Love vs. Money is the second studio album by American recording artist and producer The-Dream, released March 10, 2009, on Radio Killa and Def Jam Recordings. It is the follow-up to his debut album Love Hate (2007), and it was written and produced primarily by The-Dream and creative partner Christopher "Tricky" Stewart. Recording sessions for the album took place at several recording studios, including Chung King Studios in New York City and Studio at the Palms in Las Vegas.

Expanding on its predecessor's R&B aesthetics, the album incorporates elements of electro and pop music. With the album, The-Dream sought to amplify the dynamics of his debut album. Love vs. Money features recurring themes of seduction, rejection, and money. Music writers have noted the album for its layered musical elements, sonic quality, sexual subject matter, and clever lyrics.

The album debuted at number two on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling 151,000 copies in its first week. It spent 17 weeks on the chart and, as of May 2009, it has sold 331,000 copies copies in the United States. The album produced four singles that reached the Billboard charts, including "Rockin' That Shit" and "Sweat It Out". Upon its release, Love vs. Money received general acclaim from music critics. Rolling Stone named it the eighth best album of 2009.^[1] Time ranked the album number six on its year-end list for 2009.^[2]

Background and recording[link]

The album is the follow-up to The-Dream's gold-certified debut album, Love Hate (2007).^[3] He re-teamed with his production partner Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, who produced most of the tracks on the album, and Los Da Maestro.^[3] He also enlisted the help of Lil Jon for the song "Let Me See the Booty".^[4] He initially stated that he had collaborated with Ludacris and Fabolous, however they failed to appear on the final track listing.^[5] At an album listening event, a song booklet was given showing the album's initial track listing, including the unreleased "Touch & Feel" and "Nothing but Love".^[6]

Recording sessions for the album took place at Chung King Studios and Legacy Recording Studios in New York, New York, Studio at the Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada, Studio at the Shore in Malibu, California, and Triangle Sound Studios in Atlanta, Georgia.^[7] The album's packaging features photography by Joseph Cultice.^[7]

Music and lyrics[link]

Primarily an R&B album, Love vs. Money incorporates elements of electro and pop music, while its lyrics concern themes of love, sex, and money.^{[9][10][11][12]} The production incorporates elements such as broad synthesizer lines, punchy drumbeats, and computerized vocals.^[13] Its musical structure features the "stream-of-consciousness" song transition of The-Dream's debut album Love Hate.^[14] Alex Macpherson of The Quietus characterizes the album as "a palindromic song cycle of seduction, rejection, recrimination and ultimately – maybe – validation", writing that "as on Love/Hate, the tension between the character The-Dream likes to project – the cocky, preening, slightly lecherous lothario – and the reality of who he is – a slightly bug-eyed chump – proves fruitful."^[15] Macpherson views the album's centrepiece, its two title tracks, as a "stürm und drang" turning point for The-Dream's character, in which he mulls over a disastrous relationship.^[15]

The Washington Post's Allison Stewart writes that the album "cribs heavily from vintage R. Kelly in the same way its predecessor,... 'Love Hate', borrowed from 'Purple Rain'-era Prince".^[10] The track "Kelly's 12 Play" references R. Kelly's 1993 album 12 Play.^[15] Writer Piero Scaruffi views Love vs. Money as having more "melancholy ballads" than its predecessor.^[16] In an interview for DJBooth.net, The-Dream discussed his musical approach to the album, stating "This album's gonna be the same thing – a little more beefed up, I'm just gonna give you more. Every album I'm just gonna try to give you more of me, and what I think about certain things... This album is just gonna be the first album on some out of this world crack, basically".^[17] In an interview for The Village Voice, he discussed his use of melody, repetition, and hooks, relating it to child discipline, saying that "Americans are not the biggest listeners. I didn't listen, which is why my granddaddy beat me half the time. It's only when the belt is swinging at you in the same repetitive manner that you actually start to listen. So it's all about creating a belt on the song that repetitiously swings at you. It doesn't mean that in between the belt swinging, I'm not saying stuff that means something".^[14]

Release and promotion[link]

Originally set for release by the end of 2008,^[3] the album was released on March 10, 2009 in the United States through The-Dream's imprint label Radio Killa and Def Jam Recordings.^[6] On August 31, 2009, Love vs. Money (Deluxe Edition) was released to iTunes, featuring bonus tracks, including "Hit It On The Road".^[18] The-Dream took part in a 21-city tour with R&B artist Keyshia Cole that started on May 13, 2009 at the Aronoff Center in Cincinnati and concluded at Paramount Theater in Oakland on June 21, 2009.^[19]

Singles[link]

The first official single is "Rockin' That Thang" (explicitly "Rockin' That Shit"). The single peaked at number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number 2 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.^[20] The second official single, "My Love" featuring Mariah Carey, peaked at number 82 on the Hot 100 and at number 36 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.^[21] Billboard's Chris Williams called it "a sumptuous love anthem for couples this spring".^[22] The album's third single, "Walkin' on the Moon" featuring Kanye West, peaked at number 87 on the Hot 100 and at number 38 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.^[23] The album's fourth and final single "Sweat It Out" peaked at number 32 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.^[24]

Reception[link]

Commercial performance[link]

Love vs. Money debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling 151,000 copies in its first week.^[25] It also entered at number one on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and at number three on its Top Digital Albums chart in March 2009.^[26][27] In its second week, the album fell two positions to number four on the Billboard 200 with 56,000 copies sold.^[28] In its third week, the album fell nine spots and sold an additional 35,967 copies,^[29] and in its fourth week, it fell to number 19 and sold 27,972 more copies.^[30] Love vs. Money spent a total of 17 weeks on Billboard 200 chart.^[31] By May 2009, it had sold 331,000 copies in the United States, according to SoundScan.^[19]

Critical response[link]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[32]
Blender	[33]
The Boston Globe	favorable[34]
Entertainment Weekly	C+[35]
The Observer	favorable[36]
The Quietus	favorable[15]
Rolling Stone	[37]
Slant Magazine	[13]
Tiny Mix Tapes	[12]
The Village Voice	favorable[14]

Love vs. Money received general acclaim from music critics.^[36] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 83, based on 13 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim".^[36] Allmusic editor Andy Kellman commended it as "Love/Hate's equal, stuffed with hooks, ceaselessly absorptive productions, and clever and often funny wordplay".^[32] Sean Fennessey of Vibe praised The-Dream's production and stated, "The craft is meticulous, and the sound so epic, and at times, operatic [...] that moments on this album comprise some of the best pop music of the decade".^[38] Ajitpaul Mangat of Tiny Mix Tapes commended his interpretation of the "pop formula" and dubbed the album "a fascinating and at-times sonically remarkable post-structuralist-esque move".^[12] The Boston Globe's Ken Capobianco called it "a seamless, brilliantly produced affair featuring his unmatched contemporary pop technique and songwriting craftsmanship".^[34] Steve Jones of USA Today gave it three-and-a-half out of four stars and stated, "The salacious influences of R. Kelly and Prince are evident, but the Dream sets his own standard for audio eroticism".^[39] Slant Magazine's Wilson McBee viewed it as an improvement over Love Hate and wrote that it "keeps to the same aesthetic touchstones [...] while cranking up the gears of ambition".^[13] McBee called the album "a cohesive, front-to-back artistic statement" and commented on its "behind-the-boards wizardry and hook-laden songcraft", stating:

Love vs. Money hardly shies away from the attitude that The-Dream has entered the realm of pop royalty. More than anything, this album sounds busy. It seems that Nash and frequent collaborator Christopher "Tricky" Stewart have absorbed nearly every musical meme flittering across the landscape of urban radio, excised the ones they hate and exaggerated the ones they love, added their own idiosyncratic flourishes, and recast the whole concoction as their own personal present-tense. [...] What keeps all this over-production from being distracting is Nash's intelligent arrangements and a keen avoidance of clutter. The seemingly incongruous elements rarely fail to complement each other or Nash's vocals.^[13]

—Wilson McBee

However, Entertainment Weekly's Mikael Wood commented unfavorably on the lyrics, writing that it contains "material obsession" and The-Dream's "vision of romance mostly plays like a nightmare".^[35] Robert Christgau for Blender, "The-Dream will turn on only the many hopeful ladies who consider Patrón the most exquisite of aphrodisiacs".^[33] Tyler Fisher of PopMatters found its weaknesses to be "cliché love songs, too many similar beats and melodies, and a lack of energy", but ultimately called it "an R&B pop album with great production, composition, and lyricism".^[11] Okayplayer's Sean Deezill commented that the album offers "impressive, yet, familiar production, unorganized structure, catchy radio tracks, and laughable lyrics".^[40] Delusions of Adequacy's Bryan Sanchez stated, "These are immediately affecting songs, complete with stories of love, money getting in the way, bliss, inspiration and affection in between."^[41] Rolling Stone writer Jody Rosen found most of its songs "unforgettable" and stated, "the combination of classicist songcraft, wild sound collage and a muse that partakes equally of the sensual and the silly makes Love vs. Money far more than just an accomplished genre piece".^[37] Alex Macpherson of The Quietus noted its cyclical thematic structure, but stated, "it's how the wheel turns, endlessly and inevitably, which is what compels about Love vs Money."^[15]

Track listing[link]

Deluxe edition[link]

Personnel[link]

Credits for Love vs. Money adapted from Allmusic.^[42]

Charts[link]

See also[link]

• Song cycle

References[link]

External links[link]

• Love vs. Money at Discogs
• Love vs. Money at Metacritic
• The-Dream, Has High Hopes for New Album at New York Times

The-Dream
The-Dream performing on September 10, 2008 in New York City.
Background information
Birth name	Terius Youngdell Nash
Born	(1977-09-20) September 20, 1977 (age 34) Rockingham, North Carolina, U.S.
Genres	R&B, pop, hip hop
Occupations	singer-songwriter, record producer
Years active	1998–Present
Labels	Def Jam, Radio Killa
Associated acts	Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, Los Da Mystro, Jennifer Lopez, Electrik Red, Rihanna, Kanye West, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Drake Fabolous, Jamie Foxx
Website	the-dreammusic.com

Terius Youngdell Nash (Born September 20, 1977), better known by his stage name The-Dream, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. He is known for co-writing chart topping hits such as "Baby" for Justin Bieber, "Umbrella" for Rihanna and "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" for Beyoncé, as well as for his three solo albums, Love Hate, Love vs. Money, and Love King.

Early life[link]

Terius Nash was born in Rockingham, North Carolina and moved with his mother, Reva Nash, to Atlanta at the age of 3. He played trumpet, drums, and guitar as a child.^[1] His mother died in 1992 when Nash was fifteen years old, an event which would inspire him to write songs.^[2] He states that the death of his mother gave him a "soft spot" for women, which he credits to his desire to write songs about female empowerment such as Rihanna's "Umbrella".^[2] He moved in with his grandfather, a concrete mason who instilled a strong work ethic in young Nash. Of his grandfather, Nash recalls "He came out of a bad time for blacks in the South, but even though we lived in the hood, we had a boat, some cars and a house that was paid for. So I’ve always had a different outlook on life. There’s nothing I can’t do."^[3]

Music career[link]

Background[link]

Nash met R&B producer Laney Stewart in 2001; Stewart helped him get a publishing deal after writing "Everything" for B2K's album Pandemonium!.^[1] Under the pen name "The-Dream", Nash began writing lyrics for many popular artists. He spent two years working on Nivea's second album Complicated, which he executive produced, and continued to write and produce with Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, Laney's brother, which led to Rihanna's 2007 smash hit "Umbrella". The success of "Umbrella" boosted Dream's music career, and in 2007, he signed a deal with Def Jam Records.^[4]

Solo[link]

Following the deal with Def Jam Records, The-Dream began working on his debut studio album Love Hate.^[4] The album was produced by The-Dream's production partner Tricky Stewart, and Carlos "LOS Da Maestro" McKinney, and featured Fabolous and Rihanna.^[5] The album was written and recorded in eight days with twelve tracks making the final cut. Some of the tracks were written in regards to The-Dream's personal life, most notably "Nikki," written about his ex-wife Nivea and how he has moved on since their divorce.^[6] The-Dream explained the title, Love Hate, as short for, "Love me all summer, hate me all winter, 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."^[6] Released December 11, 2007 on The-Dream's Def Jam-imprint Radio Killa Records,^[7] Love Hate moved 59,000 copies and debuted at number 30 on the Billboard 200.^[8] Love Hate also peaked at #5 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.^[9] The album received generally positive reviews from critics, as Rolling Stone called it "one of the most likable R&B records of the year" and UrbanMusicReviews.com said that the singer has "hit a home run."^[10]

On March 10, 2009 The-Dream released his second album Love vs. Money.^[11] He re-teamed with his production partner Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, who produced most of the tracks on the album, and Los Da Maestro.^[12] He also enlisted the help of Lil Jon for the song "Let Me See the Booty".^[8] Love vs. Money debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling 151,000 copies in its first week.^[13] It also entered at number one on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and at number three on its Top Digital Albums chart in March 2009.^[14][15] Upon its release, the album received general acclaim from most music critics, based on an aggregate score of 83/100 from Metacritic.^[16]

During the making of Love King, he recorded a song with T-Pain and expressed that he would like to make a collaborative album with Kanye West in the future.^[17] In January 2010, The-Dream officially stated he was finished recording the album and he called it the best of his three albums.^[18] The first single, "Love King", was released on March 16, 2010 for digital download. The album was released on June 29, 2010.^[19]

Before the album's release, the-Dream announced that Love King will be his last solo album.^[8][20] When Love King was released, the lyrics to the song "Sex Intelligent Remix" announced plans to release a new solo album called Love Affair and even gave the specific release date of June 7, 2011. In February 2011, The-Dream announced that the album is not titled "Love Affair" anymore, he stated that it is now titled "The Love, IV" and that he scrapped the June 7, 2011 release date and has set a new release date of August 2011.^[21] One week after anouncing that August release date, he said the he is pushing the album up and is hoping to release it on June 7 as promised.^[22] In June 2011, the album's title was changed yet again, this time to "Love IV: Diary of a Madman", it was also announced that it will released on September 20, 2011.^[23] On June 7, 2011; he released double promotional singles titled "Body Work" and "Fuck My Brains Out" to the internet.^[24] The Dream was not able to release "The Love, IV (Diary of a Mad Man)" on September 20, 2011 as planned and it was announced that the album got pushed back indefinitely due to "contract talks" with Def Jam Records.^[25] The-Dream then released a free 10-track album to the internet entitled 1977 on August 31, 2011.^[26][27] The-Dream also plans to release a 13-track studio album entitled Nikki: The Chronicles, which will follow his infatuation with the woman he sang about on 2007’s Love Hate and 2010’s Love King.^[28] In October 2011, Dream announced that he is personally pushing back the release of The Love; IV (Diary of A Madman) and that it will now be released in 2012. Dream also announced his plans to release his first international album, titled 1984: Persona of Love, it is set for release sometime in 2012, the album is a "persona album" and is inspired by his recent trip overseas.^[29] In February 2012, it was announced that the "The Love; IV (Diary of A Madman)" will be released on April 17, 2012.^[30] In March 2012, it was announced that "The Love; IV (Diary of A Madman)" has been re-titled "Love IV MMXII" and that its release date been pushed back to Summer 2012.^[31] In May 2012, it was announced that the album will be released on August 14, 2012.^[32]

Production[link]

In addition to working with Nivea and Rihanna, The-Dream also began writing for numerous artists, most notably J. Holiday's "Bed", Usher's "Moving Mountains", Yung Joc's "Coffee Shop" and Jesse McCartney's "Leavin'". He also co-wrote Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body", Ciara's "High Price," and took part in co-writing a majority of Mary J. Blige's 2007 Growing Pains album, including the smash hit "Just Fine". Recently^[when?] he featured in Drake (entertainer)'s album Thank Me Later the song "Shut It Down".

In December 2007, The-Dream was nominated for Grammy Award for Song of the Year for "Umbrella", but lost to Amy Winehouse's "Rehab". However, in June 2008, The-Dream won the award for Best New Artist at the 2008 BET Awards. Throughout 2008, The-Dream appeared on a number of records including Plies' "Please Excuse My Hands" with Jamie Foxx, LL Cool J's "Baby", Gym Class Heroes' "Cookie Jar" and Kardinal Offishall's "Gimme Some". In addition, The-Dream signed female R&B girl-group Electrik Red to Radio Killa Records and they released their debut album, How to Be a Lady: Volume 1, under the label.^[33] The-Dream and production partner Christopher "Tricky" Stewart produced "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" off Beyoncé's album I Am… Sasha Fierce, co-produced two tracks ("Just Like Me" & "Digital Girl") and was featured on Jamie Foxx's album Intuition, and worked with Mario and Lionel Richie.^[8] He will also be featured on a number of upcoming albums from; Phyzikal, Ciara, Sterling Simms, Young Chris, Dear Jayne, Brandy and Cassie.

In early 2009, The-Dream began working with Christina Milian on her fourth studio album Elope,^[34] which led to her signing a joint-deal with Radio Killa Records.^[35] The-Dream said that when he was building his label, he went looking for Milian because he believed she was a talented singer.^[36] The singer confirmed that her second single would be a duet with The-Dream called "Supersonic".^[37]

Throughout 2009, The-Dream has also been working on new material for Mariah Carey, Brandy, and Diddy. Diddy's song "Change" is described by The-Dream as, "probably one of the best male records I've ever written...the best record I've written besides 'Umbrella'. The-Dream also worked on Jennifer Lopez's single Louboutins from her 7th album Love? by Sony Music. The song did not chart at the Billboard Hot 100 but charted at number 1 on the Hot/Dance Club Chart. He keep working on more tracks for her album which was released in Spring 2011 by Def Jam.^{[dated info][8][dated info]} He also collaborated on, produced and wrote Snoop Dogg's "Gangsta Luv", which is on the 2009 album Malice n Wonderland.

The-Dream and Tricky Stewart have worked on Ciara's fourth studio album titled "Basic Instinct", which was released on December 14, 2010, and was executive produced by the trio. He co-wrote her lead single titled "Ride", which was released in April 2010, and went on to become a R&B smash hit and her twelfth top ten hit on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.^[38]

The-Dream received a fair amount of backlash for his cover of singer Aaliyah's song "One in a Million". Upon the release of the song, fans of Aaliyah bombarded radio shows and blog sites with distaste for The-Dream's rendition.^[39]

He also worked alongside Tricky Stewart on Jessica Simpson's Christmas album titled Happy Christmas, released on November 22, 2010, and also working on Simpson's upcoming pop album, to be released in 2011.^{[dated info]}

The-Dream produced a music single for Kim Kardashian, "Jam (Turn It Up)", released in March 2, 2011 and then worked on Beyoncé's album titled 4, released on June 28, 2011.

On March 16, 2012, Billboard posted an interview with The-Dream, where he talked about having been given the opportunity to go in to the studio in a few weeks to work with Shakira, and how excited he is for the track.^[40]

Personal life[link]

The-Dream married girlfriend Nivea in 2004, whom he had been dating for one year. Together they had three children, daughter Navy Talia (on May 10, 2005); and twin sons London and Christian (April 2006). They had been married for three years when Nivea filed for legal separation in December 2007. The-Dream said that although he was in love with Nivea, his lack of experience in a family growing up meant he was "not taught how much more than love does it take to run a relationship. Like, 'cause love isn't just where it's gonna end. It can't start and stop with love. There has to be a certain amount of knowledge and patience that's acquired in order to keep it going and keep it straight, and I found out the hard way".^[41]

The-Dream began dating Christina Milian in early 2009; she became pregnant. The Daily Mail reported that "the pregnancy was a surprise, but they were getting married regardless".^[42] They then became engaged in June 2009.^[43] In August, it was reported that they had applied for a marriage license in Los Angeles. On September 4, 2009, The-Dream married Christina Milian at the Little White Chapel in Las Vegas.^[44] The-Dream said in an interview that Nivea was still a good friend of his, and that she was also friends with Milian.^[45] Milian gave birth to their daughter Violet Madison Nash on February 26, 2010.^[46] Milian and The-Dream announced their separation on July 12, 2010 ^[47] after photos surfaced of The-Dream vacationing with his assistant.^[48]

In addition to music, The-Dream revealed he is currently working on a TV reality series for MTV where he will scout aspiring singers,^[8] and plans to release a clothing line called Millionaire Love Affair.^[33]

Discography[link]

Studio albums

• Love Hate (2007)
• Love vs. Money (2009)
• Love King (2010)
• Love IV MMXII (2012)

Free album

• 1977 (2011)

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website