Background and Recording
Virgin Records head Jason Flom gave the responsibility for A&Ring the album to new charge Chris Anokute. Anokute, who would go on to guide Katy Perry to breakthrough success, told HitQuarters: "y first real A&R job is A&Ring a record for Joss Stone with a budget of $1 million", since Stone was, according to him, the biggest artist on the label at the time. In April 2006 Flom sent Stone to Barbados with Anokute for two months in order for her to start writing the lyrics and for the two to work on developing the songs. In collaboration with Marty Maidenberg and Merck Mercuriadis, Anokute developed the vision for the album, bringing in producers and songwriters Raphael Saadiq, Novel, Dallas Austin and Mix Master Mike, and artists Joi and Common. Anokute also engineered a duet with Lauryn Hill, a considerable coup as this was the first time Hill had guested on anyone else's record after 1998's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.
The album's production is solely credited to Saadiq, known for his previous work with the likes of D'Angelo, Macy Gray, Mary J. Blige, Kelis and The Roots. "Raphael is the most incredible musician I've ever met in my whole life", Stone said. "Musically, I feel like he reads my mind. I'll give him a look and he'll know exactly what I want." After Barbados, Stone went to Nassau, Bahamas to meet up with Saadiq. The two spent two months there recording at Compass Point Studios, followed by the album's mixing at New York City's Electric Lady Studios.
Virgin Records described the album as "an electrifying mix of warm vintage soul, '70s-style R&B, Motown girl-group harmonies, and hip-hop grooves." Stone herself described it as "truly me. That's why I'm calling it Introducing Joss Stone. These are my words, and this is who I am as an artist."
Read more about this topic: Introducing Joss Stone
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