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Big is the fourth studio album by American singer and songwriter Macy Gray. It was released on March 21, 2007, by Geffen Records. It is Gray's first studio album in four years. The album debuted at number 39 on the US Billboard 200, selling 23,000 copies in its first week.[2]

Big
Studio album by Macy Gray
Released	March 21, 2007 (2007-03-21)
Recorded	2006
Genre	R&B soul neo soul
Length	43:47
Label	will.i.am Geffen
Producer	Damon Elliott Ron Fair (also exec.) Jared Gosselin Macy Gray (also exec.) Noiztrip Justin Timberlake Phillip White will.i.am (also exec.)
Macy Gray chronology
Live in Las Vegas (2005) Big (2007) The Sellout (2010)
Singles from Big
"Finally Made Me Happy" Released: February 20, 2007 "Shoo Be Doo" Released: March 2007 "What I Gotta Do" Released: June 26, 2007[1]

Three singles were released from the album: "Finally Made Me Happy" (a collaboration with Natalie Cole), "Shoo Be Doo", and "What I Gotta Do". The latter was included on the Shrek the Third soundtrack. Music from this album was also featured in the I Love New York season one reunion. The album's cover art was widely illustrated on iPhone ads and featured on the first boxes of the iPod Touch.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	62/100[3]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Blender	[5]
Digital Spy	[6]
Entertainment Weekly	B−[7]
The Guardian	[8]
Los Angeles Times	[9]
PopMatters	5/10[10]
Rolling Stone	[11]
Slant Magazine	[12]
Yahoo! Music	[13]

Big received mixed reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 62, based on 17 reviews.[3]

Dan Gennoe of Yahoo! Music called Gray's Big "the worthy follow-up to her On How Life Is debut," praising the contributions from the guest artists and the restraint of her signature musical persona. He added that the lack of radio hits on the record may prevent Gray's career from rebounding, but said that "Whatever the commercial outcome though, no one can say that this is anything other than a supreme return to form."[13] John Bush of AllMusic noted how the quiet storm production from will.i.am made Big "the slickest album of Gray's career," but said that it brings into better focus the vocal quirks of her personality throughout the track listing, concluding that "It'll be interesting to see if past Macy Gray fans are willing to follow her into adult contemporary territory, while those who might like the new direction will be able to alter their perceptions of her."[4] Jon Dolan, writing for Blender, said that Gray's "confessional blues-rasp" is better utilized on more mature tracks like the Fergie collaboration "Glad You're Here", saying that "It’s ’licious, but in a classy way."[5]

Rob Brunner of Entertainment Weekly highlighted "Shoo Be Doo", "What I Gotta Do" and "Okay" as great showcases for Gray's "fascinating cracks and warbles" but said that, "Much of Big is either boring or forced, as when Gray launches into ”You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” for no discernible reason."[7] Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani felt that Gray's vocals were lacking compared to the featured artists surrounding the album, saying that "she struggles to reach and sustain notes that should be comfortably within her range."[12] Mike Joseph of PopMatters gave feint praise by calling it "a perfectly serviceable adult-soul album", saying that the upbeat tracks capture Macy's old personality better than the ballads. He added that, "While Big shows flashes of the irrepressible spirit that made Macy's first two albums fun to listen to, there are many more instances of uninspired, boring music designed to capture a middle-of-the-road audience."[10]

Track listing

Sample credits

• "Ghetto Love" contains a sample of "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" by James Brown.
• "One for Me" contains a sample of "Dream" by Frank Sinatra.
• "Get Out" contains an interpolation of "Get Out of My Life, Woman" written by Allen Toussaint.
• "Treat Me Like Your Money" contains a sample of "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" by Dead or Alive and "It's Like That" by Run–D.M.C.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Big.[19]

Charts

Chart (2007)	Peak position
Australian Urban Albums (ARIA)[20]	15
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[21]	63
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[22]	38
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[23]	56
European Albums (Billboard)[24]	99
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[25]	28
French Albums (SNEP)[26]	149
Italian Albums (FIMI)[27]	33
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[28]	54
Scottish Albums (OCC)[29]	87
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[30]	38
UK Albums (OCC)[31]	62
UK R&B Albums (OCC)[32]	11
US Billboard 200[33]	39
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[34]	14

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Ref.
Japan	March 21, 2007	Universal	[35]
Netherlands	March 22, 2007		[36]
Italy	March 23, 2007		[37]
Australia	March 24, 2007		[14]
France	March 26, 2007		[38]
Germany	March 27, 2007		[15]
United States		will.i.am Geffen	[39]
United Kingdom	April 2, 2007	Polydor	[16]

References

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