Exclusive (album)

Exclusive is the second studio album by American recording artist Chris Brown. It was released on November 6, 2007, by CBE, Jive Records. The record serves as Chris Brown's second studio release under his CBE record label, Jive. The record also serves as the follow-up from his multi-platinum selling debut album, Chris Brown (2005). The album debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200, selling 295,000 copies in the first week. The album was supported by five singles, with three of the singles becoming top three hits on the Billboard Hot 100, and also charting highly on other charts worldwide. The album earned a triple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the United States.

Exclusive
Studio album by Chris Brown
Released	November 6, 2007 (2007-11-06)
Recorded	2006–2007
Genre	R&B[1]
Length	62:04
Label	CBE Jive Zomba Sony BMG (International distribution)
Producer	Chris Brown Bryan-Michael Cox Dre & Vidal Jazze Pha Scott Storch Kanye West Swizz Beatz T-Pain The Underdogs will.i.am StarGate The Runners Tank Polow da Don Sean Garrett State of Emergency Lamar Edwards Don Cheegro Dirty Harry Los da Mystro Walter "Great" Scott Rob Knox Antonio Dixon Eric Dawkins Derrick Baker Brian Kennedy Harvey Mason Jr. Warren "Oak" Felder Eric Hudson
Chris Brown chronology
Chris Brown (2005) Exclusive (2007) Graffiti (2009)
Alternative cover
The "Forever Edition" artwork.
Singles from Exclusive
"Wall to Wall" Released: May 29, 2007 "Kiss Kiss" Released: September 11, 2007 "With You" Released: December 4, 2007 "Take You Down" Released: April 6, 2008 "Forever" Released: April 29, 2008 "Superhuman" Released: October 3, 2008

On June 3, 2008, Exclusive was re-released into a double-disc deluxe edition, which includes a counterparts from the DVD, featuring the behind-the-scenes footage and its music videos from his tour.

Singles

The album's lead single, "Wall to Wall" was released on May 29, 2007. The song was produced by Sean Garrett, written by Walter Scott. The single reached at number 79 on the US Billboard Hot 100, due to no digital release for this single.

"Kiss Kiss"; a collaboration with a fellow American recording artist T-Pain, was released as the album's second single on September 11, 2007. Following the non-success of his first single, this single became a big success in the United States. The song reached at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and number 6 on the Canadian Hot 100, also reaching the top ten in Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

"With You" was released as the album's third single on December 4, 2007. The song was produced by the production team StarGate. The single became his second successful single in the most international music markets. It has since become one of the highest-charting singles of Brown's solo career, entering the foreign music markets, where his previous efforts have failed to these charts. It has reached the top ten; including in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and United Kingdom.

The re-release of its first single from The Forever Edition, called "Forever" (produced by Polow da Don). It was released on April 29, 2008. The song debuted at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, due of its high digital sales. However, it dropped quickly due to the lack of sales during these following weeks. The song then re-entered the top ten again, after airplay increases and has peaked at number 2.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	69/100[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Chicago Tribune	(mixed)[4]
Entertainment Weekly	B−[1]
The New York Times	(favorable)[5]
PopMatters	[6]
Rolling Stone	[7]
Slant Magazine	[8]
USA Today	[9]
Vibe	(favorable)[10]
The Washington Post	(mixed)[11]

Exclusive received generally positive reviews from critics, scoring 69 out of 100 based on 11 reviews on Metacritic. Rob Sheffield from Rolling Stone said that “It's been a long stretch between Usher albums — long enough for Chris Brown to build a whole career, growing from a temporary substitute to an undeniably major pop star. He seals the deal with Exclusive, an all-grown-up album on a level with Justin Timberlake's Justified (2002), Rihanna's Good Girl Gone Bad (2007) or even Bobby Brown's King of Stage (1986), and gave the album three and a half out of five stars.[7]

Neil Drumming from Entertainment Weekly rated the album as B- said that, "Like his onscreen (This Christmas) character, Brown is most charming when he's playing up his youth: singing of MySpace romance, meeting his girl's 'pops,' and such". But he also said, "sadly, Brown's adolescent voice and playful scatting — while cute — are steamrolled by pushy collaborators, whether it's those Stargate guys (Ne-Yo, Rihanna) falling back on that ol' guitar noodling, or T-Pain milking his vocoder. Ease back, people, and let the boy sing".[1] However, Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine criticized the unoriginality of the album, writing, "...there's still nothing very 'exclusive' about Exclusive at all."[8] Michael Arceneaux of PopMatters wrote, "Exclusive seems aimless, an album where Brown is doing what he’s told versus being the anchor of his own ship."[6] The album ranked number 34 on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007.[12]

Accolades

At the 2008 Grammy Awards, Exclusive was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of "Best Rap/Sung Collaboration" for "Kiss Kiss", a collaboration with T-Pain. However, the award was given to the 2007 rival single, "Umbrella" by Rihanna featuring Jay-Z. The album also nominated for a NAACP Image Awards in a category for "Best Album", while Chris himself won for "Best Male Artist". At the 2008 BET Awards, Chris received 4 nominations in four categories, including "Best Male R&B Artist", "Best Collaboration" for "Kiss Kiss", and "Viewer’s Choice" for "Kiss Kiss" and "No Air", his duet with Jordin Sparks.[13]

On June 22, 2008, Fearne & Reggie revealed on their UK's chart show BBC Radio 1, that all three tracks from the album Exclusive have appeared on the top forty. Two of which on the top ten, including "With You" (at number 35), "No Air" with Jordin Sparks (at number 2), and "Forever" (at number 5).[14][15]

Commercial performance

Exclusive debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 294,000 copies in the United States.[16] As of March 2011, the album has sold 1,973,000 copies in the United States. On August 23, 2019, the album was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over three million copies in the United States.[17]

In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number 31 on the UK Albums Chart and eventually peaked at number three on the chart. It spent a total of 52 weeks on the chart. On September 5, 2008, the album was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales of over 300,000 copies in the UK.

Track listing

Standard edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Throwed"	Christopher Brown Bryan-Michael Cox Donnie Scantz Kendrick "Wyldcard" Dean Adonis Shropshire	State of Emergency Bryan-Michael Cox	3:01
2.	"Kiss Kiss" (featuring T-Pain)	Brown Faheem Najm	T-Pain	4:10
3.	"Take You Down"	Brown Harvey Mason Jr. Damon Thomas Steve Russell James Fauntleroy II Lamar Edwards	The Underdogs Lamar Edwards	4:05
4.	"With You"	Johntá Austin Mikkel Storleer Eriksen Tor Erik Hermansen Espen Lind Amund Bjørklund	StarGate	4:12
5.	"Picture Perfect" (featuring will.i.am)	Brown William Adams, Jr. Keith Harris Ralph Carmichael Durrell "Tank" Babbs	will.i.am Chris Brown	4:13
6.	"Hold Up" (featuring Big Boi)	Andre Harris Vidal Davis Jamal Harris Ryan Toby Sammie Bush, Jr. Antwan Patton	Dre & Vidal Don Cheegro Dirty Harry	3:48
7.	"You"	Carlos McKinney Terius Nash	Los da Mystro	3:22
8.	"Damage"	Brown Corey "Latif" Williams Andrew Harr Jermaine Jackson	The Runners	4:16
9.	"Wall to Wall"	Sean Garrett Walter "Great" Scott	Sean Garrett Walter "Great" Scott	3:43
10.	"Help Me"	Mason, Jr. Thomas Russell Fauntleroy II Rob Knox	The Underdogs Rob Knox	3:17
11.	"I Wanna Be"	Antonio Dixon Eric Dawkins Joi Campbell Tank Joseph "Lonny" Bereal	Antonio Dixon Eric Dawkins	3:46
12.	"Gimme Whatcha Got" (featuring Lil Wayne)	Brown Phalon Alexander Nash Williams Dwayne Carter, Jr.	Jazze Pha	3:48
13.	"I'll Call Ya"	Garrett Kasseem Dean	Swizz Beatz Garrett	3:53
14.	"Lottery"	Mason, Jr. Thomas Fauntleroy II Knox	The Underdogs Knox	3:41
15.	"Nice" (featuring The Game) (bonus track)	Brown Scott Storch Jayceon Taylor	Scott Storch	4:32
16.	"Down" (featuring Kanye West) (bonus track)	Brown Derrick Baker Kanye West Andre Merritt	Bigg D	4:17
Total length:				62:04

The Forever Edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
17.	"Forever"	Brown Jamal Jones Brian Kennedy Rob Allen Andre Merritt	Polow da Don Kennedy	4:38
18.	"Superhuman" (featuring Keri Hilson)	Warren "Oak" Felder Fauntleroy II	Harvey Mason Jr. Oak	3:38
19.	"Heart Ain't a Brain"	Mason, Jr. Thomas Fauntleroy II A.Collins	The Underdogs	3:40
20.	"Picture Perfect (Remix)" (featuring Bow Wow and Hurricane Chris)	Brown Adams, Jr. Harris Carmichael Tank Shad Moss Christopher Dooley, Jr.	Brown will.i.am	4:11

United Kingdom edition (bonus tracks)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
15.	"Get at Ya"	Brown	The Underdogs	3:18
16.	"Mama"	Brown	Eric Hudson	4:24
17.	"Nice" (featuring The Game)			4:32
18.	"Down" (featuring Kanye West)			4:17

Japanese edition (bonus tracks)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
19.	"Fallen Angel"	Brown Cox Donnie Scantz WyldCard Adonis Shropshire Brian Kennedy	Cox State of Emergency	5:34

Limited edition DVD

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Journey to South Africa"	15:00
2.	"Behind the Scenes of "Wall to Wall""	15:00
3.	"Wall to Wall" (music video)	5:20
4.	"Behind the Scenes of "Kiss Kiss""	12:37
5.	"Kiss Kiss" (music video)	4:25

The Forever Edition includes a DVD with a documentary titled "Chris Brown on Tour", which is a montage of performances from his Up-Close & Personal tour and behind-the-scenes footage. It also features a cameo appearance from Keyshia Cole, who held her own sold-out Just like You tour.

Japanese limited edition DVD

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Wall to Wall" (music video)
2.	"Kiss Kiss" (music video)
3.	"With You" (music video)
4.	"Forever" (music video)
5.	"Chris Brown on Tour (Documentary)"

• Standard 16 tracks as above

United Kingdom / Japanese CD edition

No.	Title	Length
17.	"Fallen Angel[18]"	5:34
18.	"Forever"	4:38
19.	"Superhuman" (featuring Keri Hilson)	3:39
20.	"Heart Ain't a Brain"	3:40

Two versions of The Forever Edition were made available; the first included the DVD, and the second did not. Only the CD edition was made available in the United Kingdom,[19] while most other countries had both editions available.[20]

Notes

• (co.) signifies a co-producer.

Samples credits

• "Picture Perfect" samples "A Quiet Place" written by Ralph Carmichael, as performed by Take 6.

BET bonus DVD

Main article: BET Presents Chris Brown

Confirmed by Wal-Mart.[21]

Production

• Album mastered by Chris Athens at Sterling Sound, NYC
• A&R administration: Shay Young
• A&R coordination: Leticia Hilliard
• Production coordination: Cara Hutchinson, Brian Gately
• Clearances: David Schmidt, Kobie "The Quarterback" Brown, Donato Guadagnoli, Mattias Eng
• Art direction and design: Courtney Walter
• Photography: Dave Hill and Mark Mann
• Styling: Mike Bogard for Blynn Group
• Executive producers: Chris Brown, Clive Calder and Phineas Kelly

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2008) Peak position Australian Albums Chart[22] 5 Belgium Albums Chart[23] 23 Canadian Albums Chart[24] 16 Danish Albums Chart[25] 20 Dutch Albums Chart[26] 63 French Albums Chart[27] 53 German Albums Chart[28] 91 Irish Albums Chart[29] 2 Japanese Album Chart[30] 14 New Zealand Albums Chart[31] 3 Swedish Albums Chart[23] 42 Swiss Albums Chart[32] 28 UK Albums Chart[33] 3 US Billboard 200[24] 4 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[24] 2

Year-end charts Chart (2007) Position Australian Urban Albums (ARIA)[34] 17 US Billboard 200[35] 175 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[36] 59 Chart (2008) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[37] 7 Australian Urban Albums (ARIA)[38] 1 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[39] 13 UK Albums (OCC)[40] 32 US Billboard 200[41] 13 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[42] 6 Chart (2009) Position Australian Urban Albums (ARIA)[43] 25

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[44]	2× Platinum	140,000^^
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[45]	Gold	30,000^*
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[46]	Gold	10,000
Ireland (IRMA)[47]	2× Platinum	30,000^^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[48] The Forever Edition	2× Platinum	30,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[49]	Platinum	300,000^^
United States (RIAA)[50]	3× Platinum	3,000,000^^
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

1. Drumming, Neil. Review: Exclusive. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2009-10-26.
2. "Reviews for Exclusive by Chris Brown". Metacritic. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
3. Kellman, Andy. Review: Exclusive. AllMusic. Retrieved on 2009-10-26.
4. Kot, Greg. Review: Exclusive. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved on 2010-04-17.
5. Sanneh, Kelefa. Review: Exclusive. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2009-10-26.
6. Arceneaux, Michael. Review: Exclusive. PopMatters. Retrieved on 2009-10-26.
7. Sheffield, Rob. "Exclusive". Archived from the original on November 3, 2007. Retrieved January 22, 2017.. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2009-10-26.
8. Cinquemani, Sal. Review: Exclusive Archived 2008-04-21 at the Wayback Machine. Slant Magazine. Retrieved on 2009-10-26.
9. Jones, Steve. Review: Exclusive Archived 2008-02-10 at the Wayback Machine. USA Today. Retrieved on 2009-10-26.
10. King, Jason. "Review: Exclusive". Vibe: 91. November 2007.
11. Stewart, Allison. Review: Exclusive. The Washington Post. Retrieved on 2009-10-26.
12. Robert Christgau, David Fricke, Christian Hoard, Rob Sheffield (December 17, 2010). "The Top 50 Albums of 2007" Rolling Stone. Accessed January 17, 2008.
13. BET Official Website ‘’BET Official Website’’. Accessed May 30, 2008. Chris Brown have been praised by many critics as the new "King of Pop". "
14. "BBC iPlayer - iPlayer Radio Home". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
15. Sunday, 12th February. "BBC iPlayer - The Official Chart with Reggie Yates: 12/02/2012". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
16. Katie Hasty, "Jay-Z Leapfrogs Eagles, Britney For No. 1 Debut" Billboard. April 19, 2011.
18. "HMV - Music, Films, & Games - hmv.com". hmv.com - home of entertainment.
19. Forever U.K. Exclusive The Forever U.K. Edition Archived 2008-08-04 at the Wayback Machine Exclusive: The Forever U.K. Edition. Accessed May 30, 2008
20. Forever AUS Exclusive The Forever Australian Edition Archived 2008-08-04 at the Wayback Machine Exclusive: The Forever Australian Edition. Accessed May 30, 2008
21. "CD: Exclusive (with Exclusive BET DVD)".
22. australian-charts.com - Discography Chris Brown
23. "Chris Brown - Exclusive". ultratop.be.
24. https://www.billboard.com/music/chris-brown/chart-history/
26. Discografie Chris Brown - dutchcharts.nl
27. lescharts.com - Discographie Chris Brown
28. GmbH, musicline.de / PhonoNet. "Die ganze Musik im Internet: Charts, Neuerscheinungen, Tickets, Genres, Genresuche, Genrelexikon, Künstler-Suche, Musik-Suche, Track-Suche, Ticket-Suche - musicline.de". musicline.de. Archived from the original on 2012-07-28. Retrieved 2012-12-29.
29. irishcharts.com - Discography Chris Brown
30. "Oricon Weekly for 2007 week 47 - generasia". www.generasia.com.
31. charts.org.nz - Discography Chris Brown
32. Chris Brown - hitparade.ch
33. "Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com.
34. "ARIA Top 50 Urban Albums Chart 2007". ARIA Charts. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
35. "Billboard 200 Albums - Year-End 2007".
36. "R&B/Hip-Hop Albums : Oct 27, 2016 - Billboard Chart Archive".
37. "ARIA Top 100 Albums Chart 2008". ARIA Charts. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
38. "ARIA Top 50 Urban Albums Chart 2008". ARIA Charts. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
39. "Top Selling Albums of 2008".
40. "UK Albums Chart 2008".
41. "Billboard 200 Albums - Year-End 2008".
42. "R&B/Hip-Hop Albums : Oct 27, 2016 - Billboard Chart Archive".
43. "ARIA Top 50 Urban Albums Chart 2009". ARIA Charts. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
44. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2008 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association.
45. "Brazilian album certifications – Chris Brown – Exclusive" (in Portuguese). Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos.
46. "Danish album certifications – Chris Brown – Exclusive". IFPI Denmark.
47. "Irish album certifications – Chris Brown – Exclusive". Irish Recorded Music Association.
48. "New Zealand album certifications – Chris Brown – Exclusive". Recorded Music NZ.
49. "British album certifications – Chris Brown – Exclusive". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Exclusive in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
50. "American album certifications – Chris Brown – Exclusive". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 

External links

• Exclusive at Discogs
• Exclusive at Metacritic