title: Solo Star
text: Solo Star is the debut studio album by American singer Solange, released by Columbia Records and Music World on December 26, 2002 in Japan and January 21, 2003 in the United States. It debuted and peaked at number forty-nine on the U.S. Billboard 200 and number twenty-three on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums in early February 2003. The album produced two singles: "Feelin' You" (featuring N.O.R.E.) and "Crush" (later renamed to "Don't Fight the Feeling"). "Feelin' You" reached no. 73 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart.
  
  Critical reception
  
  William Ruhlmann of AllMusic gave the album three out of five stars saying: "Executive producer [Mathew] Knowles has surrounded Solange with a bevy of trendy writer/producers, including The Underdogs, Platinum Status, Timbaland, The Neptunes and Rockwilder, along with such guest stars as B2K and Lil' Romeo. The result is a state-of-the-art contemporary R&B album full of big beats, catchy choruses, and gimmicky production effects. But the nominal star of the show is lost somewhere in the mix. It doesn't help that the 16-year-old has a thin, undeveloped voice that is easily overwhelmed. Slant Magazine gave two out of five stars, saying: "The largely synthetic-sounding Solo Star follows the growing industry standard in which the focus is on production rather songwriting", also adding that Solange's voice is uncannily similar to Beyoncé's.
  
  Release and promotion
  The album was released in December 2002 in Japan, while it was released in United States following month. It under-performed in the United States, selling 112,000 copies according to Nielsen SoundScan, and dropped off the chart five weeks after its debut. The only two singles released from the album, the N.O.R.E.-featured "Feelin' You (Part II)" and the Neptunes-produced "Crush" (also known as "Don't Fight the Feeling"), failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. The album is no longer in print and the online music website iTunes does not sell the album. A re-recording of "Crush", with vastly different instrumental and harmonies and featuring Papa Reu, was included on the movie soundtrack for The Fighting Temptations which stars Solange's sister Beyoncé. This re-recording was renamed "Don't Fight the Feeling" to match the movie poster's tagline. The album was promoted with the Solo Star Tour in 2003.
  
  Track listing 
  
  Note: tracks 17, 18 and 19 are four seconds of silence each with these bonus tracks following:
  
  Sample credits
  "True Love" contains replayed elements from "So Amazing" by Luther Vandross
  "Thinkin' About You" contains replayed elements from "Scooby Doo Where Are You" by Joseph Barbera, William Hanna, and Hoyt Curtin
  
  2006 re-release
  Solo Star was re-released in November 2006 with a different artwork and track listing. The reissue album contained twelve tracks: seven tracks from 2002 standard release, four remixes and previously unreleased track titled "Bring It on Home". There is a newly recorded version of "Feelin' You" which features American rapper Slim Thug. Both singles from the album were remixed. "Crush" was remixed by Vibelicious. Also, a duet with Beyoncé featuring Da Brat titled "Naïve" was remixed by Maurice Joshua.
  
  Personnel
  Solange Knowles – composer, primary artist, producer, vocal producer
  Ketrina Askew – composer
  B2K – featured artist, guest artist, primary artist
  Rich Balmer – engineer
  Joseph Barbera – composer
  Beyoncé Knowles – producer
  Bruce Buechner – engineer
  William Burke – programming
  Skip Burrow – engineer
  Kandi Burruss – producer
  Kim Burse – A&R
  Scott Gusty Christensen – engineer
  Cedric Courtois – producer
  John Czornyj – mixing
  Myke Diesel – engineer, mixing, producer
  Jimmy Douglass – mixing
  Erica Dymakkus – backing vocals 
  Damon Elliott – drum programming, engineer, keyboards, percussion, producer
  Brian Garten – engineer
  Serban Ghenea – mixing
  Dabling Harward – recording
  A. Jackson – composer
  Alonzo Jackson – producer
  Troy Johnson – composer, engineer, producer
  Jerome Jones – composer
  Talib Kareem – producer
  Mathew Knowles – executive producer
  Emily Lazar – mastering
  Murphy Lee – featured artist, primary artist
  Lil' Romeo – guest artist, primary artist
  Tony Maserati – mixing
  Master P – composer
  Michael McClain – producer
  Ramon Morales – engineer
  N.O.R.E. – composer, guest artist, primary artist
  Huy Nguyen – A&R assistance, artist coordination
  Tony Oliver – composer
  Kevin Parker – mixing
  Mark Penn – producer
  Dave Pensado – mixing
  Linda Perry – producer
  Platinum Status – producer
  Rockwilder – composer, producer
  Dexter Simmons – mixing
  Slim Thug – primary artist
  Chris Stokes – producer
  Timbaland – mixing, producer
  Luther Vandross – composer
  
  Charts
  
  Release history
  
  References
  
  2002 debut albums
  Columbia Records albums
  Solange Knowles albums
  Albums produced by Timbaland
  Albums produced by the Neptunes
  Albums produced by Linda Perry
  Albums produced by Jermaine Dupri
  Albums produced by Rockwilder