Danity Kane is the debut album by American girl group Danity Kane. It was first released by Bad Boy and Atlantic Records on August 22, 2006 in the United States. After winning the third installment of the reality talent contest Making the Band in late 2005, Sean "Diddy" Combs and Bad Boy vice president Harve Pierre consulted a wide range of high-profile hip-hop and R&B musicians to work with the quintet, including Timbaland, Danja, Bryan Michael Cox, Rami, Ryan Leslie, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, Scott Storch, and Jim Jonsin, as well as Bad Boy inhouse producers Mario Winans and D-Dot. Recorded mainly within five weeks, the making of the album was tracked by the second half of Making the Band 3's third season.

Danity Kane
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 22, 2006 (2006-08-22)
RecordedFebruary–May 2006
StudioThe Hit Factory (Miami, Florida)
Genre
Length49:28
Label
Producer
Danity Kane chronology
Danity Kane
(2006)
Welcome to the Dollhouse
(2008)
Singles from Danity Kane
  1. "Show Stopper"
    Released: August 22, 2006
  2. "Ride for You"
    Released: December 11, 2006

Upon its release, the album earned largely mixed reviews from music critics, many of whom considered the album confident but found the material uneven or generic. A commercial success, Danity Kane sold over 109,000 copies in its first day of release, placing it at number one on the US Billboard 200. Having surpassed sales in excess of 935,000 copies by 2008, it was eventually certified Platinum by Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for over one million copies shipped domestically. In support of the album, Danity Kane released two singles, including the top ten hit "Show Stopper," and served as the singer Christina Aguilera's opening act during the North American leg of her Back to Basics Tour (2007).

Background

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Much of Danity Kane was recorded between February and May 2006 at The Hit Factory in Miami, Florida. "I Wish," a previously unreleased song that the band had worked on with on with Shannon Jones and Jack Knight during the production of the album, was released digitally in February 2021.[2] In May 2023, band member Aubrey O'Day disclosed that several songs that they had recorded were left unused and instead re-recorded with other artists for Combs' fourth studio album Press Play (2006), including "Come to Me" featuring Nicole Scherzinger, "Tell Me" featuring Christina Aguilera and "After Love" featuring Keri Hilson.[3]

Singles

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Jim Jonsin-produced "Show Stopper" featuring rapper Yung Joc was released as the album's lead single. It debuted at number 17 US Billboard Hot 100 in the week of September 2, 2006 and eventually peaked at number eight the following week.[4] In Germany, the song debuted and peaked at number 27 on the German Singles Chart in November 2006, becoming the band's only top 40 hit there.[5] "Show Stopper" was followed by the moderately successful single "Ride for You" which peaked at number 78 on the US Billboard Hot 100 only.[4]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com     [6]
AllMusic     [7]
PopMattersmixed[1]
Rolling Stone     [8]

Danity Kane earned generally mixed reviews from music critics. Deepti Hajela from CBS News wrote that "Diddy's taking no chances [...] And it pretty much pays off. While there are a few clunkers, and some clear filler, there are also some standouts."[9] AllMusic rated the album three stars ouf of five and found that the band members "easily display enough sensuality and confidence to position themselves for competition in the pop diva big leagues."[7] Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield wrote that "with producers like Timbaland, Rodney Jerkins and Jim Jonsin, Danity Kane are positioned to inherit the legacy of O-Town."[8] John Bergstrom, writing for PopMatters, argued that "instead of being eclectic or even disparate, Danity Kane is full of the clattering, mid-tempo, bass-heavy, spaced-out grooves that currently dominate mainstream hip-hop and "R&B." It sounds good as far as this type of thing goes. Every so often, the production is even interesting [...] But most of the rest runs from undistinguished to intolerable."[1]

Commercial performance

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Danity Kane debuted and peaked at number 1 on the US Billboard 200, selling 234,000 copies in its first week.[10] This marked the highest chart opening as well as the biggest first week sales for any Making the Band season winner.[10] On Billboard's component charts, the album debuted and peaked number two on both the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and the Tastemaker Albums chart – only behind Outkast's Idlewild (2006).[10] On October 24, 2006, it was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), followed by a platinum certification a month later for the shipment of over 1,000,000 copies in the United States.[11] In total, Danity Kane had sold 935,000 copies domestically by 2008.[11] Elsewhere, Danity Kane entered the charts in Germany and Switzerland, peaking as number 50 on the German Albums Chart and number 95 on the Swiss Albums Chart.[12][13]

Track listing

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No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."One Shot"Cox3:41
2."Heartbreaker"
3:03
3."Want It"3:22
4."Right Now"
  • Hills
  • Hilson
  • Mosley
  • Washington
  • Timbaland
  • Danja
3:32
5."Show Stopper" (featuring Yung Joc)
  • Hunte
  • Oliver
  • Puckett
  • Romano
  • Scheffer
Jonsin3:49
6."Hold Me Down"Jerkins3:57
7."Come Over" (Interlude)
Mario Winans1:44
8."Ooh Ahh"Ryan LeslieLeslie2:51
9."Press Pause"
3:12
10."Ain't True" (Interlude)
  • Mike Winans
  • Mario Winans
  • Mario Winans
1:34
11."Ride for You"
  • Cox
  • Dean
  • Shropshire
4:11
12."Touching My Body"
Leslie3:42
13."Back Up"
Cox3:59
14."Stay with Me"
  • Rami
  • Arnthor
3:54
Bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
15."Sleep On It"Storch3:23
Total length:49:28
Notes

^[A] denotes co-producer

Personnel and credits

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Musicians

Technical and production

  • Marcella Araica – engineer
  • Chris Athens – mastering engineer
  • Chapman Baehler – photography
  • Jim Beanz – vocal producer
  • Arnthor Birgisson – producer
  • Cornell "Nell" Brown – recording engineer
  • Noel Burdick – recording engineer
  • Demacio Castellon – mixing engineer
  • Candice Childress – production coordinator
  • Sean Combs – executive producer
  • Harve Pierre – executive producer
  • Bryan-Michael Cox – producer, vocal producer
  • D–Dot – producer
  • Danja – producer
  • Conrad Dimanche – vocal producer
  • Mike "Daddy" Evans – production coordinator
  • Jan Fairchild – engineering assistant
  • Andy Geel – vocal producer
  • Joe Gonzales – engineering assistant
  • Andrew Haller – recording engineer
  • Rodney Jerkins – mixing engineer, producer
  • Jim Jonsin – producer
  • Rich Keller – mixing engineer
  • Ryan Kennedy – engineering assistant
  • Kev–O – engineering assistant
  • Kevin Krouse – mixing engineer
  • Ryan Leslie – producer
  • Rob Marks – engineer
  • Gwendolyn Niles – A&R
  • Mark Obriski – art direction, design
  • Bill Pettaway – production coordinator
  • Makeba Riddick – vocal producer
  • Adonis Shropshire – vocal producer
  • Sean Tallman – recording engineer
  • Timbaland – producer
  • Sam Thomas – engineer
  • Scott Storch – producer
  • Supa And Tight Writer – vocal producer
  • Rami Yacoub – producer
  • Jeff Villanueva – engineer
  • Kevin Wilson – engineering assistant
  • Mario Winans – producer
  • WyldCard – co–producer, vocal producer

Charts

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Certifications

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Certifications for Danity Kane
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[18] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

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Danity Kane release history
Region Date Format Label Ref(s)
United States August 22, 2006 (2006-08-22) [19]
United Kingdom August 29, 2006 (2006-08-29)
Germany November 10, 2006 (2006-11-10)
Switzerland
Philippines January 5, 2007 (2007-01-05)

References

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  1. ^ a b c Bergstrom, John (September 5, 2006). "Danity Kane: Danity Kane". PopMatters. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  2. ^ "I Wish, Danity Kane". Spotify. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  3. ^ "Yes. Diddy took 3 songs from us and put them on his album [...]". Twitter. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Danity Kane – Chart History". Billboard.com. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  5. ^ "Danity Kane – Show Stopper". offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  6. ^ Lamb, Bill. "Danity Kane – Danity Kane". About.com. Archived from the original on 12 January 2007. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  7. ^ a b "Allmusic Review". AllMusic. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  8. ^ a b Sheffield, Rob (September 7, 2006). "Danity Kane: Danity Kane". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2 October 2007. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  9. ^ Hajela, Deepti (August 22, 2006). "BuzzCuts: New Music". CBS News. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  10. ^ a b c "Danity Kane Sidesteps OutKast To Claim No. 1". Billboard. August 30, 2006. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  11. ^ a b Cauffield, Keith (August 28, 2008). "Ask Billboard: Mariah Carey, Danity Kane, Mindless Self Indulgence". Billboard.com. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  12. ^ a b "Officialcharts.de – Danity Kane – Danity Kane". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
  13. ^ a b "Swisscharts.com – Danity Kane – Danity Kane". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
  14. ^ "Danity Kane Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
  15. ^ "Danity Kane Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
  16. ^ "Year-End Chart – Billboard 200 (2006)". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
  17. ^ "Year-End Chart – Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (2006)". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
  18. ^ "American album certifications – Danity Kane – Danity Kane". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  19. ^ "Danity Kane – Danity Kane (2006)". Apple Music. Retrieved May 27, 2022.