Tomorrow (Sean Kingston album)

Tomorrow
Studio album by Sean Kingston
Released September 7, 2009
Recorded 2008–2009
Genre R&B, reggae fusion, pop, hip hop
Length 44:58
Label Beluga Heights, Epic, E1
Producer J.R. Rotem (also exec.)
RedOne, Lucas Secon, Fernando Garibay, Wyclef Jean, Drum Up, The Messengers, The Smeezingtons, Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis
Sean Kingston chronology

Sean Kingston
(2007)
Tomorrow
(2009)
Back 2 Life
(2013)
Singles from Tomorrow
  1. "Fire Burning"
    Released: April 24, 2009
  2. "Face Drop"
    Released: August 18, 2009

Tomorrow is the second studio album by reggae singer Sean Kingston. The album was released on September 7, 2009.[1] Currently, two singles have been released from the album. Despite "Fire Burning" being a huge summer hit in 2009, the album only peaked at #37 on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart with only 13,000 copies sold in the first week of release. It dropped out of the top 40 the next week, falling 40 spots to #87.[2]

Background and composition

Tomorrow's sound is significantly different from the sound of Kingston's debut album. In this new LP, he explores sounds of 1990s eurodance and electropop, using instruments like Roland 808 drum machine, Auto-Tune and synthesizers while adding his signature reggae and pop music.[3][4] Tomorrow also melds together genres of punk rock and soft rock, shown in "Shoulda Let Go" featuring American rock band Good Charlotte. Influences of nu-disco, Euro disco and electropop show on "Fire Burning", "Face Drop", and "My Girlfriend". The song "War" was originally supposed to feature rap artist Lil Wayne, but he was taken out of the song on the final version.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
About.com link
AllMusic link
BBC fairly positive link
Boston Globe fairly positive link
Entertainment Weekly C+ link
Now link
Rolling Stone link
USA Today link

David Jeffries of AllMusic favored songs "Fire Burning", "Face Drop", "My Girlfriend", "Shoulda Let U Go", and "Ice Cream Girl" and feels ""Tomorrow" proves Kingston can provide a whole album's worth of pool-side entertainment even without the 'Beautiful Girls'-sized single."[5] Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone said "For the most part--despite Auto-Tuned slow songs--Kingston's mix of young-adult desire and disco heat shows he can cross over in unexpected directions."[4] Simon Vozick-Levinson of Entertainment Weekly felt that "Although he's got plenty of hooks, personality is in much shorter supply".[6] While some of his reviews are positive, others feel his album lacks novelty and interest. Jason Richards of Now Magazine said that although he is a good singer-songwriter, his album lacks novelty and feels irritating.[3] Apparently to Sarah Rodman of The Boston Globe, Kingston's collections of "silly lyrics and robotic tempos of Sean Kingston’s sophomore album slide if it were mid-July and we were in the mood for Euro-disco/reggae mash-ups, and straight-up electro-pop."[7] Bill Lamb of About.com:

It's abundantly clear on Tomorrow that Sean Kingston plans to stick around for awhile. [sic] He demonstrates he can play well with other artists on the bouncy "Shoulda Let Go" which is co-produced by Drum Up (LaMar Seymour, LaNelle Seymour) for Drum Up Digital/Drummah Boyz Worldwide LLC and featuring a rock chorus from Good Charlotte and a rhythmic vocal workout with Wyclef Jean on "Ice Cream Girl." At least half of the songs here could be pop hit singles and fit easily into contemporary pop radio playlists. Sean Kingston may want to consider stripping his sound down a bit more, but Tomorrow is far from an unpleasant listening experience. Sean Kingston has successfully delivered the goods he has to offer a second time around.[8]

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
1. "Welcome to Tomorrow"  Jonathan Rotem, Keinan Abdi Warsame, Peter Gene Hernandez, Philip LawrencePrettyBoiFresh 0:57
2. "War"  Jonathan Rotem, Kisean AndersonJ.R. Rotem 2:59
3. "Fire Burning"  Nadir Khayat, Bilal Hajji, Kisean AndersonRedOne 4:03
4. "My Girlfriend"  Peter Gene Hernandez, Fernando Garibay, Philip LawrenceFernando Garibay 3:24
5. "Face Drop"  Andrea Martin, Lucas SeconLucas Secon 3:04
6. "Magical"  Jonathan Rotem, Kisean AndersonEmile 3:09
7. "Island Queen"  Peter Gene Hernandez, Philip LawrenceThe Smeezingtons 3:42
8. "Tomorrow"  Jonathan Rotem, Keinan Abdi Warsame, Peter Gene Hernandez, Philip LawrenceThe Smeezingtons 2:56
9. "Twist Ya Around"  Jonathan Rotem, Keinan Abdi Warsame, Peter Gene Hernandez, Philip Lawrence, A. Grant, Kisean AndersonJ. R. Rotem 3:24
10. "Wrap U Around Me"  Diane WarrenPleasure P, Rico Love, Earl Hood & E 3:22
11. "Shoulda Let U Go" (featuring Good Charlotte)Joel Madden, Benji Madden, Noel "Detail" Fisher, Justin Franks, Kisean Anderson, LaMar Seymour, LaNelle SeymourDrum Up, DJ Frank E, Detail 3:08
12. "Over"  Jonathan Rotem, Kisean AndersonAl Khaaliq, The Messengers 3:06
13. "Ice Cream Girl" (featuring Wyclef Jean)Wyclef Jean, Jerry "Wonda" DuplessisWyclef Jean, Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis 4:01
14. "Why U Wanna Go"  Wyclef Jean, Jerry "Wonda" DuplessisMidi Mafia 3:43

Singles

Promotional singles

iTunes released promotional singles from the album as part of "Countdown to Tomorrow". All singles received the same animated artwork, each with a different color background.[9]

References

  1. "Tomorrow by Sean Kingston". Apple Inc. iTunes. Retrieved July 3, 2012.
  2. http://www.billboard.com/artist/278515/sean+kingston/chart?f=305
  3. 3.0 3.1 Richards, Jason. "Now Magazine // Music // Sean Kingston". Nowtoronto.com. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  4. 4.0 4.1
  5. Jeffries, David (2009-09-22). "((( Tomorrow > Review )))". allmusic. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  6. Simon Vozick-Levinson (2009-09-16). "Tomorrow | News". EW.com. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  7. "Sean Kingston’s ‘Tomorrow’ targets the wrong season - The Boston Globe". Boston.com. 2009-09-21. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  8. "Sean Kingston - Tomorrow - Review of the Sean Kingston Album Tomorrow". Top40.about.com. 2007-08-09. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 "iTunes Countdown to Tomorrow | The Official Sean Kingston Site". Seankingston.com. 2009-07-29. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 "Singles: Sean Kingston". Retrieved 2009-08-12.

External links