Playing with Fire (Kevin Federline album)

In early October 2006, Federline commenced the Playing with Fire Tour at Webster Hall in New York City, where he performed to an estimated audience of 300 out of a total seating capacity of 1,500, with only one-third of attendees remaining by the end of the concert.[11] On October 8, 2006, many of the tickets for the show at House of Blues in Chicago were given away for free.[11] Following the poor reception, the remaining dates were ultimately cancelled.[12]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	15/100[13]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[14]
Billboard	12/100[13]
Entertainment Weekly	F[15]
IGN	2.9/10[16]
Now	[13]
People	[17]
Rolling Stone	[18]
Slant Magazine	[9]

Playing with Fire was universally panned by critics. The album holds a score of 15 out of 100 (indicating "overwhelming dislike") based on 7 critical reviews, according to the music review aggregator Metacritic.[13] It is the lowest rated album on the site, its score being less than half of that of the third-lowest rated album, Limp Bizkit's Results May Vary.[19] A Billboard reviewer was critical about the production and Federline's rap, stating that, "in general, Federline enunciates well."[13] A critic from Now commented that "his flow is generic and instantly forgettable and his lyrics are trite, inconsequential and full of self-importance",[13] while Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly gave the album an F, stating that the concept of it is "about squandering Britney Spears' fortune."[1] Despite the album later getting an "Album Pick" award from the site, AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave it 1/5 stars and panned it as bad in an uninteresting way, further adding that it is "too serious about being taken seriously to get unintentionally silly, and the album is a bore because of it. It's also a bore because he's a bore, writing endlessly about the same three topics: his alleged superstardom, his hatred of the media, his love of parties and dope."[14] Jimmy Newlin of Slant Magazine said that none of the album's producers have credibility or are innovative, which resulted in "half-hearted beats, annoying musical tics, and enough bass to make your speakers beg for mercy." Newlin further added, ""Federline can only rap about weed, his bank account, his wife, fighting anyone who looks at him sideways, and partying 'til three days from now —- roughly in that order... An oh-so-tiny sliver of myself kind of wanted Playing With Fire to be less aggressively shitty than it is, if only so the restless, rapacious media would ease off this tattered target of its ire—unfortunately, this disc is just as disposable and dumb as you'd expect." [9]

Playing with Fire sold 6,000 copies in its first week, debuting at number 151 on the Billboard 200.[20] As of January 22, 2007, the album has sold over 16,000 units in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.[21]