Jump to content

The Cookbook

This is a good article. Click here for more information.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Cookbook
Studio album by
Missy Elliott
ReleasedJuly 4, 2005 (2005-07-04)
RecordedNovember 2004 – March 2005
Genre
Length63:13
Label
Producer
Missy Elliott chronology
This Is Not a Test!
(2003) 		The Cookbook
(2005) 		Respect M.E.
(2006)
Singles from The Cookbook
  1. "Lose Control"
    Released: May 27, 2005
  2. "Teary Eyed"
    Released: August 8, 2005
  3. "We Run This"
    Released: February 21, 2006

The Cookbook is the sixth studio album by American rapper Missy Elliott, released on July 4, 2005, by The Goldmind Inc. and Atlantic Records in Germany and the United Kingdom, and on July 5 in the United States and Japan. To date, it is her final long play studio effort.

Three singles were released from the album; the first, "Lose Control", was released on May 27, 2005, and peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and charted well internationally. The second single, "Teary Eyed", was released on August 8, 2005, and failed to chart on any Billboard chart and charted low in other countries. The third single, "We Run This", was released on February 21, 2006, and peaked at number forty-eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and charted moderately well internationally.

The album received generally favorable reviews from critics. The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart. The album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It received a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album, ultimately losing to Kanye West's Late Registration.[1] The music video for "Lose Control", directed by Dave Meyers won the Grammy for Best Short Form Music Video.

Background

[edit]

The title The Cookbook derived of Elliott feeling "no two records are going to sound alike; each record has its own spices and herbs. Each record is cooking up a hot recipe for a hot album."[2] The black and white cover features Elliott posing with a vintage microphone in a 1920s juke joint. She explained the cover, saying, "I wanted people to see I was taking music back to the roots—not just hip hop, but our ancestors. Whether they was on railroad tracks or cooking in somebody's kitchen, they was always singing."[2]

In an interview with Billboard magazine, Elliott said, "I really do think this is my best album. I was in a really great space with this album. I wasn't in a great space with some of the other albums I've done." She went on to say, "I played Lil' Kim the album the other day, and she told me it was incredible and that there was not one song on it that she didn't like."[3]

Recording

[edit]

In January 2005, it was revealed Elliott had been working on a new album.[4] Two months later, Ciara confirmed she would appear on the album, singing and rapping on the potential first untitled single at the time.[5] Elliott worked on The Cookbook with such producers as the Neptunes, Rich Harrison and Scott Storch. The album included only two songs produced by Timbaland, who produced most or all songs on Elliott's previous albums. She explained, "Me and Tim, this like our sixth album, so if we go any further left, we gonna be on Mars somewhere. We've done everything it is to do. I think both of us came to a spot where we didn't know where to go with each other."[2] She said Timbaland was very involved with the album, supporting or opposing certain producers. Elliott went on to say, "I was eight songs deep and I let Tim listen and he was like, 'Nah, you're going in the wrong direction. You trippin'.' I had to go back in the studio and come up with new records. [When he heard those], he was like, 'This is the Missy people are listening to.'"[2]

Singles

[edit]

The first, "Lose Control", was released on May 27, 2005, and peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, number six on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and number two on the Billboard Pop 100.[6][7][8] The single also peaked at number two on the New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart and in the top ten in four other countries.[9] A Dave Meyers-directed promotional video accompanied the song; it was the most played video on BET and MTV2 and second most played video in the United States.[10] It went on to win a Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video, while the song itself received a nomination for Best Rap Song.[11]

The second single, "Teary Eyed", was released on August 8, 2005; it failed to chart except in Australia and Switzerland.[12] The music video for the song was directed by Antti J. Jokinen and was filmed "like a movie". It features Elliott responding to a relationship that had gone wrong.[13]

The third single, "We Run This", was released on February 21, 2006, and peaked at number 48 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 39 on the Billboard Pop 100[14][15] and peaked in the top forty in Australia, Ireland and the United Kingdom.[16] An edited version of the song was used as the theme song for the gymnastics-themed film Stick It, as well as for the music video, which was directed by Dave Meyers. The video features a cameo by gold-medalist Dominique Dawes as Elliott's gymnastics coach, with scenes from the film being used throughout the video.[17] The song received a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance.[18]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic74/100[19]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[20]
Entertainment WeeklyC−[21]
The Guardian[22]
Los Angeles Times[23]
NME8/10[24]
Pitchfork6.8/10[25]
Q[26]
Rolling Stone[27]
SpinB−[28]
The Village VoiceA−[29]

The Cookbook received positive reviews from most music critics.[19] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 74, based on 28 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[19] Rich Juzwiak of Stylus Magazine gave the album an A rating, stating "Her adventurous and, yes, massive, persona is allowed to wander wherever it wants on The Cookbook, be it avant or common."[30] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian wrote, "The Cookbook is a convincing return to form.... Sounding as unique and startling and formidable as ever, Missy Elliott is clearly not a woman to be messed with."[22] John Bush of AllMusic noted that "Elliott forces a few rhymes, plays to type with her themes, and uses those outside producers to follow trends in hip-hop.... What's different here is how relaxed Elliott is, how willing she seems to simply go with what comes naturally and sounds best."[20] Q stated "If not Elliott's most inventive album, The Cookbook is certainly her most colourful and entertaining".[19]

However, Ben Sisario of Blender wrote, "For every killer raise-your-hands hook there is a snoozer of an SWV-esque torch ballad, and she can't seem to tell the difference." He went on to say, "Almost half the songs are treacly Kleenex soul ballads; even the titles...bring a cringe."[31] Los Angeles Times writer Natalie Nichols found that "her souffle of hip-hop, soul, R&B, funk and dance music falls a bit flat".[23] Rolling Stone's Brian Hiatt called The Cookbook Elliott's "least cohesive, most conventional album yet."[27] Entertainment Weekly's Margeaux Watson viewed that "she's clearly lost without Timbaland", calling him "the main ingredient of her original flavor".[21] Steve Horowitz of PopMatters noted that it "does have a few duds" and found some of the "offensive lyrics" as flaws, but wrote that "While not every cut is a winner, Elliott does a fairly consistent job of gaining the listener's attention through her outrageous lyrics and performance style".[32]

Pitchfork's Ryan Dombal found the album "Even more bipolar than usual", with Elliott "jolting from uber-hypeness to soul-crushing balladry. Fortunately, supported by an array of producers both grizzly and green, her invaluable unpredictability is alternately harnessed and given new life on this album, despite its uneven and transitional nature."[25] Joan Morgan of The Village Voice complimented Elliott's "ability to capture the ain't-afraid-to-sweat flava" and stated "Elliott mines the best of hip-hop's old-school elements for throwback tracks that are engagingly sparse and elemental".[33] In his consumer guide for The Village Voice, critic Robert Christgau gave The Cookbook an A− rating,[29] indicating "the kind of garden-variety good record that is the great luxury of musical micromarketing and overproduction".[34] Christgau called it a "benchmark album" and commented that "Elliott showcases the musical health of African American pop [...] Elliott's disinclination to give it up to gangsta's thrill cult or black pop's soft-focus porn, plus her proven ability to work a good beat when she gets one, leads her naturally to a collection that ebbs and flows, peaks and dips, and pokes fun at any canon of taste you got".[29]

The album was nominated at the 2006 Grammy Awards for Best Rap Album, but lost to Kanye West's Late Registration.[11]

Commercial performance

[edit]

The Cookbook debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, selling 176,000 copies in the first week of release.[35] In its second week, the album dropped to number seven on the chart, selling an additional 65,000 copies.[36] On September 15, 2005, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over 500,000 copies in the United States.[37] On January 22, 2022, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over 1,000,000 copies in the United States. The Cookbook peaked in the top thirty in Australia, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland.

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Joy" (featuring Mike Jones)
4:49
2."Partytime"
  • Elliott
  • Timbaland
3:04
3."Irresistible Delicious" (featuring Slick Rick)
  • Brockman
4:15
4."Lose Control" (featuring Ciara & Fatman Scoop)
Elliott3:47
5."My Struggles" (featuring Mary J. Blige & Grand Puba)
  • Goodman
2:52
6."Meltdown"
  • Storch
4:16
7."On & On"
4:45
8."We Run This"
  • Elliott
  • Jerry Lordan
  • Rhemario Webber
Webber3:25
9."Remember When"
  • Elliott
4:18
10."4 My Man" (featuring Fantasia)
5:10
11."Can't Stop"
  • Harrison
3:49
12."Teary Eyed"
  • Campbell
3:49
13."Mommy"
  • Elliott
  • J. Pizzarro
  • T. Perez
  • Keith Lewis
  • Associates
  • Lewis
2:58
14."Click Clack"
2:54
15."Time and Time Again"
  • Elliott
  • Melvin Coleman
  • Saint Nick
3:49
16."Bad Man" (featuring Vybz Kartel & M.I.A.)
  • Brockman
5:12

Sample credits

Personnel

[edit]
  • June Ambrose – stylist
  • Marcella Araica – assistant engineer
  • Chris Brown – assistant engineer
  • Jay Brown – A&R
  • Greg Gigendad Burke – art direction, design
  • Warryn Campbell – producer
  • Vadim Chislov – assistant engineer
  • Andrew Coleman – engineer
  • Wyatt Coleman – engineer
  • Shondrae "Mister Bangladesh" Crawford – producer
  • Jimmy Douglass – mixing
  • Michael Eleopoulos – engineer
  • Missy Elliott – producer, executive producer
  • Paul J. Falcone – engineer, mixing
  • Gloria Elias Foeillet – make-up
  • Chris Gehringer – mastering
  • Serban Ghenea – mixing
  • Hart Gunther – assistant
  • Rich Harrison – producer
  • Iz – instrumentation
  • Eric Jensen – assistant engineer
  • Darrale Jones – A&R
  • Charlene "Tweet" Keys – background vocals
  • Keith Lewis – producer
  • Patrick Magee – assistant engineer
  • Kimberly Mason – coordination
  • The Neptunes – producer
  • Saint Nick – producer
  • Larry Sims – coordination
  • Southwest DeKalb – drums
  • Scott Storch – producer
  • Conrad "Con da Don" Golding – engineer
  • Aaron "Franchise" Fishbein – guitar
  • Timbaland – producer
  • Saint Warwick – photography
  • Rhemario Webber – producer
  • Rayshawn Woolard – assistant engineer

Charts

[edit]

Certifications

[edit]
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[68] Platinum 1,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

[edit]
List of release dates, showing region, formats, and label
Region Date Format(s) Label
Germany July 4, 2005
  • CD
  • digital download
United Kingdom
France July 5, 2005
Japan
United States

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Grammy Awards Best Rap Album Winners: Late Registration Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. About.com. Retrieved on December 25, 2009.
  2. ^ a b c d Reid, Shaheem (July 14, 2005). "Missy Elliott's Greatest Challenge On The Cookbook: Getting Ciara To Rap". MTV. Archived from the original on January 15, 2009. Retrieved November 18, 2008.
  3. ^ Cohen, Jonathan (April 8, 2005). "Missy Opens 'The Cookbook' In June". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on September 19, 2014. Retrieved November 18, 2008.
  4. ^ Vineyard, Jennifer (January 4, 2005). "Missy Elliott Calls New LP 'My Favorite I've Ever Done'". MTV. Archived from the original on January 14, 2009. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  5. ^ "For The Record: Quick News On Ciara And Missy Elliott, Lindsay Lohan, Mariah Carey, Irv Gotti, Ashanti & More". MTV. March 18, 2005. Archived from the original on January 4, 2009. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  6. ^ "The Billboard Hot 100 - Lose Control - Missy Elliott Featuring Ciara & Fat Man Scoop". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved November 21, 2008. [dead link‍]
  7. ^ "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs - Lose Control - Missy Elliott Featuring Ciara & Fat Man Scoop". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on June 9, 2014. Retrieved November 21, 2008.
  8. ^ "Pop 100 - Lose Control - Missy Elliott Featuring Ciara & Fat Man Scoop". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on November 21, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2008.
  9. ^ "Missy Elliott featuring Ciara and Fat Man Scoop - Lose Control - Music Charts". αCharts. Archived from the original on July 20, 2011. Retrieved November 21, 2008.
  10. ^ "Missy Elliott Cooks Up Summer's Tastiest New Album". Marketwire. July 1, 2005. Retrieved February 17, 2009. [dead link‍]
  11. ^ a b "Grammy Awards 2006: Key winners". BBC. February 9, 2006. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved November 19, 2008.
  12. ^ "Missy Elliott - Teary Eyed - Music Charts". αCharts. Archived from the original on November 13, 2011. Retrieved December 13, 2008.
  13. ^ Vineyard, Jennifer (August 18, 2005). "Missy Elliott Has Lost Her Mind (In Her New Video, Anyway)". MTV. Archived from the original on January 13, 2009. Retrieved December 13, 2008.
  14. ^ "The Billboard Hot 100 - We Run This - Missy Elliott". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved November 21, 2008. [dead link‍]
  15. ^ "Pop 100 - We Run This - Missy Elliott". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on November 21, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2008.
  16. ^ "Missy Elliott - We Run This - Music Charts". αCharts. Archived from the original on August 10, 2011. Retrieved December 13, 2008.
  17. ^ "For The Record: Quick News On Missy Elliott, Foo Fighters, Kristin Cavallari And Lindsay Lohan, Sly Stone & More". MTV. January 27, 2006. Archived from the original on January 5, 2009. Retrieved December 13, 2008.
  18. ^ "49th Annual Grammy Awards Winners List". Grammy. Archived from the original on December 20, 2006. Retrieved December 13, 2008.
  19. ^ a b c d "Reviews for The Cookbook by Missy Elliott". Metacritic. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
  20. ^ a b c Bush, John. "The Cookbook – Missy Elliott". AllMusic. Archived from the original on June 23, 2012. Retrieved November 19, 2008.
  21. ^ a b Watson, Margeaux (July 4, 2005). "The Cookbook". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 12, 2019. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
  22. ^ a b Petridis, Alexis (July 1, 2005). "Missy Elliott, The Cookbook". The Guardian. Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved November 19, 2008.
  23. ^ a b Nichols, Natalie (July 10, 2005). "A change in the recipe". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
  24. ^ Fadele, Dele (July 13, 2005). "Elliott, Missy : The Cookbook". NME. Archived from the original on September 24, 2012. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  25. ^ a b Dombal, Ryan (July 5, 2005). "Missy Elliott: The Cookbook". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on April 9, 2009. Retrieved April 15, 2009.
  26. ^ "Missy Elliott: The Cookbook". Q (229): 124. August 2005.
  27. ^ a b Hiatt, Brian (July 28, 2005). "Missy Elliott: The Cookbook". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 2, 2007. Retrieved November 19, 2008.
  28. ^ Shepherd, Julianne (July 2005). "Missy Elliott: The Cookbook". Spin. 21 (7): 97. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  29. ^ a b c Christgau, Robert (August 9, 2005). "Gypsy Part of Town". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on November 10, 2010. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
  30. ^ Juzwiak, Rich (July 5, 2005). "Missy Elliott – The Cookbook – Review". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on March 10, 2011. Retrieved November 19, 2008.
  31. ^ Sisario, Ben (July 2005). "Missy Elliott: The Cookbook". Blender (38): 116. Archived from the original on December 7, 2009. Retrieved April 15, 2009.
  32. ^ Horowitz, Steve (July 14, 2005). "Missy Elliott: The Cookbook". PopMatters. Archived from the original on February 17, 2016. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
  33. ^ Morgan, Joan (August 9, 2005). "Escape From Monogamy". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
  34. ^ Christgau, Robert. "CG Keys to Icons: Grades 1990". RobertChristgau.com. Archived from the original on March 5, 2012. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
  35. ^ Whitmire, Margo (July 13, 2005). "R. Kelly 'Reloads' At No. 1". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on August 12, 2013. Retrieved November 18, 2008.
  36. ^ Chris Harris (July 20, 2005). "R. KELLY FIGHTS OFF SLIM THUG AND BOW WOW TO HOLD". MTV. Archived from the original on June 7, 2020. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  37. ^ "RIAA Certifications - Missy Elliott". Recording Industry Association of America. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  38. ^ a b McDermott, Leon (July 3, 2005). "Missy makes a meal out of all she samples ROCK & POP CDS". FindArticles. Retrieved February 17, 2009. [dead link‍]
  39. ^ "Single reviews - Missy Elliott - Lose Control". Virgin Media. Archived from the original on March 4, 2009. Retrieved November 19, 2008.
  40. ^ "Missy Elliott - Lose Control / On & On". Discogs. Archived from the original on May 7, 2008. Retrieved November 19, 2008.
  41. ^ Myrie, Russell (July 1, 2005). "Missy Elliott: Cooking up a storm". The Independent. Retrieved November 19, 2008.[dead link‍]
  42. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Missy Elliott – The Cookbook". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  43. ^ "ARIA Urban Chart – Week Commencing 10th October 2005" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association (815): 16. October 10, 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 22, 2008. Retrieved April 16, 2023 – via Pandora Archive.
  44. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Missy Elliott – The Cookbook" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  45. ^ "Ultratop.be – Missy Elliott – The Cookbook" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  46. ^ "Ultratop.be – Missy Elliott – The Cookbook" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  47. ^ "Albums : Top 100". Jam!. July 28, 2005. Archived from the original on August 1, 2005. Retrieved April 10, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  48. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Missy Elliott – The Cookbook" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  49. ^ "European Top 100 Albums - The Cookbook - Missy Elliott". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on November 21, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2008.
  50. ^ "Lescharts.com – Missy Elliott – The Cookbook". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  51. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Missy Elliott – The Cookbook" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  52. ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Missy Elliott". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  53. ^ "Italiancharts.com – Missy Elliott – The Cookbook". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  54. ^ "ザ・クックブック" (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on February 23, 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  55. ^ "Charts.nz – Missy Elliott – The Cookbook". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  56. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Missy Elliott – The Cookbook". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  57. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
  58. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Missy Elliott – The Cookbook". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  59. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Missy Elliott – The Cookbook". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  60. ^ "Taiwan 29/2005" (in Chinese). Five-Music. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
  61. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  62. ^ "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  63. ^ "Missy Elliott Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  64. ^ "Missy Elliott Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  65. ^ "Missy Elliott Chart History (Top Rap Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  66. ^ "Billboard 200 Albums: Best of 2005". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 27, 2014. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  67. ^ "R&B/Hip-Hop Albums: Best of 2005". Billboard. Archived from the original on April 20, 2019. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  68. ^ "American album certifications – Missy Elliott – The Cookbook". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved January 27, 2022.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cookbook&oldid=1243783327"