Somethin' 'Bout Kreay

Somethin' 'Bout Kreay
Studio album by Kreayshawn
Released	September 14, 2012
Recorded	2011–2012
Genre	Alternative hip-hop
Length	44:10
Label	Columbia
Producer	Jean Baptiste (exec.), Free School, Jonas Jeberg, DJ Two Stacks, Diplo, Kid Cudi, Tai, Boys Noize, Adeptus
Kreayshawn chronology
Young, Rich & Flashy (2012) Somethin' 'Bout Kreay (2012)
Singles from Somethin' 'Bout Kreay
"Gucci Gucci" Released: June 14, 2011 (2011-06-14) "Breakfast (Syrup)" Released: May 22, 2012 (2012-05-22) "Go Hard (La.La.La)" Released: July 24, 2012 (2012-07-24)

Somethin' 'Bout Kreay is the debut studio album by American hip hop recording artist Kreayshawn, released for digital download on September 14, 2012^[1] and as a Hot Topic-exclusive CD^[2] under Columbia Records in the United States. It was released on CD elsewhere on September 25, 2012.^[3] The album features guest appearances from Chippy Nonstop, V-Nasty, Diplo, Sissy Nobby, Kid Cudi and 2 Chainz, while the production was handled mainly by Free School, Jonas Jeberg and DJ Two Stacks, among others.

Critics were divided in their reviews of Somethin' 'Bout Kreay. Apart from the singles, which received positive reviews while "Gucci Gucci" was even critically acclaimed, most of the other tracks were criticized and panned by critics.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	42/100[4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[5]
Rolling Stone	[6]
Punknews.org	[7]
NME	[8]
Tone Deaf	7.5/10[9]
Alter The Press	[10]
Pitchfork	3/10[11]
Idolator	[12]
Spin	3/10[13]

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 42, based on 14 reviews, which indicates "mixed or average reviews". Uncut referred to this term saying "Thanks to her Valley Girl charisma and omnivorous sexual gaze she mostly succeeds." Uncut gave also a positive review with 6 of 10 rating.^[4] Rolling Stone extolled the long player, too, by giving it also a 3 of 5 points rating and furthermore telling "The Oakland MC's debut explores her skill at giving hormonally bonkers post-Odd Future shock rap a bratty, ashtray-Madonna spin."^[4] Blasé Blasé, Breakfast (Syrup), Gucci Gucci, Go Hard (La.La.La), The Ruler and Summertime have been well received, the other tracks have been criticized or completely panned by critics.^[14] Therefor critics noted the better possibility of releasing an EP instead of a whole LP.

On the other side Carrie Battan of Pitchfork rated the album only 3 out of 10 points and explained "Somethin' Bout Kreay could very well be her first and last."^[15] At large the production was praised receiving mostly critically acclaim and the fun factor on the record was commended while the lyrics were criticized generally. So NME appealed to them by a 5 of 10 stars rating, saying "Over 13 tracks, though, Kreay's 'thing' wears waaay thin."^[4] A negative review came from Under The Radar who said "It's a pop album of awful pop music."^[4] Despite the different critical positions and the poor commercial chart success the album was generally well received by her big fan base while especially Gucci Gucci was heavily acclaimed by critics. In August 2014 it has been listed as #141 of the best tracks of the whole decade so far.^[16] Writing: "An amateur pops off with a genuine hit—it's nearing 50 million views, aka Bieber numbers—and suddenly everyone has to make sure you know she didn't write her own lyrics, that everyone just liked the beat, it was really the Odd Future cosign, that the writer deserves the credit, that anything can and must be taken from her. But "Gucci Gucci", a perfect pop-rap record, has sustained, because Kreayshawn was at its center. Not that collaboration didn't help it come together: DJ Two Stacks' beat was immediate and hooky, and the song's lyrics are eminently quotable. But the spirit of Kreayshawn was what people wanted, what captured our eyes and ears. Down to the quotidian detail, she got what it was like to be a young and urbane hip-hop head in 2011, growing up on the Cool Kids and Curren$y, choosing style over fashion, dealing Adderall out of your backpack and shooting music videos for the gangster rapper up the street. In one record she built a universe—and transformed "basic" into the slang term heard round the world. — David Drake"^[16]

Random Independent listed Somethin' 'Bout Kreay in its best albums of 2012 list as Special Mention without a concrete place.^[21]

Commercial performance

Somethin' 'Bout Kreay debuted at number 112 on the Billboard 200 in its first week of release,^[22] selling 3,900 copies.^[23] The physical copy of the album was only sold at Hot Topic, a fact that's probably linked with its poor commercial success.^[24] Kreayshawn joked about its weak sales on her Instagram several times.^[25][26] On January 16, 2014, Kreayshawn jokingly tweeted a screenshot of her portion of profit off of the album, the total profit made by Kreayshawn was $0.01.^[27]

Track listing

Track listing confirmed on Amazon.^[1] Writing and production credits taken from the album booklet.

Charts

References