Tru.

tru.
Studio album by Cro
Publication (s)	September 8, 2017
Label (s)	Chimperator
Format (s)	CD , LP , download
Genre (s)	Alternative hip-hop , rap , pop , cloud rap , alternative R&B
Title (number)	17/20
running time	85:29 / 96:12
production	Cro Shuko Freedo Michael Geldreich Peet Gianni Giuliani Toni Mudrack
chronology MTV Unplugged: Cro (2015) tru. -
Single releases 2nd June 2017 tree 2nd June 2017 infinity 28th July 2017 Tru February 9, 2018 Computiful May 8, 2018 Still there

tru. is the third studio album by German rapper Cro . It was released on September 8, 2017 via the hip-hop label Chimperator Productions as a standard and deluxe edition.

Music style and production

On the album, Cro shows himself to be much more willing to experiment than on his first two studio albums Raop and Melodie , whereby he mainly turns away from the poppy rap sound.

The album was produced by Cro himself and the music producers Shuko , Gianni Giuliani, Michael Geldreich and Freedo.

Cover design

The album cover shows Cro's new, all-white panda mask against a white background. In the middle of the mask is the Kanji真, which can mean “true” or “truth”. The red lettering cro and tru are at the top and bottom of the picture .

Guest Posts

In addition to Cro, other artists appear on four songs on the album. The German reggae singer Patrice is involved in the song Forrest Gump , while the American singer Ivy Sole makes a guest appearance on Fake You. Has. Haitian singer Wyclef Jean can be heard on Todas , and German R&B singer Ace Tee supports Cro on Slow Down .

Track list

#	title	Guest musician	length
1	Chapter 1		2:24
2	Forrest Gump	Patrice	4:17
3	fkngrt		5:56
4th	tru		3:15
5	Hi		4:45
6th	todas	Wyclef Jean	4:08
7th	tree		6:58
8th	infinity (main edit)		3:36
9	computiful		12:35
10	no.105		4:36
11	still there		3:12
12	paperdreams		3:51
13	fake you.	Ivy Sole	3:31
14th	alien		5:56
15th	0711		3:58
16	slow down	Ace tea	6:13
17th	2kx		6:18

Deluxe Edition bonus songs:

#	title	Guest musician	length
18th	tokyo13317		3:45
19th	infinity (video edit)		3:46
20th	my life		3:12

Chart successes and singles

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Albums

tru.   DE 1 09/15/2017 (20 weeks)   AT 1 09/22/2017 (9 weeks)   CH 2 09/17/2017 (6 weeks)

Singles

tree   DE 79 06/09/2017 (1 week)   AT 49 06/16/2017 (1 week) infinity   DE 13 06/09/2017 (22 weeks)   AT 15th 06/16/2017 (20 weeks)   CH 42 06/11/2017 (3 weeks) Tru   DE 77 08/04/2017 (2 weeks)   AT 69 08/11/2017 (2 weeks) Todas (feat. Wyclef Jean )   DE 65 09/15/2017 (1 week)   AT 55 09/22/2017 (1 week) Still there   DE 86 03/23/2018 (1 week)   AT 57 03/30/2018 (1 week)   CH 79 03/25/2018 (1 week)

tru. entered the German album charts at number 1 on September 15, 2017 , making the rapper the fourth time in a row. The album also topped the charts in Austria, while it reached number 2 in Switzerland. It was ranked 63rd in the 2017 annual German album charts.

On June 2, 2017 the two singles tree and infinity were released . The former reached number 79 in the German charts and the latter number 13. Infinity also received a gold record for over 200,000 units sold in Germany . The title song Tru was released on July 28, 2017 as the third release and occupied position 77 in the charts. In addition, the song Todas , for which a music video was released on September 29, 2017 , reached number 65 after its album release due to high individual downloads and streaming. On February 22, 2018, another video for Computiful was published. In addition, the song Noch da reached number 86 in the German charts for a week in March 2018. This was also released as a single on May 8, 2018, including a music video.

reception

Reviews

Professional reviews
Reviews
source	rating
laut.de
rappers.in

The album received mostly very positive reviews.

Robin Schmidt from the website laut.de rated tru. with four out of a possible five points. The album is "a varied, artistically demanding one-man show", on which Cro sounds "reflected, honest, considered and grown up". The diverse compositions of the work are also praised, while the guest contributions would “go under something next to an ambitious Cro”.

Hiphop.de editor-in-chief Aria Nejati was from tru. enthusiastic and called it "probably the best German album of the year". Cro "grew out of the role of the childishly naive hitmaker" and was able to consolidate his status "as one of the most capable songwriters and visionaries in the German music industry" , especially with the single Infinity . The album is a sign that Cro has only just begun to “approach the zenith of his career”.

On rappers.in received tru. with six out of a possible six points the highest rating. The author Max is enthusiastic about the album and describes it as “German Rap 4.0”, “which will not only change German rap, but will also have a lasting impact on the entire musical landscape in this country”. Cro achieved "great things both in rap technique and in the work with his grandiose voice". Each instrumental is "its own piece of music, which is particularly noticeable in the long phases without vocals or in the mood changes, which are often more emphasized by the instrumentation than by the text itself." Cro is "ahead of everyone in 2017" and has "made an incredible album".

The album also received an extremely positive rating on rap.de. This is what the author calls Skinny tru. as a " magnum opus that every artist dreams of". Cro "uses this album to its full potential and shows both rap and pop Germany what a combination of deliberate perfectionism and relaxed looseness should look like".

Daniel Fersch from MZEE described the record as "terrific and mighty," because Cro just does "what he wants [...] without restricting himself to anything."

Leaderboards

laut.de listed tru. 8th of the best rap albums and 41st of all albums of 2017.

At the Hiphop.de Awards 2017 it was tru. among the 15 nominations in the "Album of the Year" category, but lost to #DIY von Trettmann .

From rappers.in was tru. ranked number 1 in the list of the best German rap albums 2017.

The juice set tru. on rank 7 of the best German rap albums 2017.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ album cover
2. ↑ Chart sources singles: DE AT CH
3. ↑ Chart tracking tru. on officialcharts.de
4. ↑ Annual album charts 2017
5. ↑ Infinity DE: Gold
6. ↑ Rating: laut.de
7. ↑ Rating: rappers.in
8. ↑ Aria Nejati: The 10 highlights from the rap year 2017 (by Aria). In: Hiphop.de. December 31, 2017, accessed May 6, 2018 . 
9. ↑ Rating: rap.de
10. ^ Daniel Fersch: Cro - tru. In: MZEE.com. September 10, 2017, accessed on December 23, 2018 (German). 
11. ↑ Best list rap: laut.de
12. ↑ Best list: laut.de
13. ↑ Hiphop.de: All nominations known: Hiphop.de Awards 2017 presented by Ultimate Ears. December 8, 2017, accessed May 6, 2018 . 
14. ↑ Hiphop.de: Hiphop.de Awards 2017 presented by Ultimate Ears: The winners! Retrieved May 6, 2018 . 
15. ↑ Best list: rappers.in
16. ↑ Best list: juice.de