The Dutchess

The Dutchess
Fergie's studio album
Publication (s)	2006
Label (s)	A&M / Interscope
Format (s)	CD
Genre (s)	Pop / Contemporary R&B / Hip-Hop
Title (number)	14 or 15
running time	54 min 48 s
production	Will.i.am , Ron Flair, Polow Da Don u. a.
Studio (s)	The Record Plant (Los Angeles) & The Brothel (Philadelphia)
chronology - The Dutchess Double Dutchess (2017)
Single releases July 18, 2006 London Bridge October 23, 2006 Fergalicious February 1, 2007 Glamorous May 15, 2007 Big Girls Don't Cry September 25, 2007 Clumsy March 18, 2008 Finally

The Dutchess is the debut album by the American singer Fergie . The work was mainly produced by Will.i.am . The album was released on September 18, 2006 in Europe and a day later in the United States.

Single releases

The first single was released on July 18, 2006, London Bridge on the US market. The song, which was produced by Polow da Don , reached number 1 on the Billboard charts . In Germany and Great Britain she achieved a similarly good placement. In October of the same year, the second single Fergalicious was released and climbed to the top of the charts. The song is based on Supersonic by JJ Fad, one of the earliest female rap groups. The third song was Glamorous , in which she is supported by rapper Ludacris , released and was able to follow on from the success of the previous singles. The fourth single, Big Girls Don't Cry , was finally released, which with number 1 in the USA and a top 10 placement in Germany (number 6) and in England (number 2) even surpassed the success of the three previous singles. In the US, each of the five singles sold at least 2 million times. Fergie set a record for the most multiplatinum releases from an album at this point . A year and a half after the album was released, Finally , a sixth single was released, in which John Legend was involved as a producer and musician. But the song didn't make it to the charts.

Music genre

While Stacy Ferguson used rap and hip-hop influences for the three singles, she used Ska elements with brass and percussion for Voodoo Doll . With the rocking Losing My Ground produced by Rob Bolot and Ron Flair, the singer grapples with her drug past. For Clumsy , she used a sample of the Little Richard song The Girl Can't Help It . Here I Come uses the song Get Ready by The Temptations . On Mary Janes Shoes , which uses Indian riddims , Fergie is supported by Rita Marley , among others .

criticism

Despite its commercial success, the solo work was not judged very enthusiastically. Allmusic's Andy Kellman judged that Fergie “really tried hard”, but the album was “mildly entertaining but tremendously taxing”, and he gave it 2 out of 5 stars. Sputnik Music summarized the judgment as “oversexed nonsense” (excessive nonsense aimed at sex) and awarded 2.5 points. Sal Cinquemani from Slant magazine awards the same number of points and criticizes the fact that the album also borrows a lot from the singer's musical past, but without convincing herself: "It strives for diversity at the expense of artistic value" ("striving to display diversity at the expense of artistry "). Mike Joseph from Pop Matters also complains that 90% of the album chases after musical trends and the target group, but sounds "awkward and forced". It awards 2 points on a scale from 1 to 10.

The rating in Rolling Stone magazine is a bit more benevolent , where Rob Sheffield cites some successful musical and textual ideas in a short comment and awards 3.5 out of 5 stars. Valerie Timm from laut.de also praises the soulful side of the album, which can, however, also go as far as "emotional drudgery", and rates the diverse samples and musical styles positively. Nevertheless, the rating does not go beyond 3 points.

particularities

The album title is a reference to Sarah, Duchess of York , whose title is Duchess of York in English and who has the same surname and nickname as the artist.

Track list

#	title	length
1.	Fergalicious (featuring Will.i.am)	4:51
2.	Clumsy	4:00
3.	All That I Got (The Make-Up Song) (featuring Will.i.am)	4:05
4th	London Bridge	4:01
5.	Pedestal	3:22
6th	Voodoo doll	4:22
7th	Glamorous (featuring Ludacris )	4:05
8th.	Here I come	3:20
9.	Velvet	4:53
10.	Big Girls Don't Cry	4:28
11.	Mary Jane Shoes (featuring Rita Marley & The I-Threes )	3:55
12.	Losing My Ground	4:08
13.	Finally	4:53
14th	Maybe We Can Take a Ride (Hidden Track)	2:34

The European edition of the album also contains the title

• Get Your Hands Up (featuring The Black Eyed Peas ), duration: 7 min 8 s with Maybe We Can Take a Ride as a hidden track

the UK and Australian version also contains the title

• Wake Up , duration 6:36.

In November, a re-release appeared in Japan, which contained a new song and 2 remixes.

• Big Girls Don't Cry (featuring Sean Kingston)
• Clumsy (Remix)
• Pick It Up (feat. Will.i.am )

Chart placements

album

Charts	Top ranking	Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK)	11 (27 weeks)	27
Austria (Ö3)	17th (22 weeks)	22nd
Switzerland (IFPI)	11 (23 weeks)	23
United Kingdom (OCC)	18th (38 weeks)	38
United States (Billboard)	2 (94 weeks)	94

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2006	London Bridge The Dutchess	DE3 (13 weeks) DE	AT3 (15 weeks) AT	CH6 (18 weeks) CH	UK3 (10 weeks) UK	US1 (21 weeks) US	First published: July 18, 2006
	Fergalicious The Dutchess	DE23 (12 weeks) DE	AT34 (13 weeks) AT	CH29 (19 weeks) CH	-	US2 (27 weeks) US	First release: October 23, 2006 feat. will.i.am
2007	Glamorous The Dutchess	DE16 (13 weeks) DE	AT25 (16 weeks) AT	CH38 (16 weeks) CH	UK6 (29 weeks) UK	US1 (29 weeks) US	First release: January 23, 2007 feat. Ludacris
	Big Girls Don't Cry The Dutchess	DE6 (22 weeks) DE	AT1 (26 weeks) AT	CH3 (34 weeks) CH	UK2 (38 weeks) UK	US1 (48 weeks) US	First published: May 22, 2007
	Clumsy The Dutchess	DE50 (8 weeks) DE	AT53 (7 weeks) AT	-	UK62 (5 weeks) UK	US5 (25 weeks) US	First published: September 25, 2007

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Fergie’s The Dutchess Marks Ten-Year Anniversary With Two-LP Vinyl Edition, December 2 Universal Music, September 13, 2016
2. ^ Finally (Fergie feat. John Legend) on hitparade.ch
3. ^ Fergie - The Dutchess (Review), Sputnik Music, December 16, 2006
4. ^ Fergie - The Dutchess (Review) by Sal Cinquemani, Slant, September 18, 2006
5. ↑ Fergie - The Dutchess (Review) by Mike Joseph, Pop Matters, October 3, 2006.
6. ↑ Fergie: The Dutchess (album review) by Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, September 20, 2006
7. ↑ The Black Eyed Peas front woman shows her soft side , Valerie Timm, laut.de, September 2006, accessed on November 13, 2016
8. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US

Web links

• The Dutchess at Allmusic (English)