Testimony: Vol. 2, Love & Politics

Testimony: Vol. 2, Love & Politics is the fourth studio album by American singer India.Arie, released February 10, 2009 on Universal Republic Records.[14] The album debuted as "Hot Shot" on the Billboard 200 in the week of February 28, 2009 at #3, selling in its first week around 76,000 copies, almost half less than her previous album in 2006.[15] The next week it fell to number 7, selling another 32,000 copies.[16]

Testimony: Vol. 2, Love & Politics
Studio album by
India.Arie
ReleasedFebruary 10, 2009
Recorded2007–2008
Genre
Length52:55
Label
Producer
  • India.Arie
  • Dru Castro
  • Robin Roberts
  • Nick Trevisick
  • Jared Gosselin
India.Arie chronology
Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship
(2006)		 Testimony: Vol. 2, Love & Politics
(2009)		 Songversation
(2013)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic(73/100)[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com[2]
Allmusic[3]
Baltimore Sun[4]
Billboard(favorable)[5]
The Boston Globe(positive)[6]
Entertainment WeeklyC+[7]
New York Times(favorable)[8]
NewsdayA−[9]
People[10]
PopMatters(7/10)[11]
Robert Christgau[12]
Vibe[1][13]

Background

Speaking about the album to writer Pete Lewis of Blues & Soul in April 2009, India stated;

"What this album represents is me finally being my real self. You know, there'd been things I'd always wanted to say that I'd previously shied away from because they were too political, or too whatever... And I now realised that I had to let go of all those concerns and do exactly what I WANTED to do. Which is why 'Testimony Vol 2' sounds like it's exploring new territory to anyone who's familiar with my previous albums. Whereas all I'm actually doing is being more MYSELF than people have ever heard me be before."[17]

Commercial performance

The album debuted as "Hot Shot" on the Billboard 200 in the week of February 28, 2009 at number three, selling in its first week around 76,000 copies, almost half less than her previous album in 2006.[15] The next week it fell to number 7, selling another 32,000 copies.[16] The album has sold 331,000 copies on U.S to date.[18]

The single "Chocolate High" went for adds at U.S. urban adult contemporary radio the week of November 28, 2008.[19] That single as well as its follow-up, "Therapy", were both released to iTunes in the U.S. on December 16, 2008.

Track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Intro: Grains" (India.Arie, Branden Burch)0:48
2."Therapy" (Arie, Alonzo Stevenson, Marshall Leathers; featuring Gramps Morgan)3:58
3."Ghetto" (Arie, Shannon Sanders, Drew Ramsey)3:13
4."Chocolate High" (Arie, Andrew Castro, Musiq Soulchild; featuring Musiq Soulchild)4:44
5."He Heals Me" (Arie)4:59
6."Interlude: Grains"0:55
7."Pearls" (Sade Adu, Andrew Hale; featuring Dobet Gnahore)4:23
8."River Rise" (Arie, Michael Ruff)3:57
9."Yellow" (Arie, Shannon Sanders, Drew Ramsey; featuring Terrell Carter)2:56
10."Better Way" (Arie, Cornelius Barnes, Rachelle Ferrell; featuring Keb Mo)3:30
11."Interlude: Grains" (Arie, Burch)1:06
12."Long Goodbye" (Arie, Joyce Simpson, Nick Trevisick)4:05
13."Psalms 23" (Arie, Castro, Jared Lee Gosselin, Phillip White, Lana Michelle Moorer; featuring MC Lyte)5:15
14."The Cure" (Arie, Sezen Aksu; featuring Sezen Aksu)4:41
15."Outro: Grains" (Arie, Burch)0:33
16."A Beautiful Day" (Arie, Robin Roberts, Joyce Simpson, Nick Trevisick)3:51

Charts
Chart (2009) Peak
position
Dutch Albums Chart[20] 53
Swiss Albums Chart[20] 44
U.S. Billboard 200[21] 3
U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[21] 2

References
  1. Critic reviews at Metacritic
  2. "About.com review". Archived from the original on 2009-02-21. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
  3. Allmusic review
  4. Baltimore Sun review
  5. "Billboard review". Archived from the original on February 13, 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-20.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. The Boston Globe review
  7. Entertainment Weekly review
  8. New York Times review
  9. Newsday review
  10. People review
  11. PopMatters review
  12. Robert Christgau Consumer Guide
  13. "Vibe review". Archived from the original on March 15, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-17.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  14. Cohen, Jonathan (December 12, 2008). "India.Arie Readies Next 'Testimony'". Billboard. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
  15. "Swift Back To No. 1 As Plant/Krauss, Coldplay Soar". Billboard. Retrieved 2009-02-19.
  16. "Taylor Swift Remains Atop Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
  17. "Sweet Sweet Soul Music - Pete Lewis Interviews India.Aire". Blues & Soul. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
  18. "Upcoming Releases 2013". Hits Daily Double. September 6, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
  19. "Urban AC – Week Of: November 24, 2008". Radio & Records. November 28, 2008. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  20. "dutchcharts.nl – India.Arie – Testimony: Vol. 2, Love & Politics". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
  21. "Artist Chart History – India.Arie – Albums". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved 2009-02-19.
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