One of a Kind (Marian Renta album)
| One of a Kind | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| 📅 Released | November 15, 2011 | |||
| 🎙️ Recorded | September 2010 – April 2011 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| ⏳ Length | 51:01 | |||
| Language | English | |||
| 🏷️ Label | Hail Stunna | |||
| 🤑 Producer | Marian Renta | |||
| Marian Renta albums chronology | ||||
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One of a Kind is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter and record producer Marian Renta, released independently on November 15, 2011, under her pen record label, Hail Stunna. The album incorporates contemporary R&B, Soul, and Pop, and makes heavy use of synthesizers, drum sequencers, and layered vocal arrangements. The debut effort was promoted with the release of two singles—"Leave You", released on May 22, 2011, and "Eye for an Eye", released on August 11, 2011. Despite the album's failure to chart, it was met with positive to mixed reception among music critics. Blogger and music critic Mic Theory at Hotstepz Magazine called the album "a sonically pleasing, smooth, sultry blend of sugary pop, soul, and urban dance". Later in the year, the publication placed One of a Kind on the Top 50 Indie-R&B albums of 2011 list.
Background[edit]
Composition and recording[edit]
In 2010, Renta was living in Staten Island, New York where she owned a home recording studio. She had begun writing and composing songs for an album in 2009, and leaned towards a mainstream R&B sound in their production. One of a Kind was written, produced, and mastered entirely by Renta in her home recording studio. The debut effort consists of fourteen tracks varying in tempo and mood. The lyrical content of the album contains themes of love, sex, heartbreak, and self-confidence.
Cover art controversy[edit]
Upon release of the album, Renta was met with both criticism and praise over the cover art due to its identical representation of Mariah Carey's Music Box album. Like Carey on her Music Box cover art, Renta's face is shot in black-and-white, in a daydream-like closeup filtered in a sepia tone. Critics believed the idea to be the move of a "star crazed fan" while others praised the concept and considered it a payment of homage to a musical icon. An alternate version of the album's cover was distributed as replacement, but most stores retained the original cover due to its popularity.
Track listing[edit]
One of a Kind – Digital release only
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Eye for an Eye" | Marian Renta | Renta | 3:57 |
| 2. | "I Don't Care Boutcha" | Renta | Renta | 3:35 |
| 3. | "One More Shot" | Renta | Renta | 4:00 |
| 4. | "Leave You" | Renta | Renta | 4:38 |
| 5. | "Open up My Eyes (The Leave You Reprise)" | Renta | Renta | 3:16 |
| 6. | "Candy Rain" | Renta | Renta | 4:38 |
| 7. | "Freak Like Me (The Prelude)" | Renta | Renta | 0:45 |
| 8. | "Motivation" | Renta | Renta | 5:08 |
| 9. | "She Don't Talks to the Kid No More" | Renta | Renta | 4:08 |
| 10. | "One the Wall" | Renta | Renta | 3:48 |
| 11. | "Break Away" | Renta | Renta | 3:52 |
| 12. | "Love Inside" | Renta | Renta | 4:00 |
| 13. | "One of a Kind" | Renta | Renta | 4:01 |
| 14. | "The Way" | Renta | Renta | 1:20 |
Removal from digital stores[edit]
In 2015, Renta removed the album from digital stores due to a change in creative direction. Despite the album being pulled, a few obscure digital platforms still carry the album, and some copies have resurfaced on peer-to-peer sharing networks.
