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My Ghetto Report Card

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My Ghetto Report Card
Studio album by
E-40
ReleasedMarch 14, 2006
Recorded2005–06
GenreHip hop
Length74:45
Label
Producer
E-40 chronology
Breakin' News
(2003) 		My Ghetto Report Card
(2006) 		The Ball Street Journal
(2008)
Singles from My Ghetto Report Card
  1. "Tell Me When to Go"
    Released: February 1, 2006
  2. "U and Dat"
    Released: May 2, 2006

My Ghetto Report Card is the ninth studio album by American rapper E-40. It was released on March 14, 2006, by BME Recordings, Sick Wid It Records, Reprise Records and Warner Bros. Records. The album was supported by two singles: "Tell Me When to Go" featuring Keak Da Sneak, and "U and Dat" featuring T-Pain and Kandi Girl.

Background

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E-40, a rapper born in Vallejo, California, released eight solo albums prior to My Ghetto Report Card dating back to 1993. In the early 1990s, he was part of the Vallejo rap group The Click.[1] Thanks to regional popularity of his independently released single "Captain Save a Hoe", E-40 got his first major label signing with Jive Records in 1994.[1] By the late 1990s and early 2000s, E-40 began doing guest features on Southern rappers' albums, such as MP da Last Don by Master P, My Homies by Scarface, and Kings of Crunk by Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz.[1]

Recording

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With E-40 as executive producer, the album features production from Bosko, Lil Jon, and Rick Rock among others.[2][3][4] Critics noted the influence of Southern crunk sound. For AllMusic, David Jeffries remarked: "Lil Jon seems to be adapting to the Bay more than E-40 is going South." Ryan Dombal of Entertainment Weekly said the album "speeds up crunk's creeping scurrilousness while toning down its violent undercurrents."[5]

In an interview with MTV News, E-40 described the title as a reflection of having "straight A's across the board" and "d[oing] nothing foul in the game" in his music career.[6]

The Guardian music critic Angus Batey described opening track "Yay Area" as "one of the handful of truly experimental, daring and generally aurally flabbergasting rap tracks released so far this century" in a 2015 profile of E-40.[7]

Commercial performance

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Released in the United States by Reprise Records on March 14, 2006,[3][8] My Ghetto Report Card debuted at no. 3 on the Billboard 200 and remains E-40's highest charting album as of 2020, surpassing the 1996 album Tha Hall of Game that peaked at no. 4.[9][10]

On August 25, 2006, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) awarded the album a Gold certification for selling 500,000 units, making it the fourth E-40 album to earn RIAA certification.[8]

Two songs from My Ghetto Report Card were released as singles, starting with "Tell Me When To Go" featuring fellow Bay Area rapper Keak da Sneak. Released on February 1, 2006, "Tell Me When to Go" peaked at no. 35 on the Billboard Hot 100 on April 1, 2006, no. 37 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart on April 8, and no. 8 on the Hot Rap Songs chart on March 25.[11][12][13] "U and Dat" featuring T-Pain and Kandi Burruss (credited as "Kandi Girl") was the second single off this album, released on May 2, 2006. It was more successful than "Tell Me When to Go", as it charted for 25 weeks on the Hot 100 and peaked at no. 13 on August 26, 2006, in addition to peaking at no. 8 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs on September 2 and no. 4 on Hot Rap Songs on August 26.[11][12]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Robert Christgau(3-star Honorable Mention)(3-star Honorable Mention)(3-star Honorable Mention)[14]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[5]
The Guardian[15]
HipHopDX[16]
Okayplayer[17]
Pitchfork(5.6/10)[4]
RapReviews(7/10)[18]
Rolling Stone[19]
USA Today[20]

My Ghetto Report Card received favorable reviews. David Jeffries of AllMusic described the album as containing "an amazing set of wry, snide, and provocative rhymes."[3] Angus Batey of British newspaper The Guardian described the album as "character-filled, lewd and often laugh-out-loud funny."[15]

In a largely negative review, Tom Breihan of Pitchfork called the production of Lil Jon and Rick Rock "more exhausting than exhilarating."[4] Breihan compared the sound of "Yay Area" to "robots malfunctioning" due to "frantic off-kilter drums, high-pitched synth squeals, [and] gurgling staccato vocal samples."[4] Breihan also likened E-40's vocal quality to "Bernie Mac's making-fun-of-white-people voice—a nervous adenoidal yammer."[4]

Impact

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Due to the success of "Tell Me When to Go" and hyphy-themed songs on radio and MTV, the East Bay Express and Oakland Tribune speculated that My Ghetto Report Card would become E-40's mainstream breakout album.[21][22] By May 2006, Jim Harrington of the Oakland Tribune observed that a concert sponsored by local radio station Wild 94.9 "crowned E-40 as the new king of hip-hop."[23] Writing for the Oakland-based East Bay Express, Rachel Swan listed the album among the best of 2006 and called it "the most elegant in a spate of hyphy albums released this year."[24]

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Yay Area"
Rick Rock3:48
2."Tell Me When to Go" (featuring Keak Da Sneak)
Lil Jon4:01
3."Muscle Cars" (featuring Keak Da Sneak and Turf Talk)
Lil Jon4:02
4."Go Hard or Go Home" (featuring The Federation)
  • Anthony Caldwell
  • Jackson
  • Marvin Selmon
  • Stevens
  • Thomas
Rick Rock3:53
5."Gouda" (featuring B-Legit and Stressmatic)
Rick Rock5:03
6."Sick Wid It II" (featuring Turf Talk)
Droop-E3:28
7."JB Stomp Down (Skit)"  0:19
8."They Might Be Taping"
  • Stevens
  • Thomas
Rick Rock3:55
9."Do Ya Head Like This"
  • Stevens
  • Thomas
Rick Rock4:45
10."Block Boi" (featuring Miko and Stressmatic)
  • Jackson
  • Stevens
  • Marvin Whitemon
  • Miko Your
Studio Ton3:46
11."White Gurl" (featuring UGK and Juelz Santana)
Lil Jon4:23
12."GetTheFuckOn.com Pt. 1 (Skit)"  1:16
13."U and Dat" (featuring T-Pain and Kandi Girl)
Lil Jon3:22
14."I'm Da Man" (featuring Mike Jones and Al Kapone)
  • Bailey
  • LaMarquis Jefferson
  • Micheal Jones
  • Craig Love
  • Smith
  • Stevens
Lil Jon4:07
15."Yee" (featuring Too $hort and Budda)
Lil Jon4:33
16."GetTheFuckOn.com Pt. 2 (Skit)"  1:05
17."Just Fuckin'" (featuring Bosko)
  • Bosko Kante
  • Stevens
Bosko4:15
18."Gimme Head" (featuring Al Kapone and Bosko)
Lil Jon6:01
19."She Say She Loves Me" (featuring 8Ball and Bun B)
Lil Jon5:18
20."Happy to Be Here" (featuring D.D. Artis)
  • Kante
  • Stevens
Bosko3:29

Sample credits

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  • "Yay Area" contains a sample of "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)" performed by Digable Planets.
  • "Tell Me When to Go" contains a sample of "Dumb Girl" performed by Run-DMC.
  • "White Gurl" contains a sample of "A Fly Girl" performed by Boogie Boys.
  • "She Say She Loves Me" contains a sample of "Diamonds & Wood" performed by UGK.

Charts

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[8] Platinum 1,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ a b c Birchmeier, Jason. "E-40 Artist Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
  2. ^ Lil Jay (December 2006). "Interviews: Bosko". DubCNN. Archived from the original on January 7, 2007. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d Jeffries, David. "My Ghetto Report Card - E-40". AllMusic. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d e Breihan, Tom (April 26, 2006). "E-40: My Ghetto Report Card". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on April 28, 2006. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
  5. ^ a b Dombal, Ryan (March 27, 2006). "My Ghetto Report Card". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 9, 2007. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  6. ^ Reid, Shaheem (February 28, 2006). "Lil Jon Has Big Plans For E-40 And The Hyphy Movement". MTV News. Archived from the original on April 11, 2006. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
  7. ^ Batey, Angus (August 4, 2015). "Cult heroes: E-40, the stalwart working an open-cast mine of futurist rap". The Guardian. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
  8. ^ a b c "American album certifications – E-40 – My Ghetto Report Card". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  9. ^ Hasty, Katie (2006-03-22). "'High School' Returns To The Top Of The Class". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2013-03-24.
  10. ^ "E-40 Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
  11. ^ a b "E-40 Chart History: Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
  12. ^ a b "E-40 Chart History: Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs". Billboard. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
  13. ^ "E-40 Chart History: Hot Rap Songs". Billboard. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
  14. ^ "Robert Christgau: CG: e-40". Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  15. ^ a b Batey, Angus. "Pop CD: E-40, My Ghetto Report Card". Archived from the original on October 15, 2007. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  16. ^ Davis, Todd (March 14, 2006). "E-40 - My Ghetto Report Card". HipHopDX. Archived from the original on March 20, 2006. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  17. ^ "E-40: My Ghetto Report Card". Okayplayer. April 27, 2006. Archived from the original on October 17, 2006. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  18. ^ "RapReviews.com Feature for March 21, 2006 - E-40's "My Ghetto Report Card"". Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  19. ^ "E-40 - My Ghetto Report Card". Archived from the original on March 30, 2008. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
  20. ^ Jones, Steve. "Prince makes '3121' count". USA Today. Archived from the original on September 12, 2006. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  21. ^ Harrington, Jim (March 14, 2006). "Listen up: 'Hyphy' goes mainstream". Oakland Tribune. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
  22. ^ Arnold, Eric K. (March 15, 2006). "E-40: All-Time QB". East Bay Express. Archived from the original on March 16, 2006.
  23. ^ Harrington, Jim (May 4, 2006). "East Bay rapper E-40 is crowned king of hip-hop". Oakland Tribune. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
  24. ^ Swan, Rachel (November 22, 2006). "The Best Records of 2006: Part Two of Six". East Bay Express. Archived from the original on March 19, 2007.
  25. ^ "E-40 Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  26. ^ "E-40 Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  27. ^ "E-40 Chart History (Top Rap Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  28. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2006". Billboard. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  29. ^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2006". Billboard. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
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