We Are King (album)

We Are King is the debut album by R&B trio King (currently named We Are King), released on February 5, 2016.[1][2][3][4][5][6] The album was nominated for Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 59th Grammy Awards,[7] making them the first independent artists to be nominated in that category.[8] Upon its release, We Are King appeared 6 times in the Billboard charts for 1st week sales: #1 on the Heatseekers Chart, #7 for Independent Albums, #8 for R&B, #20 for Top Hip-Hop/R&B, #78 for Top Album Sales, and #158 in the Top 200.[9]

We Are King
Studio album by
King
ReleasedFebruary 5, 2016 (2016-02-05)
StudioKING Creative Studios, Los Angeles
GenreR&B, dream pop
Length57:30
LabelKing Creative
ProducerParis Strother
King chronology
The Story
(2011)		 We Are King
(2016)
Singles from We Are King
  1. "In the Meantime"
    Released: 2013
  2. "Mister Chameleon"
    Released: 2014
  3. "The Greatest"
    Released: 2015

Background

We Are King is the debut full-length album from King, following their 2011 release of The Story EP. The independently recorded and produced album contains 12 tracks, including extended mixes of the three songs from The Story EP; "The Story", "Supernatural", and "Hey". We Are King was recorded between 2011 and 2015 at King Creative, the Strother sisters' home studio in Los Angeles, California. The album was written by the three members, and features production and instrumentation by Paris Strother, with additional instrumentation by Kyle Bolden (guitar), Thomas Lea (strings), and The Regiment Horns (brass & woodwinds). The album was engineered and recorded by Paris Strother, with additional engineering by Morris Hayes (lead vocals on "Supernatural") and Nathaniel Alford (lead vocals on "Hey"). We Are King was mixed by Neal Pogue and mastered by Brian "Big Bass" Gardner at Bernie Grundman Mastering. The album cover design was a collaboration between visual artist Geoff Kim and Paris Strother, with photography by Alex King.[10]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.6/10[11]
Metacritic83/100[12]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Billboard[13]
Exclaim!7/10[14]
The Irish Times[15]
Now4/5[16]
The Observer[17]
Pitchfork7.8/10[2]
PopMatters7/10[18]
Spin8/10[4]
Uncut8/10[19]

We Are King and the single "The Greatest" were included on numerous mid-year and year-end lists.

Accolades
Publication Ranking List Ref
Bandcamp #1 Best 100 Albums of 2016 [20]
Billboard #8 10 Best R&B Albums of 2016 [21]
The Guardian #16 Best Albums of 2016 [22]
Newsday #22 Best Albums of 2016 So Far [23]
Noisey N/A 26 Extremely Dope Overlooked Albums of 2016 (So Far) [24]
NPR N/A 100 Favorite Songs of 2016 So Far ["The Greatest"] [25]
Observer #10 10 Best R&B Albums of 2016 [26]
Pitchfork #37 50 Best Albums of 2016 [27]
Pitchfork #66 100 Best Songs of 2016 ["The Greatest"] [28]
Pitchfork N/A Best 20 Pop and R&B Albums of 2016 [29]
Pop Magazine #24 Best Albums of 2016 [30]
Rolling Stone #7 20 Best R&B Albums of 2016 [31]
Spin #18 101 Best Songs of 2016 ["The Greatest"] [32]
Spin #21 Best Albums of 2016 [33]
Stereogum #45 50 Best Albums of 2016 So Far [34]
Time #5 Here Are The Best Albums of 2016 (So Far) [35]
Uproxx #14 Best Albums of 2016 [36]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Paris Strother, Amber Strother and Anita Bias.[37][38]

No.TitleLength
1."The Right One"4:46
2."The Greatest"3:15
3."Red Eye"4:38
4."Supernatural (Extended Mix)"6:46
5."Love Song"3:41
6."In the Meantime"4:36
7."Carry On"3:53
8."Mister Chameleon"3:35
9."Hey (Extended Mix)"6:36
10."Oh, Please!"4:51
11."The Story (Extended Mix)"5:13
12."Native Land"5:40
Total length:57:30

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[37]

King
  • Paris Strother – producer, composer, instrumentalist, engineer, background vocals (all tracks)
  • Amber Strother – composer, vocals, background vocals (all tracks)
  • Anita Bias – composer, vocals, background vocals (all tracks)

Additional personnel
  • Kyle Bolden – guitar (tracks 1, 3, 7, 9 & 10)
  • Thomas Lea – strings (tracks 3, 4, & 6)
  • The Regiment Horns – brass & woodwinds (Tracks 4, 9, & 10)
  • Morris Hayes – engineer (track 4)
  • Nathaniel Alford – engineer (track 9)
  • Neal Pogue – mix engineer (all tracks)
  • Brian "Big Bass" Gardner – mastering engineer (all tracks)

Cover art personnel
  • Alex King – photo
  • Geoff Kim – cover design
  • Paris Strother – cover design

References
  1. Kellman, Andy. "We Are King – King". AllMusic. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  2. Moore, Marcus J. (February 3, 2016). "King: We Are King". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
  3. "Review: King, 'We Are King'". npr.org. 2016-01-27. Retrieved 2016-12-29.
  4. Soto, Alfred (February 10, 2016). "Review: Modest R&B Trio KING Deliver the Ironically Titled 'We Are KING'". Spin. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
  5. "Album Of The Week: King – We Are King". Stereogum. 2016-02-02. Retrieved 2016-12-29.
  6. "King | Official Site". weareking.com. Retrieved 2017-01-11.
  7. "59th Annual GRAMMY Awards Winners & Nominees". The GRAMMYs. Archived from the original on 2016-12-10. Retrieved 2016-12-10.
  8. "'We Are King' is up for the 2017 Best Urban Contemporary Album GRAMMY Award!". facebook.com. 2017-01-10.
  9. "Billboard- King Chart History".
  10. "We Are King – Album Credits". weareking.com.
  11. "We Are King by King reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  12. "Reviews for We Are King by King". Metacritic. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  13. Horowitz, Steven J. (February 8, 2016). "Prince Cosigned R&B Trio King Showcases Its Crushed-Velvet Sound on Debut 'We Are King': Album Review". Billboard. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  14. Warren, Michael J. (February 5, 2016). "KING: We Are King". Exclaim!. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  15. Carroll, Jim (February 25, 2016). "King – We Are King: Space-age soul made from heavenly harmonies". The Irish Times. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  16. Ritchie, Kevin (February 17, 2016). "King". Now. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  17. Empire, Kitty (February 7, 2016). "King: We Are King review – an ambient dream of a debut". The Observer. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  18. Gray, Jezy J. (February 25, 2016). "King: We Are King". PopMatters. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  19. Mulvey, John (May 2016). "King: We Are King". Uncut (228): 75.
  20. Moore, Marcus J. "Bandcamp - The Best Albums of 2016: #20 - 1". bandcamp.com.
  21. Mitchell, Gail (December 9, 2016). "Billboard - 10 Best R&B Albums of 2016: Critic's Picks". Billboard.com.
  22. "The Guardian - The Best Albums of 2016: The Full List". theguardian.com. November 30, 2016.
  23. Gamboa, Glenn. "Newsday - Best Albums of 2016 So Far". newsday.com.
  24. Noisey Staff (June 20, 2016). "Noisey - 26 Extremely Dope Overlooked Albums of 2016 (So Far)".
  25. Ganz, Jacob (June 28, 2016). "NPR Music's 100 Best Songs of 2016 So Far". npr.org.
  26. "Observer - The 10 Best R&B Albums of 2016".
  27. Thompson, Paul A. "Pitchfork- 50 Best Albums of 2016".
  28. Okoth-Obbo, Vanessa (December 12, 2016). "Pitchfork - The 100 Best Songs of 2016". Pitchfork.com.
  29. Maples, Jillian (December 6, 2016). "Pitchfork - The 20 Best Pop and R&B Albums of 2016". Pitchfork.com.
  30. "Best Albums of 2016". Pop-Mag.com. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  31. Johnston, Maura (December 14, 2016). "Rolling Stone - 20 Best R&B Albums of 2016". RollingStone.com.
  32. St. Asaph, Katherine (December 13, 2016). "Spin - The 101 Best Songs of 2016". Spin.com.
  33. Cook-Wilson, Winston (December 12, 2016). "Spin - The 50 Best Albums of 2016". Spin.com.
  34. Collin. "Stereogum - The 50 Best Albums of 2016 So Far". Stereogum.com.
  35. Johnston, Maura (June 30, 2016). "Time – The Best Albums of 2016 So Far". time.com.
  36. UPROXX Music (December 22, 2016). "UPROXX - The Best R&B Albums of 2016". Uproxx.com.
  37. "We Are King- Album Credits". www.weareking.com. Archived from the original on 10 February 2018.
  38. "We Are King by King on Apple Music". Itunes.apple.com. 2016-02-05. Retrieved 2016-12-29.
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