The Solution is the fourth studio album by Philadelphia rapper Beanie Sigel. It was released on December 11, 2007.Beanie Sigel Drops The Solution on December 11 XXL. (October 23, 2007). Accessed November 21, 2007. The album features production from Dre & Vidal, Reefa, and The Runners, among others. Guest appearances include Jay-Z, Ozzy Osbourne, R. Kelly, Ghostface Killah, and other notable musicians.William E. Ketchum III (November 21, 2007). Beanie Sigel Talks Album, Tracklist. HipHopDX. Accessed November 21, 2007.
Background The Solution is Sigel's first album after re-signing with Roc-A-Fella Records.Shake (May 22, 2007). Beanie Sigel Backs Jay-Z, Still With Rocafella HipHopDX. Accessed November 21, 2007. After his 2005 album, The B. Coming, he took a one-year hiatus from music and returned to recording in 2006. Speaking on the album, Beanie Sigel said:Bill Heinzelman (April 23, 2007). Beanie Sigel Streets On Lock XXL. Accessed November 21, 2007.
Music
Guests R. Kelly is featured on the first single, "All the Above",Andres Tardio (August 9, 2007). Beanie Sigel Recruites R. Kelly for New Album. HipHopDX. Accessed November 21, 2007. while rapper Styles P is featured on "U Ain't Ready 4 Me". Jay-Z makes an appearance on the track "Gutted", while Diddy, Ghostface Killah, and Peedi Crakk hook up with Beanie on "Shake It For Me". Scarface is also featured on the song "Rain (Bridge)" with R&B artist Raheem DeVaughn, who also appears on "Prayer". Beanie Sigel jumps into unfamiliar territory by featuring an Ozzy Osbourne sample on the track "The Day" and a James Blunt sample on "Dear Self (Can I Talk To You)".
Production
Production originally included producers like Scott Storch and Sha Money XL,Beanie Sigel The Solution Preview XXL. (April 23, 2007). Accessed November 21, 2007. but those tracks were cut in favor of songs produced by Eric Hudson and Chad West. Production team Dre & Vidal produce five of the thirteen tracks on the album with help from up-and-coming Dirty Harry and Don Cheegro (Harry and Alex) and The Runners produce the lead single "All the Above". Reefa produces two tracks, including "Gutted", featuring Jay-Z. Cool & Dre and Dame Grease each produced one track. Notably absent from The Solution is primary artist and producer Kanye West.
Reception
The Solution received generally positive ratings after its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 72 based on 10 reviews. Chris Gaerig of PopMatters praised the album, writing, "What Beanie Sigel lacks in sheer marketability he makes up for with a vicious flow and an ingenuity rarely seen from an artist of his caliber," while Slants Wilson McBee called the album "another hard-boiled testament of ghetto truth-telling."
Jeff Weiss, writing for The Los Angeles Times found that the album "feels unnecessarily bifurcated, with most of its first half devoted to grandiose tough-talk and limp club bangers devoted to passing the Patron. Yet on the record's latter side, Sigel forgets his commercial aspirations to channel his attention inward, providing a rare and extremely compelling glance at his demons." Pitchforks Tom Breihan observed that The Solution was a "deeply schizophrenic record, one that completely divorces Beanie's cocksure swagger from his introspective depth. Maybe next time around Beanie will figure out how to unleash both of those sides on the same songs, to let them build on each other and complicate things. If that happens, something tells me the Runners won't be involved."
Commercial performance The Solution opened and peaked at number 37 on the US Billboard 200 with first week sales of 49,000 units. It marked Sigel's first album to miss the chart's top ten. The album also reached number three on Billboards Top Rap Albums and number seven on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. By November 2009, the album had sold 346,000 copies domestically.
Track listing
Notes denotes co-producer(s) Sample credits "I'm In" embodies portions of "One More Chance / Stay with Me (Remix)", written by Etterlene Jordan, Mark DeBarge, Christopher Wallace, Sean Combs, and Rashad Smith. It also contains samples of "Make Me a Believer", written by Luther Vandross and Nat Adderley, as performed by Luther Vandross. "The Day" contains samples from the Black Sabbath recording "War Pigs", written by John Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Terence Butler, and William Ward. It also contains interpolations of "Hail Mary", written by Tupac Shakur, Rufus Cooper, Katari Cox, Joe Paquette, Yafeu Fula, Bruce Washington, and Tyrone Wrice. "Dear Self (Can I Talk to You)" contains samples from the James Blunt recording "No Bravery", written by James Blount, Lukas Burton, and Sacha Skarbek.
Charts
Weekly charts + Weekly chart performance for The Solution Chart (2007) Peak position
Year-end charts + Year-end chart performance for The Solution Chart (2008) Position US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) 60
References