Sweatsuit (album)

Sweatsuit
Compilation album by Nelly
Released	May 16, 2005 (2005-05-16)
Recorded	2001-2005
Genre	Hip hop R&B
Length	1:13:41 (US edition)
Label	Universal Derrty Fo' Reel
Nelly chronology
Sweat and Suit (2004) Sweatsuit (2005) Brass Knuckles (2008) Alternative cover

Sweatsuit is a compilation album by American rapper Nelly, released on May 16, 2005. The album consists of tracks from his 2004 simultaneous release, Sweat and Suit. The US edition of the compilation also includes four extra tracks, including "Fly Away" from the soundtrack of the 2005 film The Longest Yard, the single "Grillz" featuring rappers Paul Wall and Ali & Gipp, The Notorious B.I.G. single "Nasty Girl" and "Tired" featuring Avery Storm.

Sweatsuit charted on the US Billboard 200 chart, peaking at number twenty-six. Internationally, the compilation peaked at number twenty-two on the Australian Albums Chart, number thirty-six on the New Zealand Albums Chart and at number forty-one on the New Zealand Albums Chart. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipments of 500,000 copies. Sweatsuit received positive reviews from critics, for containing the highlights from both Sweat and Suit, praising its material quality.

Background and release

While recording material for his third studio album, Nelly originally had the intention of producing one album. Songs were being recorded at a steady pace, with Nelly composing more ideas, to which he established the idea of two albums released simultaneously to house all the tracks.^[1] On April 27, 2004, Nelly's representative initially described the upcoming albums as thematically dissimilar, "one is more melodic and party-oriented in the vein of records like "E.I." and "Tip Drill", while the other was described as having a "harder edge".^[2] Nelly would release singles accompanied by music videos from both albums.^[2] Talking to MTV News, Nelly went on to describe the differences between both albums; their titles of Sweat and Suit were announced on May 27, 2004.^[3] He noted Sweat as "more up-tempo" and "energetic", while characterizing Suit as more of "a grown-up and sexy vibe [...] it's more melodic".^[1] The compilation was released in the US on November 22, 2005 and in the UK on May 16 the same year.^[4][5]

Reception

Critical

AllMusic's Jason Birchmeier saw Sweatsuit as an album that combines the highlights of Sweat and Suit, and one that should have been released initially. Birchmeier went on to criticize the compilation's track sequencing, and described the new songs as "unexceptional."^[6] Though he summarized its material as "a solid, well-balanced, smoothly mixed listen," awarding the compilation four out of five stars.^[6] RapReviews.com's Steve Juon gave Sweatsuit an eight out of ten. Juon didn't see the new tracks as reason to purchase the compilation; he saw it as discarding material not targeted towards a pop audience, to make the compilation more attractive to new buyers who didn't get either Sweat or Suit.^[7] Ultimately, Juon went on to praise Nelly's consistency, confidence and the combination of pop and hip hop within the material.^[7]

Commercial

Sweatsuit peaked at number twenty-six on the US Billboard 200 chart, remaining on the chart for twenty-four weeks.^[8] The compilation peaked at number six and five on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart Top Rap Albums, respectively.^[9][10] It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipments of 500,000 copies. On the Australian Albums Chart, Sweatsuit debuted at number twenty-five, peaking at number twenty-four the following week.^[11] It remained on the chart for ten weeks before dropping out on the week of August 21, 2005.^[11] The compilation peaked at number thirty-six on the New Zealand Albums Chart, dropping off the following week.^[12] On the UK Albums Chart it peaked at number forty-one.^[13] It was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

Track listing

All songs were written by Nelly, additional writers listed below.

Notes^[14][15]

• "My Place" contains a portion of composition from "Isn't It a Shame" by girl group Labelle and Randy DeBarge's 1982 "I Like It". It samples elements of The Del-Vikings' 1957 "Come Go with Me".
• "Heart of a Champion" samples John Tesh' 1990 "Roundball Rock".
• "Na-NaNa-Na" samples Tupac Shakur's 1996 "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted".
• "Playa" samples Lee Ryda's 1987 "Magnetic Dance 2".
• "'N' Dey Say" samples Spandau Ballet’s 1983 "True".

Personnel

Credits adapted from Allmusic.^[16]

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

• Sweatsuit at Discogs (list of releases)