Back II da Basics is the fifth album by American recording artist Ginuwine. Released by Epic Records on November 15, 2005 in the United States, production for the album originally began in July 2003. Although Ginuwine initially revealed that he was planning to team with longtime contributor Timbaland on the entirety of the album, their collaboration failed to materialize due to scheduling conflicts.[1] Instead, Ginuwine worked with a diverse roster of collaborators, including Danja, Jazze Pha, Troy Oliver, Trackmasters, and The Underdogs, on most of the tracks.
Upon its release, Back II da Basics received generally mixed reviews amongst critics with many complimenting the album's mid-tempo material and more mature approach, while criticizing its uptempo tracks and somewhat outdated nature. Commercially, it debuted at number twelve on the US Billboard 200 with first week sales of 74,430 copies, becoming Ginuwine's first album to miss the top ten since 1996's Ginuwine...the Bachelor, his solo debut. It debuted at number three on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, scoring him his fourth consecutive top-three entry.
The album spawned two singles, including lead single "When We Make Love" and "I'm In Love", both of which were not as successful as previous singles and failed to make the Billboard Hot 100. In support of the album, early in 2006 Ginuwine and label mates Jagged Edge linked up on the Ladies Night Out tour. A year later, Epic produced a greatest hits compilation with almost no promotion, presumably to end their album deal with Ginuwine.
Background
In 2003, Ginuwine released The Senior, his fourth studio album. It debuted at number six on the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 122,000 unites. It later was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales in excess of 863,000 copies.[2] It produced three singles, each appearing on the Billboard Hot 100.[3] Production for his fifth album began the same year.[1] Ginuwine revealed on 106 & Park that he was working with Timbaland on the entirety of the album, however, their collaboration failed to materialize due to scheduling conflicts.[1] On the production process, Ginuwine elaborated: "I want to bring R&B back up to the place where it needs to be."[4]
Back II da Basics received generally mixed reviews from music critics. In his review for Allmusic, Andy Kellman gave the album three out five stars and remarked that "rather than gradually spin out with albums that steadily diminish creatively and commercially, [Ginuwine] has put together a series of releases strong enough to maintain his presence on radio." Critical of the club tracks, he felt that without them the album "would be an even better, bolder, more mature release [with] lush ballads and gentle mid-tempo material."[5] Sophia Jackson from The Situation found that "it's good to see that after a decade on the scene, Ginuwine can still hang out with the young ones in the over-populated R&B world. This is an above average comeback for Ginuwine fans and lovers of real back to the basics R&B to enjoy. Welcome back Ginuwine, you've been missed."[10] Paul Lester found that A Man’s Thoughts "is quite a different proposition to his earlier work. It’s the same milieu – slick, glossy soul – but here the stark atmospheres and electro edge that once undercut his songs about sex and sensuality are replaced by a varnished efficiency that makes most of these 15 slow jams sound the same."[7]
Vibe's Imani A. Dawson rated the album three discs out of five and commented that the release "builds on his silky vocals while keeping the sexual innuendo intact [...] he's slowly but surely growing up."[12] She noted that "despite the occasional growing pains, when Ginuwine acts his age, it's a graceful erotic experience."[12] Raymond Fiore from Entertainment Weekly felt that "for this R&B slickster, returning to da basics means regurgitating the assembly-line bump 'n' grind fare he's honed for a decade. And on his fifth disc, it also means being a few fancy footsteps behind the current pack of urban lotharios."[9] Ken Capobianco of The Boston Globe found that "this consistent effort should get his career back in gear. It features a familiar mix of slow, lights-down-low grooves and bumping jams – and the songs and production are a notch above what he's been working with recently."[13] Melody Charles from SoulTracks noted that "Ginuwine's latest is a solid and sincere comeback that his fans from the "Pony" days forward will appreciate [...] Thoughts moves seamlessly from the heady onset of physical attraction and desire to, well, the daily ups and downs that inevitably arrive in every relationship."[11]Billboard wrote that the album "nicely upgrades from sexually laced anthems to break the party-boy mold."[8]
