Free 6lack

Free 6lack (stylized in all caps) is the debut studio album by American singer 6lack.[3] It was released on November 18, 2016, by LoveRenaissance and Interscope Records.[4] The album was supported by two singles: "Ex Calling" and "Prblms". It was nominated at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Urban Contemporary Album.

Free 6lack
Studio album by 6lack
Released	November 18, 2016[1]
Recorded	2016
Genre	Alternative R&B hip hop R&B[2]
Length	58:21
Label	LoveRenaissance Interscope
Producer	6lack Alex Leone Bizness Boi Breyan Isaac Childish Major Dot da Genius DZL Frank Dukes FWDSLXSH Jakob Rabitsch Jon Castelli JT Gagarin Julian Beats Karl Rubin Lucian Blomkamp OZ MDS Nova Roofeeo Singawd Southside Stwo Syk Sense Take a Daytrip
6lack chronology
Free 6lack (2016) East Atlanta Love Letter (2018)
Singles from Free 6lack
"Ex Calling" Released: July 25, 2016 "Prblms" Released: September 23, 2016

Release

On November 13, 2017, three additional new songs were added to the album to celebrate the album's anniversary.[5]

Singles

The first single from the album, "Ex Calling", was released on July 25, 2016.[6] The song contains samples of "Perkys Calling" by Future from the mixtape Purple Reign.[7] The music video for "Ex Calling" was released on December 5, 2016.[8]

The second single from the album, "Prblms", was released on September 23, 2016.[9] The music video for "Problems", featuring 6lack rapping next to a grizzly bear,[10] was released on October 14, 2016.[11]

Commercial performance

Free 6lack debuted at number 68 on the US Billboard 200 for the chart dated December 10, 2016 and has since peaked at number 34.[12]

Track listing

Album credits were adapted from Tidal.[13]

Free 6lack[4]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Never Know"	Ricardo Valentine Adeyinka Bankole Aleksi Asiala Ali Zafar Adam Feeney Santeri Kauppinen	FWDSLXSH MDS Alex Leone Frank Dukes^[c]	4:09
2.	"Rules"	Valentine Trevor Slade David Moreau-Hispard Joshua Scruggs Ozan Yildirim	Syk Sense OZ Singawd	3:31
3.	"Prblms"	Valentine Jeryn Peters	Nova	4:06
4.	"Free"	Valentine Peters	Nova Singawd^[c]	4:23
5.	"Learn Ya"	Valentine Slade Jakob Rabitsch Harry Edwards	Singawd Rabitsch	3:35
6.	"MTFU"	Valentine Bankole Andre Robertson	FWDSLXSH Bizness Boi JT Gagarin^[b]	3:28
7.	"Luving U"	Valentine Slade Matthew Kidd	Singawd	4:12
8.	"Gettin' Old"	Valentine Breyan Isaac Manny Mercado	Isaac	3:35
9.	"Worst Luck"	Valentine Rabitsch Slade Jared Gagarin David Biral Denzel Michael-Akil Baptiste Jahphet Landis Karl Brutus	Rubin Roofeeo Childish Major Rabitsch Take A Daytrip Singawd 6lack JT Gagarin	3:26
10.	"Ex Calling"	Nayvadius Wilburn Joshua Luellen	Southside DZL^[c]	3:31
11.	"Alone / EA6"	Valentine Slade Rabitsch Oladipo Omishore Lucian Blomkamp	Dot da Genius Singawd 6lack Rabitsch	9:13
Total length:				47:00

Free 6LACK – Bonus tracks[14]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
12.	"Glock Six"	Valentine Jon Castelli Julian Bohorquez	Jon Castelli JulianBeatz	3:10
13.	"In Between" (featuring Banks)	Valentine Jillian Banks Blomkamp Slade Rabitsch	Blomkamp Singawd Rabitsch	3:25
14.	"One Way" (featuring T-Pain)	Valentine Faheem Najm Slade Blomkamp Steven Vidal Gagarin	Stwo Singawd^[b] Blomkamp^[b] JT Gagarin^[b]	4:46
Total length:				58:21

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer
• ^{^[b]} signifies an additional producer
• ^{^[c]} signifies an uncredited producer

Sample credits

• "Rules" contains samples of "Shadow Knows" performed by Aqua Nebula Oscillator.[15]
• "Luving U" contains a sample of Slow Meadow's original composition "Lachrymosia".[16]
• "Ex Calling" contains samples of "Perkys Calling" performed by Future.[7]

Personnel

Album credits were adapted from AllMusic and Tidal.[17]

Performers 6lack – primary artist Production FWDSLXSH – producer (tracks 1, 6) MDS – producer (track 1) Alex Leone – producer (track 1) Frank Dukes – producer (track 1) Syk Sense – producer (track 2) OZ – producer (track 2) Singawd – producer (tracks 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13), additional producer (track 14) Nova – producer (tracks 3, 4) Jakob Rabitsch – producer (tracks 5, 9, 11, 13) Bizness Boi – producer (track 6) Breyan Isaac – producer (track 8) Karl Rubin – producer (track 9) Roofeeo – producer (track 9) Childish Major – producer (track 9) Take A Daytrip – producer (track 9) 6lack – producer (tracks 9, 11) JT Gagarin – producer (tracks 9), additional producer (tracks 6, 14) Southside – producer (track 10) DZL – producer (track 10) Dot da Genius – producer (track 11) Jon Castelli – producer (track 12) Julian Beats – producer (track 12) Lucian Blomkamp – producer (tracks 13), additional producer (track 14) Stwo – producer (track 14) Technical JT Gagarin – recording engineer (tracks 1, 2, 4-7, 9, 11, 13, 14), mixing engineer (tracks 13, 14) Jon Castelli – mixing engineer (tracks 1-12)

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2016–17) Peak position Canadian Albums (Billboard)[18] 88 US Billboard 200[19] 34 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[20] 11 US Top Rap Albums (Billboard)[21] 5

Year-end charts Chart (2017) Position US Billboard 200[22] 83 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[23] 38

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[24]	Gold	40,000
United States (RIAA)[25]	Gold	500,000
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

References

1. Duricy, Brian (November 29, 2016). "6LACK: FREE 6LACK". PopMatters. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
2. "FREE 6LACK – 6LACK". AllMusic. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
3. Platon, Adelle. "6lack Talks Industry Growing Pains, Love Songs & Moody Debut Album 'Free 6lack'". Billboard. Billboard. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
4. "FREE 6LACK by 6LACK on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
5. Street, Mikelle (November 14, 2017). "6lack released 3 bonus tracks for the anniversary of Free 6lack". The Fader. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
6. "Ex Calling - Single - FREE 6LACK". Retrieved January 29, 2017.
7. "6LACK's 'Ex Calling' sample of Future's 'Perkys Calling' - WhoSampled". Retrieved January 29, 2017.
8. "6LACK Shares "Ex Calling" Video - The FADER". The Fader. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
9. "iTunes - Music - PRBLMS - Single by 6LACK". Itunes.apple.com. 2016-09-23. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
10. Schmelling, Clay Skipper, Michael (2017-03-30). "How 6LACK Went From Sleeping in a Recording Studio to Touring with The Weeknd". GQ. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
11. "6LACK Shares "PRBLMS" Video". Pigeons and Planes. 2016-10-14. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
12. "Billboard 200 - December 10, 2016". Billboard 200. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
13. "Free 6LACK / 6LACK TIDAL". Tidal. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
14. "FREE 6LACK by 6LACK on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
15. "6LACK's 'Rules' - Discover the Sample Source". WhoSampled. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
16. "My track "Lachrymosia" was sampled in this song by @6LACK. This probably my favorite use of any of my music so far". Twitter. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
17. "Free 6LACK – 6LACK | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
18. "6LACK Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
19. "6LACK Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
20. "6LACK Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
21. "6LACK Chart History (Top Rap Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
22. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2017". Billboard. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
23. "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2017". Billboard. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
24. "Canadian album certifications – 6lack – Free 6lack". Music Canada.
25. "American album certifications – Free 6lack – 6lack". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved February 28, 2018. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.