Love/Hate (The-Dream album)

Born Terius Nash in 1977, The-Dream grew up in Atlanta and learned to play musical instruments in elementary school before advancing to writing lyrics during high school. Several years later, he met songwriter-producer Laney Stewart who helped procure him a publishing contract, leading to successful songwriting efforts like Britney Spears' "Me Against the Music" (2003), among the many songs The-Dream would compose with Stewart's brother, fellow songwriter-producer Christopher "Tricky" Stewart. Alongside Tricky Stewart and mutual creative partner Carlos "Los Da Mystro" McKinney, The-Dream emerged as a songwriter-producer during the decade and helped popularize an electronic pop-R&B sound that followed a tradition pioneered by Prince, Kashif, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Teddy Riley, Timbaland and Missy Elliott, and the Neptunes. In 2007, The-Dream and Stewart achieved a commercial breakthrough by writing Rihanna's "Umbrella", which topped record charts in the US and abroad, becoming one of the era's most popular hit singles. Its success attracted songwriting offers from several record labels, including Rihanna's home-label Def Jam Recordings. While initially hesitant to sign The-Dream as a solo recording act, the label conceded after seeing his and McKinney's composition "Bed" (2007) become a hit single for Capitol Records singer J. Holiday. The-Dream told Island Def Jam executive Karen Kwak about his intentions as a recording artist, particularly the style of singing he would pursue to be successful. "I sent her the record 'Bed' and she was like, 'Crazy!', he recalls. == Writing and recording ==

(shown in 2009) co-wrote and co-produced much of the music. The-Dream told SOHH in August 2007 that writing and recording for Love/Hate took a total of nine days, with twelve tracks from the recording sessions making the final cut. He credited her with inspiring more sincerity in his songwriting, "to open up that other side of it that connects with the everyday woman", as he told SOHH. "She has helped me a lot with that area." Through his ambitions for the album, The-Dream wanted to provoke higher artistic standards in the music industry, telling SOHH: == Music and lyrics ==

On Love/Hate, The-Dream employs an ultramodern and hook-laden approach to contemporary soul with influences from past artists such as Prince, Michael Jackson, and R. Kelly. According to Memphis Flyer journalist Chris Herrington, The-Dream blurs "any distinctions between mainstream and avant-garde" within the context of "black pop". Lyrically, the songs are composed from the perspective of a lecherous romantic, with attitudes alternately boastful and vulnerable. Sean Fennessey of Vibe characterizes his songwriting as "quirky" and adds that he channels "Prince at his vampy peak, and Bobby Brown, who always led with an assured growl". In summarizing The-Dream's lyrical persona on the album, Robert Christgau muses: == Marketing and sales ==

, the album's record label Around the time of "Bed"s release, The-Dream debuted on Def Jam with the single release of "Shawty Is da Shit" (also censored as "Shawty Is a 10"). "Falsetto" was released soon after as his next single, followed by "I Luv Your Girl", the last of Love/Hates singles. In September 2007, Billboard reported that the album was scheduled for a December 11 release through Island Def Jam, although it would actually be released on Def Jam and Radio Killa Records (an imprint label created by The-Dream through the record company). In the August 2007 interview for SOHH, The-Dream revealed the title Love/Hate as an abbreviation for "love me all summer, hate me all winter", explaining that "because they love you when you hot and when you're cold they don't ... I'm hot right now and they love me, but I was cold and they wasn't fuckin' with me." Years later, The-Dream elaborated further on the title, saying it had been based on the "in's and out's of life", positive and negative qualities in people, and "how everything [relates] to a carnival." Love/Hate debuted at number 30 on the Billboard 200 and sold 59,000 copies in its first week – the week ending December 17, 2007. It also reached number five on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Meanwhile, Love/Hates hit singles remained popular through the year, including abroad, with "Shawty Is a 10" and "Falsetto" charting in New Zealand at number 36 and 38, respectively. On July 24, the album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting 500,000 units recorded in the US. == Critical reception ==

Love/Hate was met with critical acclaim. Reviewing for AllMusic, Kellman applauded its "unified sound" as one "unlike most modern R&B albums", before adding that neither Timbaland nor the Neptunes have "put together something as consistent or tautly constructed, simultaneously single-oriented and album-oriented, as this". Fennessey, writing in Vibe, believed the album "never breaks stride, balancing pace with power", while Rolling Stone magazine's Christian Hoard called it "one of the most likeable R&B records of the year" because of The-Dream's instinct for composing melodies. Drew Hinshaw from PopMatters found his lyrics empathic and credited him for possessing "something few hitmakers can claim: a wide-angle lens". Christgau, in his review for MSN Music, called Love/Hate "an utterly slight, utterly captivating R&B album" constructed from The-Dream's "extended-syllable trick, dollops of falsetto, male backups going hey and stuff, and the good nature of someone who figures there's no point being mean when you're lucky". Some reviewers had reservations. McBee wrote in Slant Magazine that there are moments of "greatness and plenty of potential" along with "some riskless, by-the-book slow jams" from The-Dream, who nonetheless shows "a meticulous, consistent sonic arrangement". Rebecca Barry Hill of The New Zealand Herald considered the "Umbrella"-style vocal refrains and various references to sex partners a running gag throughout the album, while musing that The-Dream's "closest relationship is with his synthesizers", questioning to what degree the vocals of the album were electronically processed. However, she remained impressed by the quality and interest level of the production, praising "Falsetto" and "Ditch That..." in particular, before conceding that Love/Hate is a guilty pleasure. == Legacy and influence ==

The-Dream felt disappointed in Love/Hates minor success with mainstream audiences, particularly its lack of nominations for the 51st Annual Grammy Awards in 2009. According to The New York Times reporter Melissa Maerz, The-Dream was "one of pop's most reliable hit makers" but "not yet a pop star", and had also been "criticized for an uncharismatic stage presence". Attributing this outcome to marketing, The-Dream pursued a greater crossover strategy with his second album Love vs. Money (2009), which was written during his divorce from Nivea and explored the depreciating effect of wealth on relationships through confessional and emotionally-charged narratives, alongside guest appearances by high-profile vocalists in Mariah Carey, Kanye West, and Lil Jon. According to Kellman, Love/Hate was the first in The-Dream's series of "melodically rich and impeccably layered" hit-R&B albums that would include Love vs. Money and Love King (2010), constituting some of the genre's "most adventurous" albums during the early-21st century. After the release of Love vs. Money, Christgau opined in Blender that Love/Hate had been a "gloriously eccentric sex album" and possibly enough from the musician, while naming "Falsetto" an "'Umbrella' clone" that was the album's "signature moment". Concurrently, The-Dream achieved further success as a songwriter on some of the era's most successful pop singles, such as Carey's "Touch My Body" (2008), Beyoncé's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" (2008), and Justin Bieber's "Baby" (2010), along with frequent collaborations with rap artists, as on West's "All of the Lights" (2011) and the West–Jay-Z song "No Church in the Wild" (2012). Herrington reported around this time that The-Dream had risen to the forefront of the "songwriter/producer-as-auteur paradigm" in black music forged by Timbaland, the Neptunes, and West, while making R&B albums equaled only by contemporary neo soul acts such as Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, and Raphael Saadiq. Love/Hate proved highly innovative in its fusion of traditional R&B and Atlanta-based rap forms and attitudes. Pitchfork journalist Meaghan Garvey says it was "a defining moment for the collision of rap and R&B, a pillar of technical songwriting and soulful expression" whose influence "bled into the fabric of popular R&B". In a 2012 review, Sputnikmusic staff writer Trebor proclaims Love/Hate "the best pop/R&B album of the 21st century" and distinct from other works in the genre for demonstrating a self-awareness amidst the silly narratives and profusion of catchy sounds, leading him to also call it "the definition of a guilty pleasure". Reflecting on its 10th anniversary in 2017, Billboards Da'Shan Smith points to the album as "the chapter closer for a landmark year, which saw hip-hop and R&B formulating into the sound and culture that we know it as today". ==Track listing==

Information is taken from the album credits. • Chris Athens – mastering • Dianella Barahona – backing vocals (track 7) • Fabolous – vocals (track 1) • Mark "Exit" Goodchild – additional recording (track 9), editing (tracks 4–10, 12) • Mark Gray – assisted recording (tracks 3, 8) • Jayson Joshua – mixing (tracks 2–12) • Ray Kay – photography • Silena King-Murrell – backing vocals (track 1) • Manny Marroquin – mixing (track 1) • Carlos "L.O.S." McKinney – additional keyboards (track 5), music composition (tracks 1, 3, 7, 8, 10), production (1, 3, 7, 8, 10), writing (1, 3, 7, 8, 10) • Julio Miranda – acoustic guitar (track 6), guitar (3, 10), solos (6) • Sameen Naqvi – backing vocals (track 7) • Terius "The-Dream" Nash – album direction, art direction, design, lyrics, melodic composition, production, styling, vocal arrangement, vocal production, vocals, writing • Scott Naughton – recording (tracks 1, 3, 7, 8, 10) • Alec Newell – recording (tracks 5, 6) • Chris "Tek" O'Ryan – recording (tracks 2–12) • Dave Pensado – mixing (tracks 2–12) • Justin Pintar – assisted mixing (tracks 2–12) • Antonio "LA" Reid – executive production • Omar Reyna – additional recording (track 9) • Rihanna – vocals (track 11) • JP Robinson – art direction, design • Sarah Rodriguez – backing and spoken vocals (track 9) • Angie Romasanta – backing vocals (tracks 7, 8) • Christopher "Tricky" Stewart – album direction, music composition (tracks 2, 4–6, 9, 11, 12), production (2, 4–6, 9, 11, 12), writing (2, 4–6, 9, 11, 12) • Brian "B Luv" Thomas – engineering (track 11) • Alex Venquer – vocal recording (track 1: Fabolous) • Veronica Whitehead – backing vocals (track 7) • Andrew Wuepper – assisted mixing (track 2–12) ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==