Kwaku of Cross Rhythms wrote that "Michelle seems happy to produce music which straddles between contemporary gospel and inspirational R&B" and thus "she certainly isn’t going to have problems facing the congregation when she attends church".
LITTLE DO YOU KNOW ALBUM PROFESSIONAL
I had people around me that were not going where I was going – I had to release them from my life." Critical reception Professional ratings Review scoresĬritical reviews of the album were generally favorable. I know what I went through, I know God is taking me to another level. After being asked "Michelle, as people listen to the album, Do You Know, as they get acquainted with the songs, what are you hoping to bring to their lives?", Williams responded "That everybody live in peace and not settle for anything less than what the Lord wants to bring your way. Williams then said "this whole album is about God's love and me". She also discussed one of the album's primary themes – "what it's like to be in love" – explaining " mistakes you make when you're in love and how they affect your life" after saying "I was able to experience some things this year and I wrote about them." In describing the album during another interview, this time for GospelCity, Williams said "these songs are just about the real me" and that she "just wrote from heart" before acknowledging that "it didn't turn out to be as 'gospel-ly' as some would have liked", but "the stuff" that's on the album "is stuff went through". Furthermore, she stated "whether it's gospel or not, I wrote about it", therefore expecting "some of her gospel fans to be a little upset" but wanted to "keep it real". Prior to Unexcpected 's release, Williams told MTV that she couldn't "wait for the world to hear new solo album", describing it as "fresher", "more inspirational", and "more on the secular side". As with her debut, Williams contributed greatly to the songwriting of the album, co-writing a total of six tracks on the album. Moss and Walter Kearney, duo Dawkins & Dawkins, Tommy Sims, bandmate Beyoncé Knowles, her sister Solange Knowles, and Williams' brother Erron Williams. Before taking over the lead role in the Broadway musical Aida on November 18, 2003, Williams began working on the album, involving an even greater variety of producers than she did for her debut album such as trio PAJAM, made up of Paul Allen, J. Due to the success of Heart to Yours, which topped the US Top Gospel Albums and became the best-selling gospel album of 2002, anticipation was high for Williams' second album. Īfter becoming the first member of Destiny's Child to release a solo album in 2002, Williams did not wait long to start work on its follow-up in 2003. Solange Knowles ( pictured) co-wrote and co-produced "The Movement". The album gained Williams a nomination for "Best Gospel Act" at the 2004 MOBO Awards. Despite this, the album was later re-released, including two new tracks and has now sold over 78,000 copies in the US alone as of 2008. Though the album was well received by critics, it sold only 10,000 copies in its first week of release. However, the album peaked at one-hundred-and-twenty on the Billboard 200, making it Williams' lowest-charting album. In the US, Do You Know found fair success on Billboard's component charts peaking at number two on the Gospel Albums chart, number three on the Christian Albums chart and number twenty-eight on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
However, Do You Know is much more diverse, lyrically, than its predecessor Heart to Yours, covering the themes of "spiritual" and "carnal" love and contains retrospective songs about Williams' career thus far, whilst still retaining the inspirational and encouraging lyrics that characterised Heart to Yours. Williams contributed lyrically to the album as she did with her debut album, co-writing a total of six songs. It contains a greater percentage of mid and up-tempo songs, along with a much heavier and grander use of live instrumentation.
Do You Know "straddles between contemporary gospel and inspirational R&B" and is described as portraying "a more intimate side of Michelle".
It was released by the Sanctuary Records Group and Columbia Records on Januin the United States. Do You Know is the second studio album by American singer and songwriter Michelle Williams.