Prince Royce (album)

Prince Royce is the eponymous debut studio album by American recording artist Prince Royce, released on March 2, 2010 through Top Stop Music. The production was handled primarily by Andrés Hidalgo, with other contributions made by Sergio George, George Meña, Bastiany, Gregory "Greko" Rojo and Napoles. All songs were co-produced by Prince Royce and D'Lesly Lora and written by Prince Royce himself.

In the United States, the album was a commercial success. Upon its US release, it debuted at number sixteen on the Billboard Latin Albums chart. It eventually reached number one on both the US Billboard Tropical Albums and Latin Albums charts. It also peaked at number seventy-seven on the Billboard 200 albums chart. By late March 2011, Prince Royce was certified 3× Disco De Platino by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It was the best-sellling Latin album of 2011 in the United States. The first two singles from the album, "Stand by Me" and "Corazón Sin Cara", were a commercial success in the United States, both topping the Billboard Tropical Songs chart. "Corazón Sin Cara" charted and peaked at number one on the Billboard Latin Songs chart while "Stand by Me" reached the top ten.

Critical reception

In a positive review, Carlos Quintana of About.com commented on the singer's "artistic talent as a singer and composer." He noted that the incorporation of English lyrics on the album would help expose bachata music to unfamiliar audiences.^[1] He concluded by saying, "From beginning to end, Prince Royce is a very enjoyable album. This musical production is both refreshing and innovative."^[1] Allmusic gave the album a rating of three out of five citing, "Fortunately, Prince Royce is one of the more promising urban bachata acts to emerge in some time".^[2]

Chart performance

Prince Royce debuted on the Billboard Latin Albums chart during the first week of March 2010 at number fifteen.^[3] On the 2010 Billboard year-end charts, the album ranked at number sixteen on the Latin Albums chart and number two on the Tropical Albums chart.^[4][5] In early April 2011, the album was kept from reaching number one by Gerardo Ortiz's Morir y Existir, which sold nearly 3,000 units more than Prince Royce.^[6] It peaked at number seventy-seven on the US Billboard 200 chart during the first week of April 2011.^[7] On the week of April 23, 2011, Prince Royce reached the number one spot on the US Billboard Latin Albums, fifty eight weeks after its release.^[3][8] By late March 2011, the album was certified 3x Disco De Platino by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Prince Royce was the best-selling Latin album of 2011 in the United States.^[9]

Singles

"Stand by Me" was released as the lead single from the album on January 19, 2010.^[10] The song is remake of American soul singer Ben E. King's original 1961 song.^[11] An English version and a version which features Ben E. King was released for digital download in July 2010 and November 2010, respectively.^[12][13] In the United States, the song was commercially successful in the Latin market, peaking at number one on the Billboard Tropical Songs chart.^[14] By early May 2010, the song had reached the top ten on the Billboard Latin Songs chart.^[15] At the 2011 Premio Lo Nuestro Awards, the song had won the award for Tropical Song of the Year.^[16]

"Corazón Sin Cara" was released as the second single and made available for digital download on February 9, 2010.^[17] It was Royce's second consecutive number one song on the Billboard Tropical Songs chart.^[14] It also reached the number one song on the Billboard Latin Songs chart, becoming his first song to top the chart.

Track listing

Personnel

Track listing and personnel are adapted from the Prince Royce album liner notes.^[18]

Charts

Album certifications

Release history

See also

• List of number-one Billboard Latin Albums from the 2010s
• List of number-one Billboard Tropical Albums of 2010

References