Brand New (Salt-n-Pepa album)

Brand New is the fifth studio album by American hip hop group Salt-N-Pepa, released on October 21, 1997, by London Records. The group's international label at the time, Red Ant Entertainment, filed for bankruptcy before the album was officially released; aside from a brief tour and some TV and print ads, almost no promotion was available to boost the record. Brand New spawned two singles: "R U Ready" and "Gitty Up". The album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on November 25, 1997, a sharp decline from the group's previous efforts.

Production

Brand New was the first Salt-N-Pepa album released after the group parted ways with longtime producer, writer, and manager Hurby "Luv Bug" Azor. Instead, Salt took the lead in co-writing and co-produced the album.

Critical reception

Natasha Stovall of Rolling Stone praised the "richer piano-, guitar- and vocal-filled sound, emphasizing gritty soul and sweet, unadulterated funk." Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote that the group "still juxtapose catchy come-ons ... and determinedly positive messages." Connie Johnson of the Los Angeles Times wrote that "while it's commendable that they're stretching out in a more uplifting, spiritually motivated arena, the group's forte is still worldly, raunchy, of-the-flesh fare." In a review for The Source, Raquel Cepeda described the album as "[m]elodically heavy, but lacking in the lyrical department".

Track listing

Notes

• signifies an additional producer
• signifies a co-producer

Samples

• "R U Ready" contains excerpts from "Watch Out" by Brass Construction.
• "Gitty Up" contains samples from "Give It To Me Baby" by Rick James
• "Say Ooh" contains a sample from "Turn Off the Lights" by Larry Young.
• "Brand New" contains an interpolation of "Love Is Alive" by Gary Wright.

Personnel

• Prince Charles Alexander – mixing
• Eddie Anzueto Jr. – percussion
• Steven Augustine – bass
• Kent Belden – creative director
• Blue Denim – background vocals
• Mike Campbell – guitar
• Melvin Chandler – keyboards
• Lewis Christian – percussion
• Day Ta Day – background vocals
• Andre Debourg – engineer, mixing
• James Denton – photography
• Sandy "Pepa" Denton – producer
• DJ Flexx – background vocals
• Chad "Dr. Ceuss" Elliott – programming, producer, engineer, mixing
• Glenn Ellis – bass
• Esmail – producer
• Alan Forney – photo imaging
• Kirk Franklin – performer
• Wayne Garrick – keyboards
• Khari Green – guitar
• Bernard Grobman – guitar
• Andrew Hellier – guitar, background vocals
• Cheryl "Salt" James – producer
• Jon Jones – guitar
• Gerhard Joost – mixing
• Carol Kirkendall – executive producer
• LaTrece – background vocals
• Michael Lockwood – guitar
• Al (Taz) Machera – mixing
• Sean "Mystro" Mather – producer
• Gary Montoute – synthesizer
• Michael Moore – photography
• Rufus Moore – background vocals, performer
• Joseph Powell – programming, background vocals, producer, engineer, mixing
• Wayne Rickard – guitar
• Alicia Rushing – background vocals
• Ken Schubert – engineer, mixing
• Dawne Shivers – background vocals
• Peggy Sirota – photography
• Sounds of Blackness – performer
• Spinderella – performer
• Kevin Thomas – engineer
• Al West – producer
• Jimmy White – bass
• David Wynn – producer
• George Belton - bass

Charts

Certifications

Notes

References