ARTIST: Jamie Foxx
TITLE: Unpredictable
LABEL: J Records
GENRE: R&B
BITRATE: 196kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 1h 01min total
RELEASE DATE: 2005-12-20
RIP DATE: 2005-12-12
Track List
----------
01. Unpredictable (Feat. Ludacris) 3:39
02. Warm Bed 3:53
03. DJ Play A Love Song (Feat. 4:18
Twista)
04. With You (Feat. The Game and 4:20
Snoop Dogg)
05. Can I Take U Home 4:15
06. Love Changes (Feat. Mary J. 4:30
Blige)
07. Extravaganza (Feat. Kanye 4:15
West)
08. Three Letter Word 4:42
09. Get This Money 4:32
10. VIP 3:54
11. Do What It Do 4:03
12. Storm (Forecass) 4:27
13. U Still Got It (Interlude) 2:47
(Feat. Common)
14. Heaven 3:54
15. Wish U Were Here 4:13
Release Notes:
The release of FoxxÆs long-awaited J Records debut, UNPREDICTABLE, demonstrates the
lessons the Oscar-winner learned at the feet of one of musicÆs true giants. With a
wide range of sounds and emotions, and a breathtaking list of guest stars adding to
the mix, the one-time music student at San DiegoÆs United States International
University finally fulfills his true dream. From the party-starting first single
"Unpredictable" to the smoldering "Love Changes," UNPREDICTABLE reveals an artist
ready to play in R&BÆs big leagues. Of course, FoxxÆs musical skills are no secret
- the album follows his appearance on Kanye WestÆs #1 single "Gold Digger," which
reprised the magic of their collaboration on last yearÆs Grammy-nominated smash
"Slow Jamz."
That hit was just one taste of Jamie FoxxÆs recent unprecedented accomplishments.
In addition to winning the 2005 Oscar Academy Award as Best Actor for his
career-defining performance in Ray, he was nominated in the Best Supporting Actor
category for his part in Collateral, making him just the second male actor with
nominations for two different films in the same year. Those roles, in conjunction
with his acclaimed turn in the FX NetworksÆ Redemption, led to him being the first
person ever nominated for three acting awards at the Golden Globes and four SAG
awards in one year.
But Foxx, 37, is quick to point out that music isnÆt just a sideline to his
history-making acting career. "IÆve been working on music for the last 15 years,"
he says. "I donÆt do nothing sideways. If IÆm gonna get it, IÆm gonna get it 100
percent." He did much of the work on UNPREDICTABLE at his own home studio, and
even on the set of his current production, Miami Vice, heÆs been logging hours in
a portable studio lent to him by super producer Timbaland (who manned the boards
on the albumÆs "Can I Take You Home").
In fact, Foxx says that the success and notoriety heÆs enjoyed since his
breakthrough performance in 1999Æs Any Given Sunday is sometimes held against him
when he focuses on a different medium. "IÆve been told many times, æI know what
you did on the acting side and the Oscars and all that, but that doesnÆt mean
anything on the music side!,Æ" he says. "And thatÆs completely wrong, because the
medium of television has bashed that in the head. Music is visual now, as well."
To convince the skeptics, he says, "I had to make sure that the album was tight
even if I didnÆt have anybody to enhance it." But in the end, Foxx was also able
to assemble a line-up of guests that reads like a Billboard Top Ten chart - Mary
J. Blige, Ludacris, and Twista all add their flavors to UNPREDICTABLE, with
production by Timbaland, Babyface and others.
Foxx says that these collaborations all came together naturally. "Those are my
friends," he says. "These are people IÆve formed relationships with over the
years, thrown parties for, hung out with." The Texas-born former star of In
Living Color and The Jamie Foxx Show notes that these artists all share a drive
and passion he was able to relate to and learn from. "TheyÆre all going to be
legends," he says. "They want to win--not just for the monetary thing, but for
the soul and the spirit. That history does something fantastic to your body and
your soul. If it feels that good in the studio, when it gets out there with that
Clive Davis presentation, man, people are in trouble!"
Hooking up with Clive Davis--Chairman & CEO, BMG, US, and the music legend behind
superstars from Janis Joplin to Santana to Alicia Keys--was part of FoxxÆs vision
for his music career. In 2005, he engineered a performance at DavisÆs famous
pre-Grammy party at the Beverly Hills Hotel, as a way to showcase his talent
directly to the top. "IÆd been to the Clive Davis party before," he says, "and I
was like, I know how it is, itÆs high ground up in here, you got to come in
legendary already. So I used a little of my comedy to break the ice, and then
slipped my singing in on them before they even knew what was happening." A
performance of "Slow Jamz" alongside Kanye West and Twista led to an impromptu
sing-off with Alicia Keys and Angie Stone. By eveningÆs end, Davis was a believer
and, says Foxx, "I knew I had performed in the right place for the right people
at the right time."
True to the albumÆs title, Foxx points to a few songs on UNPREDICTABLE as the
most surprising, and thus the ones heÆs proudest of. "ThereÆs a song called æI
Wish You Were Here,Æ about my grandmother," he says. "ItÆs a heavy, heavy song -
we put it at the end of the album, because I want people to bump and grind and
enjoy themselves before they get to that. ThatÆs the one that measures your
soul." The track "Til I Met Your Sister," he says, presents a new perspective on
a slippery situation. "ItÆs about a guy having this infidelity with his girlÆs
sister," says Foxx, "but nobody ever has sung about that in a way where itÆs not
embarrassing, itÆs not jokey, itÆs really serious--like, we really did click and
thereÆs no way I can fight it."
So did he feel any pressure in following Ray? Was it hard to find the motivation
to be creative after giving the performance of a lifetime? Foxx waves off such
concerns. "If you go to the mountaintop," he says, "and you hit the very top,
even if you go down a hundred feet, youÆre still on that mountain, and you can
still see a whole lot of things. We got a lot of things we passed up æcause we
were on our way to the top. Now weÆre gonna go down and maybe set up camp, have
a barbecue down here, have a little party over there. ThatÆs what weÆre doing
now.
"We just didnÆt let the curtain go down," says Jamie Foxx with a laugh. "WeÆre
at the after party right now."
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