NEW YORK, NY (J Records) - R&B's most consistent chart-topping songstress MONICA is back in a big way with her fourth album The Makings of Me (J Records), which lands at No 8 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and No 1 on the R&B chart with over 92,000 units sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. This marks Monica's third straight Top 10 and Top 2 debut on Billboard's Top 200 and R&B charts, respectively.
The Makings of Me rockets to success on the strength of the up-tempo first single "Everytime Tha Beat Drop," produced by Jermaine Dupri and featuring Dem Franchize Boyz. The single is currently No 7 on the Urban Monitor chart. Monica has performed the hit on Ellen DeGeneres, The Late Show with David Letterman, MTV's TRL, and BET's 106th & Park. Fast on its heels is the infectious Missy Elliot-produced second single, "A Dozen Roses," which impacted radio yesterday and has already received significant airplay in Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Monica's hometown of Atlanta. Last week, Monica performed the song on Live! With Regis & Kelly and recently shot the Chris Robinson-directed video, featuring actor Jamie Hector (Marlo Stanfield from HBO's The Wire) as her leading man.
The Makings of Me has garnered 3-star reviews from USA Today and The New York Post among other praises from critics and fans alike. Billboard proclaims "Monica's seasoned pipes have always set her a cut above [her] peers" and USA Today calls Monica "full grown and not to be fooled with." Critics hail the album as "full of variety, depth, and maturity (Ebony)," and "innovative and cocksure (King)," proving "why the singer has been able to outlast many an R&B ingenue (People)."
The Makings of Me is the No 1 R&B album in the iTunes Music Store, ahead of albums by Janet Jackson, Beyonce, John Legend and Rihanna! Monica has experienced incredible online awareness and activity and blanketed the web week of release with features on MySpace Music, AOL Music, Clear Channel Music online, and Yahoo Music. Her free video download promotion for "Everytime Tha Beat Drop" and MySpace Fan Video Contest helped make her video ubiquitous online!
The follow-up to 2003's platinum-plus After the Storm, The Makings of Me shows Monica in a new light. The 10-song opus represents the growth she's experienced since she first burst onto the scene 11 years ago, when, at the tender age of 14, Monica raised the bar for female singers by becoming the youngest female artist in history to have two consecutive No 1 hits on the Billboard R&B chart with "Don't Take It Personal (Just One of Dem Days)," and "Before You Walk Out of My Life" from her debut album Miss Thang.
Monica's 1999 sophomore release, The Boy Is Mine, scored double-platinum status on the strength of three No 1 R&B and pop hit singles spanning a year on the charts: "Angel of Mine," "The First Night" and the Grammy-winning "The Boy is Mine," her double-platinum duet with Brandy. After a brief hiatus, Monica returned in 2003 with her third platinum driven release, After The Storm, which spawned the No 1 R&B/Dance/Pop crossover "So Gone" and its follow-ups, "Knock Knock" and "U Should've Known Better." The recipient of top honors throughout her career, including American Music Awards, Billboard and Soul Train, Monica continues to remain relevant in a forever changing musical climate.
