Crowns Down (stylized as CrownsDown) is the third studio album by American hip hop duo Themselves. It was released on Anticon in 2009.[1] A remix version of the album, Crowns Down & Company, was released in 2010.[13]

Crowns Down
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 20, 2009 (2009-10-20)[1]
GenreAlternative hip hop
Length40:28
LabelAnticon
ProducerJel, Doseone
Themselves chronology
The Free Houdini
(2009)
Crowns Down
(2009)
Crowns Down & Company
(2010)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic72/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
BBC Musicfavorable[4]
Christgau's Consumer Guide(2-star Honorable Mention)(2-star Honorable Mention)[5]
Drowned in Sound8/10[6]
Exclaim!favorable[7]
Pitchfork6.7/10[8]
The Skinny[9]
Spectrum Culture3.5/5[10]
Tiny Mix Tapes[11]
XLR8R8/10[12]

Critical reception

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At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 72% based on 7 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[2]

Brian Howe of Pitchfork gave the album a 6.7 out of 10 and described it as "a back-to-basics album from a group who probably needs one, having ventured so far afield."[8] Thomas Quinlan of Exclaim! said, "Themselves may not have snatched the crown but they've certainly thrown down the gauntlet with CrownsDown, their confident and comfortable return to the royal rap court."[7]

BBC Music named it one of the best albums of 2009.[14]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Doseone and Jel, except "Back II Burn" by Doseone, Jel, and Pedestrian

No.TitleLength
1."Back II Burn"4:06
2."Oversleeping"3:15
3."The Mark"4:54
4."Gangster of Disbelief"3:50
5."Daxstrong"3:37
6."You Ain't It"3:48
7."Roman Is As Roman Does"4:00
8."Skinning the Drum"3:34
9."Deadcatclear II"5:30
10."Gold Teeth Will Roll"4:00

Personnel

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Credits adapted from liner notes.

Themselves

  • Doseone – vocals, production
  • Jel – vocals, production

Additional musicians

Technical personnel

  • Odd Nosdam – mixing
  • Yoni Wolf – mixing
  • Mike Wells – mastering
  • Doseone – photography
  • Matthew Scott – photography
  • K Photo – photography

References

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  1. ^ a b "CrownsDown". Anticon. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Crownsdown by Themselves". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
  3. ^ Anderson, Rick. "Crownsdown - Themselves". AllMusic. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
  4. ^ Kennedy, Adam (2009). "Themselves - CrownsDown - Review". BBC Music. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
  5. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Themselves". Christgau's Consumer Guide. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  6. ^ Tudor, Alexander (October 22, 2009). "themselves - CrownsDown". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
  7. ^ a b Quinlan, Thomas (December 2009). "Themselves - CrownsDown". Exclaim!. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  8. ^ a b Howe, Brian (October 20, 2009). "Themselves: CrownsDown". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
  9. ^ Maloney, Ali (October 29, 2009). "Themselves - CrownsDown". The Skinny. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
  10. ^ Hanover, Nick (November 19, 2009). "Themselves: Crownsdown". Spectrum Culture. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
  11. ^ Rovinelli, Jeffrey Dunn (October 29, 2009). "Themselves - CrownsDown". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
  12. ^ Fallon, Patric (October 20, 2009). "CrownsDown". XLR8R. Archived from the original on October 26, 2013. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
  13. ^ "CrownsDown & Company". Anticon. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  14. ^ Diver, Mike (January 6, 2010). "BBC Music's Best Albums of 2009". BBC Music. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
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