Beautiful Surprise

In 2004, Elektra Records released Tamia's third studio album, More. Her highest-charting release yet, it debuted at number seventeen on the US Billboard 200 and at number four on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, selling 58,000 copies in its first week. More was eventually certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and spawned the top forty single "Officially Missing You". The following year, Tamia split from Elektra and founded her own record label, Plus 1 Music Group. She consulted producers Salaam Remi, The Runners, J. Phoenix and frequent collaborator Shep Crawford to help work on the album. In addition to co-writing most of the songs, Tamia doubled as executive producer with Claude Kelly, marking the first time the pair worked together. ==Critical reception==

Beautiful Surprise received generally mixed reviews from music critics, many of whom praised Tamia's vocal performances but found the material too generic and formulaic. The New York Times felt that Beautiful Surprise is "wisely out of step with her surroundings, even if not always successfully so [...] Too often on this album Tamia undermines herself and pulls back from her biggest notes. These largely pro forma R&B songs turn out to be concessions — to genre, to age, to expectations. The true highlights of this album are the left turns". Andy Kellman from Allmusic found that Beautiful Surprise "won't take any listeners by surprise. The album is split between upbeat but refined contemporary R&B and theatrical adult contemporary ballads [...] At best, the album is pleasant and especially relatable to those who are enduring or moving beyond relationships. However, few of these songs would be worthy of a concise Tamia best-of compilation." Similarly, Mark Edward Nero from About.com wrote that "only halfway [of the album] lives up to its name. Tamia and her voice are indeed beautiful, but to tell the truth, there's no real surprises to be heard here. Quite the opposite, in fact: Beautiful Surprise is chock full of formulaic songs that are too watered down to truly be considered R&B music." ==Commercial reception==

Beautiful Surprise was released in the US on August 28, 2012; it debuted and peaked at number 23 on the Billboard 200 album chart with first week sales of 13,000 copies. In addition, the album reached the top ten of both the Billboard Independent Albums chart and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, peaking at number 4 and number 6, respectively. The album received a Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Album in 2013. To promote Beautiful Surprise, Tamia performed as an opening act on R. Kelly's Single Ladies Tour. The album's first single, "Beautiful Surprise", became her biggest hit in a decade, reaching number 24 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Song. The album's second and final single, "Give Me You", was less successful but became a top twenty hit on the Adult R&B Songs chart. ==Track listing==

• The Runners • David & Jon Anderson • Kelly }} • Kelly • Andre Brissett }} • Brissett • Kelly }} • Kelly }} • Chuck Harmony • Kelly }} • Hill • Kelly • Harr • Jackson }} • The Runners • Kelly}} • Hill • Kelly • Salaam Remi }} • Salaam Remi • Kelly}} • Billy Kirsch }} • Luke Laird • Kelly}} • Hill • Anthony Crawford }} • Shep Crawford }} • Hill • Kelly • Harr • Jackson • Andre Davidson • Sean Davidson }} • The Runners • The Monarch • Hill • Kelly }} • Jazmine Sullivan • Christopher Barnes • Ivan Barinas • Carvin Haggins }} • Carvin & Ivan • Hill }} • Crawford }} • Crawford • Hill }} • Johnta Austin • Bryan Michael Cox • Jermaine Dupri }} • Laird • Kelly }} }} Notes and sample credits • denotes co-producer • denotes vocal producer • "Is It Over Yet" is a cover of Wynonna Judd's "Is It Over Yet". == Personnel ==

Performance credits • Ivan Barias – keyboard • Christopher Barnes – keyboard • Perry Coleman – background vocals • Sheri Hauck – background vocals • Tommy Harden – drums • Tamia Hill – background vocals, lead vocals • Charles Judge – keyboard, piano, strings • Claude Kelly – background vocals • Pat McGrath – acoustic guitar • Cortney Morrow – drums • Jimmy "Professa" Russell – guitar • Adam Shoenfeld – electric guitar • Jimmie Lee Sloas – bass • Jazmine Sullivan – background vocals • Rob Torres – guitar Technical and production • Ivan Barias – engineering • Ben "Bengineer" Chang – engineering • Kevin "KD" Davis – mixing • Alex Dolphin – engineering assistance • Ryan Gore – engineering, mixing • Tamia Hill – executive producer • Mike "TrakGuru" Johnson – engineering • Claude Kelly – co-executive producer • Manny Marroquin – mixing • Conrad "Connie" Martin – engineering assistance • Phillip Scott III – engineering • Jeff "Supa Jeff" Villanueva – engineering ==Charts==