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Saudade | Featured album
Author: Centrist16
Project: Altverse II
Artist: Q-Lo
Genres: Hip hop, experimental
Label: Skid Row Productions
Summary: Saudade (sawˈdadʒi) is the fourth studio album by Sierran hip hop recording artist Jermaine Carter Williams, under his stage name Q-Lo. It was released on November 8, 2014 by Skid Row Productions and Step Aside Records under the distributor company, O.P. Entertainment. The album was created in response to Williams' personal issues with his estranged then-wife, whom he had just married the same year the album was released. He alongside fellow artists from Skid Row Productions helped produce the bulk of the album's tracks and audio from his private residence in Kauai from April to October in 2014. Williams also remixed previously recorded, but unpublished tracks he had made earlier in the year, and repurposed them into the album, releasing four of them early as singles, including "Broken Glass", "A Melancholic Friday", "Overdose", and "Momentarily".
The album has been widely regarded as Williams' greatest work yet, and received universal acclaim among critics, and mixed responses among fans. Saudade dealt heavily with themes of confusion, depression, heartbreak, and hopeless romanticism, while also exploring the continued exploits and injustice of the people living in the Styxie, his home region, and was noted for its extensive use of two non-traditional instruments in hip-hop: the percussion and guitar. The album's style drew influence from trap music, alternative rock, synthpop, and trance.
The longest album by Williams to date, it features 19 songs as well as 3 bonus tracks, and was heavily promoted by Williams for three months leading up to Saudade's release. Saudade debuted at number one on the Sunset 100, selling 420,000 copies in its first week of release, and topped the charts in 17 other countries including Brazoria, Astoria, and the United Commonwealth. It received widespread appraisal and critical recognition, and won eight awards from four major award organizations, and named the best album of the year on numerous polls and lists conducted at the end of the year. By March 2015, Saudade had been certified Platinum in five countries: Sierra, Brazoria, Astoria, the United Commonwealth, and finally, Superior. (more...)