The Makings of Me

The Makings of Me
Studio album by Monica
Released	October 3, 2006
Recorded	2004-2006; Doppler Studios, SouthSide Studios, The Black Room, (Atlanta, Georgia); Hit Factory Criteria, Goldmind Studios (Miami, Florida); Quad Recording Studios, Sony Music Studios (New York City, NY)
Genre	R&B
Length	38:19
Label	J
Producer	Bryan Michael Cox, Jermaine Dupri, Missy Elliott, Sean Garrett, Larry Jackson, Harold Lilly, Dave Lindsey, Manuel Seal, Swizz Beatz, Steve Russell, Tank, The Underdogs
Professional reviews
About.com link AMG link Entertainment Weekly (B) link New York Post link Prefix Magazine link USA Today link
Monica chronology
After the Storm (2003) The Makings of Me (2006) . . .

The Makings of Me is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Monica, released by J Records on October 3, 2006 in the United States and October 10, 2006 in Canada (see 2006 in music). It was primarily produced by Missy Elliott and Jermaine Dupri, with additional production from Bryan Michael Cox, The Underdogs, Swizz Beatz, Sean Garrett, and others. The album was critically acclaimed, but failed to receive major commercial success, eventually becoming Monica's lowest selling album to date.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Production and title 1.2 Release and reception 1.3 Samples 2 Track listing 3 Credits and personnel 3.1 Production 4 Leftover tracks 5 Charts 6 Notes

History

Production and title

After giving birth to her son Rodney Ramone Hill III in May 2005, Monica entered recording studios to continue working on her then-untitled fourth album with producers Missy Elliott, Bryan Michael Cox, and executive producer Jermaine Dupri.^[1] While Elliott, and Dupri contributed most to the album, Monica also worked with producers Sean Garrett, Harold Lilly, Swizz Beatz, Tank, and The Underdogs. In addition, she also recorded about forty others songs with Dre & Vidal, Tricky Stewart, Scott Storch, Jazze Pha, No I.D., Akon, and rappers Mannie Fresh, and Young Jeezy, but none of the songs written with them made the final tracklisting.^[2][3] Although the album was tentatively titled Street Butterfly, Raw, or A Dozen Roses at one time or another, the longplayer was eventually named after Curtis Mayfield's "The Makings of You," which is sampled in the album's second single "A Dozen Roses (You Remind Me)": "This album is really the makings of me because it talks about so many different scenarios, both good and bad, that have pretty much brought me to the point where I'm at mentally," Monica told in an interview with Billboard, comparing it with a "musical diary where people can really see me in a lot of different lights for once."^[4] The singer also attributed the personal sound of the album to the words of her self-written poetries, and her friendship to Elliott and Dupri, and other songwriters like Tank, who "could really get a good feel of what" she was talking about, and created much of the album off of her poems. "This album is very, very different from the other ones, because of me personally," Monica said to MTV News. "Now, at 26, the way I look at things, even relationships, I was really able to involve more of my life experiences in the album."^[5]

Release and reception

The Makings of Me received a positive reception from most professional music critics, with All Music Guide calling it a "concise and mostly sweet (if occasionally unremarkable) set of songs"^[6] and Entertainment Weekly declaring it "a solid addition"^[7] to Monica's discography, widely comparing it to 2003 After the Storm’s "excellent songwriting and song production."^[7] About.com’s Mark Edward Nero however, cited a "lack of emotion" in Monica's powerful voice,^[8] also criticising the relative shortness of the album.^[8] One week after its release, The Makings of Me debuted at number one on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart, and at number 8 on the official Billboard 200, with moderately successful first week sales of 92,935 copies (up to 90,000 less than her previous number-one album After the Storm); so far the album has sold 270,000 copies domestically,^[9] making it Monica's lowest selling album to date. In Canada, the album opened at number 23 on the R&B Top 50 Chart. As of May 2007, The Makings of Me has spawned four singles: The lead album's first single, Dupri-produced "Everytime tha Beat Drop" barely made it to top fifty on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart with a peak position of number 48 only, becoming Monica's least successful lead single since 2002's "All Eyez on Me". It, however, reached number 11 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, and number 7 on the World R&B Top 30 Singles chart. The second and third singles from the album, "A Dozen Roses (You Remind Me)" and "Sideline Ho," underquoted this success with peak positions of number 48 and 45 respectively on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, never making it to the official Hot 100. A fourth single, "Hell No (Leave Home)" was serviced to U.S. radios on May 14, 2007. On April 3, 2007, Wal-Mart released Deluxe Digital version of the album featuring free ringtones for "The First Night", a free cellphone wallpaper, and a blow-in card with a code to redeem bonus content. It is available online and in Walmart stores now.

Samples

• "Everytime tha Beat Drop" samples Dem Franchize Boyz' 2006 "Lean wit It, Rock wit It"
• "A Dozen Roses (You Remind Me)" samples Curtis Mayfield's 1972 "The Makings of You"
• "Doin' Me Right" samples The Whispers' 1976 "Chocolate Girl"

Track listing

#	Title
1.	"Everytime tha Beat Drop" (featuring Dem Franchize Boyz)	3:43
2.	"A Dozen Roses (You Remind Me)"	3:52
3.	"Sideline Ho"	3:44
4.	"Why Her?"	4:09
5.	"Hell No (Leave Home)" (featuring Twista)	4:45
6.	"Doin' Me Right"	3:19
7.	"Raw" (featuring Swizz Beatz)	3:43
8.	"My Everything"	3:40
9.	"Gotta Move on"	3:44
10.	"Getaway"	3:36
11.	"Thanks for the Misery" (Japanese/Best Buy bonus track)	3:42

Credits and personnel

• Adelaide Federici - violin
• Karen Freer - cello
• P. David Hancock - cello
• Helen Kim - violin
• Tom Knight - drums
• Alice Lord - viola
• PJ Morton - piano, keyboards
• Tania Maxwell Clements - viola
• Jackie Pickett - double bass

Production

• Album Producers: Clive Davis, Monica, Lary Jackson
• Executive producers: Monica Arnold, Jermaine Dupri
• Assoctiate executive producer: Melinda Dancil
• Vocal assistance: Missy Elliott, Tweet
• Engineers: Angelo Aponte, Corte Ellis, Paul J. Falcone, John Horesco IV, Samuel "Vaughan" Merrick, Tadd Mingo, Vernon Mungo, Sam Thomas
• Mastering: David Kutch
• Design: Jane Morledge
• Art Direction: Chris Lebeau
• Photography: Markus Klinko and Indrani

Leftover tracks

• "Ain't Nothing" (produced by Scott Storch) ^[10]
• "Born & Raised" (featuring Rock) ^[10]
• "Dance wit U" (written by Tricky Stewart, Shamora)^[11]
• "No Stoppin'" (produced by Missy Elliott) ^[10]
• "Pulling Up" (produced by Jazze Pha) ^[10]
• "So in Love" (written by T. Stewart, Shamora) ^[10]
• "Something to Wrap" (written by Kim Cantade) ^[11]
• "Stop" (written by Dre & Vidal, Claudette Ortiz, Ryan Toby)^[11]
• "Thought You Had Me" (written by Dre & Vidal, Ryan Toby, Yummy Bingham) ^[11]
• "Why Lie" (featuring Smitty) ^[10]
• "Wonder Why I'm Mad" (written by Tricky Stewart) ^[11]

Charts

Chart (2006)	Peak position
Canadian R&B Top 50	23
U.S. Billboard 200	8
U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums	1
United World Chart Top 40 [12]	18

Notes

•  • e Monica
Albums	Miss Thang (1995) • The Boy Is Mine (1998) • All Eyez on Me (2002) • After the Storm (2003) • The Makings of Me (2006)
Singles	"Don't Take It Personal (Just One of Dem Days)" · "Like This and Like That" · Before You Walk out of My Life" · "Why I Love You So Much" · "For You I Will" · "The Boy Is Mine" · "The First Night" · "Angel of Mine" · "Inside" · "Street Symphony" · "Right Here Waiting" · "I've Got to Have It" · "Just Another Girl" · "All Eyez on Me" · "Too Hood" · "So Gone" · "Knock Knock" · "Get It Off" · "U Should've Known Better" · "Everytime tha Beat Drop" · "A Dozen Roses (You Remind Me)" · "Sideline Ho" · "Hell No (Leave Home)"
Related articles	Discography • Filmography • Awards and nominations • Dallas Austin • J Records