Everything's Fine (Jean Grae and Quelle Chris album)

Everything's Fine was announced on January 23, 2018 to be released March 30. Alongside the announcement the first single "Ohsh" was released, which features comic Hannibal Buress.[2][8]

Jean Grae and Quelle Chris had worked on several projects together before Everything's Fine, including Grae's That's Not How That Works series.[9][7] On December 3, 2017 Quelle Chris announced on Twitter, "I just proposed to [Jean Grae] and she said yes!"[10] When asked why they chose to work together on the album Chris told Uproxx, "We're together all the time anyway, so it's not like you have to set times to link up or anything. It's like, 'Oh, let's just make an album!'"[9]

Explaining the title Grae says, "As you get older, it tends to be a response that you give more and more without realizing that you're even doing it. You're like, 'Everything's fine,' but the narrator in your head is like, 'Everything was not fine.'"[9]

Chris stated in regards to the theme of the album, "We have a [dickhead] for a president, and before our eyes, racial, religious, and sexual identity rights are moving backwards. Money is still a thing (I'm waiting for Star Trek life to start). There's war, your kids may be sick, but if someone randomly asks 'how's it going?' most people will say 'fine.'"[8]

Chris directed the video for the single "Zero" for which he actually learned to code video games in order to create an authentic, retro look.[9] Jean directed the video for the single "Gold, Purple, Orange".

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.4/10[11]
Metacritic	84/100[12]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[13]
The A.V. Club	B[14]
HipHopDX	4.0/5[15]
Pitchfork	8.4/10[16]
Robert Christgau	[17]
Spectrum Culture	[18]
Tiny Mix Tapes	4/5[19]

Everything's Fine was released to critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 84, based on 9 reviews.[12] Sheldon Pierce of Pitchfork described the album as "part biting satire, part cognitive behavioral therapy, Jean Grae and Quelle Chris' collaboration is a hilarious, caustic, and gorgeous consideration of what it really means to be 'fine' today".[16] Paul Simpson wrote for AllMusic, "The darkly humorous album [Everything's Fine] sarcastically riffs on this sense of false, clichéd optimism, as well as stereotypes, the whitewashing of hip-hop (and popular culture in general), and the general sense of anxiety surrounding day-to-day existence."[13] The A.V. Club described the album as a "sprawling and intentionally distancing record, but never less than fascinating".[14] Justin Ivey of HipHopDX praised the album's "mix of satire and biting commentary" and use of comedians "to aid in shaping the album's sardonic attitude."[15] In a positive review for Tiny Mix Tapes, Rounak Maiti states "for an album so complex — one that's simultaneously funny and fearless — it has an uncanny way of simplifying things."[19]

Everything's Fine was ranked the 24th best release of the year in The Wire magazine's annual critics' poll.[20]

Credits adapted from Bandcamp[21] and Discogs.[22]

• Quelle Chris – vocals, producer (tracks 2-6, 8-14)
• Jean Grae – vocals, producer (tracks 1, 7, 15)
• Dane Orr – saxophone (tracks 6, 7), mixing (tracks 6, 14)
• Melanie Charles – flute (track 15)
• Paul "Bae Bro" Wilson – keyboards (track 15), mixing (tracks 1-7, 9, 10, 14, 15)
• Willie Green – mixing (tracks 2, 9, 10)
• Zeke Mishanec – mixing (tracks 6, 14)
• I, Ced – mixing, mastering
• Mindy Tucker – photography
• Hannibal Buress – featured artist (track 3)
• Big Tone – featured artist (track 4)
• Anna Wise – featured artist (tracks 4, 14, 15)
• Jonathan Hoard – featured artist (track 4)
• John Hodgman – featured artist (track 5)
• Michael Che – featured artist (track 5)
• Ashok Kondabolu – featured artist (track 8)
• Denmark Vessey – featured artist (track 9)
• Your Old Droog – featured artist (track 11)
• Nick Offerman – featured artist (track 13)
• Mosel – featured artist (track 14)

• Everything's Fine at Bandcamp
• Everything's Fine at Discogs (list of releases)