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 Released March 15th , 2014 Genre Hip Hop • Alternative R&B • Indie Pop Length 27:42 Label Permanent Reminder Producer(s) NinaT Love Letters
Love Letters is the debut E.P by Chinese-American Rapper Sarojini "Lotus" Lui . The E.P is planned to be released on March 15th, 2014 for #SarojiniSunday after a week of track by track streaming on Lotus' official website . The E.P was released as a surprise for promotion of Lui's debut album , Forgotten Ceremony , which contains 4 of the included tracks . Overall , the E.P splits between the genres of Hip Hop , Alternative R&B and Indie Pop . This is shown in tracks like All That Love and big girl where All That Love showcases both Hip Hop and Alternative R&B and big girl serves as an Indie Pop track with elements of R&B . For a project with just 6 tracks , the E.P shows grave versatility between genres and even topics . While All That Love is about Lotus' late sister and the E.P has been confirmed by Lotus that it mentions the now past relationship with ex-boyfriend Kendrick Lamar "here and there" , the general public is almost certain the track Experience is about the relationship . This conclusion has speculated rumors over the internet about the possibility of the rest of the tracks being based upon the topic as well , which are not exactly the best rumors seeing how the tracks touch on things like Lotus being mistrusted , played , lied to and even more .
All That Love is considered to be the lead single of E.P , even though when the single was released it was originally for Forgotten Ceremony . It was released December 1st, 2013 and peaked #4 on The Top 20 Weekly Downloads Charts and The Top 20 Weekly Airplay Charts . It managed to stay on the downloads charts for 11 weeks and on the airplay charts for 10 . Track listing
Standard version1. All That Love
2. In The Rain
3. Experience
4. big girl
5. Take Control (Remix) ft. Aikya BalanBonus version6. FORGOTTEN
Background
After postponing her debut album Forgotten Ceremony for over 4 months and counting , Lotus wanted to give something to all of her fans who've been waiting patiently for her music . In late January Lotus put together an E.P of songs on the topic of love from Forgotten Ceremony . At the time it only included the tracks All That Love , Experience and her remix to Aikya Balan's Take Control . She took some time to listen to the E.P before considering to finalize it and decided to add in something extra . By February , the E.P contained 3 more songs , 2 of which Lotus made for the E.P only and kept off the album . "I wanted to make something about this E.P exclusive and special ." States the rapper . The 2 tracks are In the Rain and big girl which by no coincidence are the songs Lotus only sings on , with the exception of the bonus track FORGOTTEN which Lotus describes as an "acoustic summary" of her debut album .
On Lotus' website , right before streaming the first track of the E.P , she posted a letter to all of her fans entitled What Ever Happened To 12.6.13 ? . The letter talked about why Forgotten Ceremony was postponed and why she feels like she owes Love Letters to them .
"On November 9th, 2013 the ‘Forgotten Ceremony Trailer' was released on YouTube . The video contained a dope ass instrumental , a bomb ass photo shoot and an album date . I got the whole world talking about my debut . It was to be the official abolishment of all ringtone rap . (Ha , remember that ?) Now here we are , 2 months later , still no album . You guys have been the loyalest of fans and support my music to the highest and I know this long wait has probably been driving you all crazy . But you know what ? I’m a grown ass woman and it’s my music so I’ll be DAMNED if I let y’all give me some kind of deadline for when I release my sh*t !That’s why I feel I need to explain myself and make up for it . I owe it to you guys .
I had just released my debut single ‘On The Curb’ a few weeks before and was planning on releasing the title track the very next day when I let everyone know my album’s release date . At the time , I was in and out of the studio like crazy , but when dealing with an album , going to the studio like it’s your second home with no exact aim on what you want your next project to portray could only do so much . I didn't realize this until I actually sat down and took the time to listen to it without my biased opinion of how good I can rap . Bars were great , production was fine , but without an idea of what I wanted people to feel when they heard the album , I could never get every piece of myself to agree with releasing it .
Finally I got a grip on what my debut album should mean to me . ‘Forgotten Ceremony’ was to be the dichotomy of my life . That was when the album became more than an album . It became a part of me . And that’s when I became a perfectionist . I started to feel as if the album was focused too much on one theme and not enough on the other important ones . That I was rapping more about showing people how wrong they were about me than … actually showing them . The last thing I wanted to release was a project that begged for your sympathy and respect . So I announced via Twitter that the album was post-poned . I had to run back in the studio and reinvent your forgotten ceremony .
But of course , I didn’t want to keep you guys waiting for my debut . All the hype that was surrounding me backed me into a corner and I felt pressured . So though I post-poned the album like I had wanted , it was only 16 days later , like I believed you guys would’ve wanted . Of course , 16 days was not enough but I was pleased with the album after once again foolishly finalizing it . But next thing you know , I got news that a fellow rapper had also pushed their album back to my date . I immediately put the album and all it’s promotion on halt . Sonyae and Lotus releasing an album on the same date ? I could already see the headlines .
Here’s the thing , it’s pretty much inevitable that our album’s get compared . But I’ll be damned that someone I don’t like releases anything on my date . (I’m petty like that .) Like a rational person , I don’t want anything I take pride in to be associated with someone else . Especially if me and that person aren't the best of friends . And that was exactly what was going to happen if I released ‘Forgotten Ceremony’ on the same date as ‘The Pink Print’ . Just a whole bunch of reviews on how I did better than Sonyae and how Sonyae did better than me . Then you had the people who were just going to listen to my album because ‘Oh look , she’s the girl that’s beefing with Yae !’ and vice versa . Seeing how my album is that part of me I’m finally letting go and not my permit to say ‘My album been out . Where’s your’s , hoe ?’ , I was not going to put it (or myself) in that position .
So here’s where sh*t gets a little less poetic and meaningful and more lazy and ratchet . After putting my album on hold , I figured I could leave myself be . Hell , I’m a 20-year-old ! I should go do some 20-year-old sh*t ! Get laid , get high and all that top notch hood stuff . This lead to me jumping the paps , cussing out you know who w/ that one freestyle , pretty much cussing out my label owner , becoming single .. again and shaming the whores of Babylon . Eventually I stopped hiding from the studio and began to record . I only meant to postpone my album for a few weeks but I got so carried away with adding on to the album . I finally began to feel as if I have found the perfect balance between the themes — along with adding more elements to the album . The feisty Lotus , the party Lotus and the horny Lotus were all brought into the equation and I really believe I have something here . I’m more excited about releasing this album than ever before , but what’s important is that I can finally give out an official date . Only thing is … I don’t need nobody trying to steal it . Sooooo , you guys will just have to wait for me to drop this bitch on y’all .
I know how it feels to be a fanatic over someone's music and get frustrated over them taking too long to release their albums. Still do . (Gemmaaaaa ! Where the fuck are youuu ?) So I'm fully aware that many of y'all have been cussing me out over Twitter about my lack of being on time . I hear y'all loud and clear . That's why I'm making it up to you guys with my new E.P , 'Love Letters' , that I'm streaming all this week for free and will be available for purchase on #SarojiniSunday . SURPRISE ! It contains a few songs from off the album and tracks that aren't . I wanted to make something about this E.P exclusive and special , you know ? So , without further ado , LET THE STREAMING BEGIN !"
- Lotus
Critical Reception
Love Letters has been critically eulogized , worldwide . At Metacritic , which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics , the E.P received an average score of 87 , based on 38 reviews . John McDonnell of NME dubbed it "an affecting masterpiece" and commended its "delicate , unique sound and emotive lyrics ." Pitchfork found Lotus' artistry to have improved from her very first single Leader Of The Pack and stated, "Just as the music grown in this project , so has the musician" , pointing out tracks like All That Love and In The Rain for their "breathtaking" lyrics . Billboard has already described the E.P as the best they've heard in 2014 so far , which few have had their fair share of describing it the opposite . An unnamed reviewer called majority of the production "cheap" and "out of style" along with the vocals of the tracks sounding like "a bunch of notes forced through one long mumble" and the lyrics being "overtly cliche" .
While the anonymous reviewer completely bashed Love Letters , tons of critics expressed their love for Lotus' unique voice which she used in the E.P . "Sometimes you want something more than your everyday 'I'm going to scream this note and claim I'm belting it' artist ." says Nitsuh Abebe of New York . Evan Rytlewski of The A.V. Club stated while complementing Lotus' vocals , "Yes , it takes a lot to have a powerful voice , but it takes even more to wow people with a subtle one ."
Edited by user 24 March 2014 07:49:25(UTC)
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