLVRS | 3:45 |
| 5. | "Electric Sugar Pop" | Star, Oh, Hush! | Oh, Hush!, God’s Paparazzi | 3:17 |
| 6. | "Love Rhymes with Fuck You" | Star, Walker, Robert Amaru III, Amanda Amaru | God’s Paparazzi | 4:01 |
| 7. | "Bitch, Please!" | Star, Nathaniel Motte, Simon Wilcox | Nathaniel Motte, Simon Wilcox | 3:16 |
| 8. | "Lollipop Luxury" (featuring Nicki Minaj) | Star, Nico Hartikainen, Nicki Minaj | Smile Future | 3:37 |
| 9. | "Get Physical" | Star, Lester Mendez, Simon Wilcox | Lester Mendez | 3:08 |
| 10. | "Fame & Riches, Rehab Bitches" (featuring Breathe Carolina) | Star, Tommy Coops, Andrew Pour | Tommy Coops, God’s Paparazzi, Heather Peggs | 3:08 |
| 11. | "Fresh Meat" | Star, Motte, Wilcox | Nathaniel Motte, Simon Wilcox | 2:56 |
| 12. | "Queen of the Club Scene" | Star, P. Meese | God's Paparazzi | 3:46 |
| Hot Topic and iTunes bonus tracks | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length | |||||
| 13. | "Gorgeous" | Star, Mendez,Wilcox | Lester Mendez | 2:42 | |||||
| 14. | "Party Crusher" | Star, Walker | God’s Paparazzi | 3:46 | |||||
| 15. | "God Hates Your Outfit" | Star, Motte, Wilcox | Nathaniel Motte, Simon Wilcox | 3:14 | |||||
| Region | Date | Label | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | September 22, 2009 | Popsicle Records | CD, digital download |
| United Kingdom |
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Digital download | |
| Australia | |||
| Asia |
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200[3] | 122 |
| U.S. Billboard Top Heatseekers[3] | 2 |
| U.S. Billboard Top Dance/Electronic Albums[3] | 7 |
| U.S. Billboard Independent Albums[3] | 22 |
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