I Look to You
I Look to You is the seventh and final studio album by American singer Whitney Houston. It was first released on August 28, 2009, through Sony Music in Europe, then August 31, 2009 with Arista Records in the United States before being released by RCA Records in the United Kingdom on October 19, 2009. The album was Houston's first non-holiday studio album since 2002's Just Whitney. It received favorable reviews from music critics, based on an aggregate score of 66/100 from Metacritic and debuted on the US Billboard 200 at number one with sales of 305,000 beating her previous career best first-week sale of 205,137 units with Just Whitney (2002), and it was her first album to reach number one in the US since 1992's The Bodyguard. Additionally it became her fourth chart-topping album, thus extending her as the female artist with the most cumulative weeks at the number one position.
This article is about the album. For the title song, see I Look to You (song).I Look to You
August 28, 2009
2008–2009
- Patchwerk (Atlanta)
- Konkast (Atlanta)
- Soapbox (Atlanta)
- Boom Boom Room (Burbank)
- Chocolate Factory (Chicago)
- Record Plant (Hollywood)
- Studio at the Palms (Las Vegas)
- 1221 (Los Angeles)
- Blue (Los Angeles)
- Hit Factory Criteria (Miami)
- Germano (New York)
- Chun King (New York)
- KMA (New York)
- OVEN (New York)
- Roc the Mic (New York)
- Sterling Sound (New York)
- Tree Sound (Norcross)
- Larrabee (North Hollywood)
- Mason Sound (North Hollywood)
- Soapbox West (San Francisco)
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It has spawned two official and hit singles: The title song, which became a top 20 US R&B chart single, and the international single "Million Dollar Bill", which hit the top ten in several countries worldwide and also becoming a US top 20 R&B hit. Since its release, I Look to You has gone on to sell over 3 million copies worldwide, earning platinum certification in seven countries and gold certification in eight. A promotional single, "Nothin' But Love", taken from the album, was only released to UK radio stations to promote the accompanying Nothing but Love World Tour. Houston died on February 11, 2012, making this her last living studio release.
Background[edit]
I Look to You had first been conceived in 2007 with recording and production taking place in 2008, as said Houston during her Los Angeles album listening party in 2009.[4] Rumor of Houston's return to music were first circulated at the start of 2007 and were then substantiated when record label boss and close mentor Clive Davis confirmed that he would personally be involved in the project whilst speaking on The Oprah Winfrey Show. In February 2009, Houston appeared on stage at Davis's "Pre-Grammy Gala" where she performed a four-song set comprising "I Will Always Love You", "I Believe in You and Me", "It's Not Right but It's Okay", and a rousing version of "I'm Every Woman". Onlookers included her mother Cissy Houston, musicians Paul McCartney, Jamie Foxx, and Barry Manilow as well as actors Antonio Banderas and Sylvester Stallone.[5]
She told press in London that her latest album will reflect her emotional state and chronicle events in her personal life since her last musical release in 2002. She said "That makes it real. The changes that we go through, the transitions that we go through, the tests that we go through, being a mother, becoming a single mother. It all had its ups and its downs, but for the most part, I kept my faith and I kept my head up... I took my time. All the triumphs and the ups and downs and stuff, it's all incorporated on the album, and hopefully not only does it inspire me, but inspires a whole lot of other people."[6]
Music[edit]
According to Davis, I Look to You did not follow current music marketing trends, but instead, stayed true to who Houston is and the impact she has made on the music industry.[7] The album's opener "Million Dollar Bill" was written and co-produced by Alicia Keys, after the singer-songwriter personally asked Davis if she could make a contribution to the album.[4][8] Houston had previously asked Keys to write/produce a song for her.[8] The song's beat produced by Swizz Beatz surprised critics, as they felt it was more of an "old-school R&B" production and did not sound like most "Swizzy" productions, and is "not an attempt at being a hip-hop club banger."[4][9] Shaheem Reed from MTV commented "Houston's voice [was displayed] over a club-friendly beat that blends a rough-riding thump with R&B".[10] "Nothin' But Love", produced by contemporary R&B and hip-hop producer Nathaniel "Danja" Hills, was described by Rap-Up magazine as being "uptempo [and] danceable [with a] hand-clapping beat." It was also described as being made for urban radio.[4] "Call You Tonight" is one of two songs written by Johntá Austin and was produced by Norwegian production team Stargate featuring "their trademark guitar riffs".[4] The other Austin track on the album is a mid-tempo R&B track titled, "Worth It", produced by Eric Hudson.[4]
In the Summer 2009 edition of Rap-Up, R&B singer Akon spoke about working with Houston for the then-upcoming album. In the interview he revealed that he had worked with her on two songs for the album; one of which, "Like I Never Left", was previously leaked to the internet. It had initially been tipped as a single.[11] Davis said Houston wanted an island song, so they reached out to Akon.[4] The song was likened to Janet Jackson's "My Baby", which featured Kanye West.[12] American singer R. Kelly also wrote two songs for the album. One of the songs "Salute" was described as being "militaristic [with a] marching beat" that also features Kelly on the backing vocals in the chorus. In the song Houston makes reference to LL Cool J with the lyric, "Don't call it a comeback, I've been here for years."[4] Kelly's other contribution, "I Look to You" became the album's title song, and was released as the album's debut single. When speaking of the piano ballad Houston said, "It sums up all I wanted to say." The album also contains a cover of the 1970s Leon Russell song, "A Song for You". Houston's cover begins with a slow piano intro, which picks up in the middle.[4]
Following the popularity of the dance remix B-sides appearing on the UK CD release of "Million Dollar Bill", a number of remix EPs were released. "I Look to You – The Remixes" was released on November 6, 2009, in the US[13] and UK,[14] featuring 12 dance remixes of the first single "I Look to You". Also released in the UK[15] and US.[16] on November 6, 2009, was "The Remixes", featuring remixes of "I Look to You", "I Didn't Know My Own Strength", and "Million Dollar Bill". This was followed by the final remix EP being released on November 6, 2009, called "I Didn't Know My Own Strength Remixes", which was released in the US[17] and UK.[18]
Release[edit]
On July 14, 2009, Houston travelled to Knightsbridge in London, England, for an official album listening party. The evening was hosted at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel by Sony Music chief creative executive Clive Davis.[7] In total nine songs were premiered including "Million Dollar Bill", "Nothin' But Love", "I Didn't Know My Own Strength", "Like I Never Left" (featuring Akon), "For the Lovers", "I Look to You", "Worth It", and a cover of Leon Russell's "A Song for You".[7] "Call You Tonight" (produced by Johntá Austin) was also played and cited as a likely lead single. Davis pointed out that, "We didn't try to fit Whitney into the market."[7] On July 21, 2009, Houston hosted a listening party with Davis in New York City. Amongst those in attendance were Alicia Keys, Diane Sawyer, Martha Stewart and Vivica A. Fox.[19] The album preview triggered a standing ovation, and the song Million Dollar Bill was among those that received critical acclaim.[19][20] Finally on July 23, 2009, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, the final star-studded listening party took place that was attended by musical and Hollywood elites. Some of the attendees included Halle Berry, Jane Fonda, Stevie Wonder, Magic Johnson, Jackie Collins, Barry Manilow, Beverly Johnson, Diane Warren, Penny Marshall, Brian McKnight, and David Foster amongst others. Again the album was played almost in its entirety, receiving a standing ovation.[4]
Commercial performance[edit]
I Look to You debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with sales of 305,000 copies,[33] easily beating pre-release expectations of 250,000 to 270,000[34] and representing Houston's best opening week sales during the Nielsen SoundScan era.[35] The album is Houston's fourth number one album overall – her first number one album since The Bodyguard (1992)[36] and her first number one debut since Whitney (1987).[37] The album also debuted at number one on the US R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and the US Digital Albums chart.
Sales spiked with Houston's high-profile appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show on September 14–15, 2009, returning the album to the number two position in its third week of release with 156,000 copies sold.[38] I Look to You spent a total of 39 weeks on the US Billboard 200, including four weeks in the top ten.[39] On December 1, 2009, the album was certified platinum by the RIAA for shipping one million copies,[40] finishing the year as the 29th biggest selling album of 2009 in the United States[41] and ranking Houston among the top ten female artists in the US Billboard 200.[42] Additionally, I Look to You was the 9th best selling US R&B/Hip-Hop album of 2009, having spent 11 weeks in the top ten for the R&B chart.[42]
Internationally, I Look to You debuted at number one in Canada (30,000 copies), Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, and Switzerland,[36] and at number three in the UK (51,632 copies),[43] France (19,000 copies),[44] and Spain. In Korea the album reached number one on the monthly chart and sold 12,429 copies.[45] According to Houston's official website, the album and singles combined have sold a total of 500,000 copies in the UK and Ireland.[46] The 2.5 million copies sold worldwide for I Look to You made it the 19th biggest selling album globally in 2009, outperforming other high-profile albums released that year, such as Miley Cyrus' Hannah Montana movie soundtrack (2.46 million), Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3 (2.4 million), John Mayer's Battle Studies (2.28 million), and Madonna's Celebration compilation album (2.26 million).[47]
Notes