Wasteland (Brent Faiyaz album)

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Wasteland
Three black-and-white photos of the artist in a row across the middle of a plain black frame. Above the photos is the name of the album in all caps printed in large blocky red letters, with a wispy, thin, white W over the red one. Below the photos is the artist's name, evenly spaced in smaller white print.
Studio album by
Brent Faiyaz
ReleasedJuly 8, 2022
GenreR&B[1]
Length64:08
Label
  • Lost Kids
  • Venice
  • Stem
Producer
Brent Faiyaz chronology
Fuck the World
(2020) 		Wasteland
(2022) 		Too Late to Die Young
(with Sonder)
(2022)
Singles from Wasteland
  1. "Dead Man Walking"
    Released: September 20, 2020
  2. "Gravity"
    Released: January 29, 2021
  3. "Wasting Time"
    Released: July 1, 2021
  4. "Price of Fame"
    Released: June 24, 2022

Wasteland (stylized in all caps) is the second studio album by American R&B singer Brent Faiyaz.[2] It was released on July 8, 2022, by Lost Kids, Venice Music and Stem Disintermedia.[3] It was executive produced by Jonathan "Freeze" Wells.[4] The production on the album was handled multiple producers including Jake One, DJ Dahi, The Neptunes and No I.D. among others. The album also features guest appearances by Drake, Tyler, the Creator, Alicia Keys, and more. A chopped and screwed remix by DJ Candlestick of the Chopstars was released in May 2023.

Wasteland was supported by four singles: "Dead Man Walking", "Gravity", "Wasting Time" and "Price of Fame". The album received generally positive reviews from music critics and was a commercial success. It debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart, earning 88,000 album-equivalent units in its first week.

Release and recording[edit]

The album was proceeded by the singles "Dead Man Walking", released September 20, 2020;[5] "Gravity", released January 29, 2021; "Wasting Time", released July 1, 2021; and "Price of Fame"[6] as well as its accompanying music video,[7] both released June 24, 2022. A music video for "Loose Change" released September 9, 2022, featuring Faiyaz watching a ballet adaptation of the album. The video, shot in black-and-white, also features American Olympic gymnast Nastasya Generalova as another audience member, and was directed by Lone Wolf and Mark Peaced.[8][9]

On May 5, 2023, Faiyaz released a chopped and screwed remix album, titled Wasteland – Chopped Not Slopped, produced by DJ Candlestick of the Chopstars.[10][11]

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Faiyaz was asked about where he likes to create and he explained that he recorded Wasteland "in every city. I did some of it in New York, some of it in Atlanta. Some of it in Los Angeles, some of it in the Bahamas."[12] For Vogue, Faiyaz called the making of the album "less of an album process and more of a life process" where he "made a collection of songs and tied a story line together once I saw that they all kind of shared a similar theme" and "didn't really realize I was working on an album until I was maybe a little over halfway through." Asked to name his inspirations for the album, he said "I was watching a lot of Tarantino films. I was watching Jackie Brown over and over again. I was also watching Vanilla Sky on repeat. I pulled a lot from that. But mostly I was inspired by the different people that I locked in with, from The Dream [sic] to Alicia Keys. I was just soaking up game from artists like Raphael Saadiq and No I.D., who have been doing this longer than I have."[13]

Style[edit]

Per Stereogum's Tom Breihan, the album's "clear focal point is Faiyaz, who sings so beautifully about ugly situations", with interlude sketches which Breihan compares to Kendrick Lamar's "We Cry Together", saying that they contain "Faiyaz and his baby's mother argu[ing] about their relationship, and things get[ting] intense enough to put all of the album's seduction-talk into a bracing and self-destructive new context."[14] Complex's Joe Price called the album "an expansive effort that sees Faiyaz at his most confident" where "atop nocturnal, sparse production, he flaunts his smooth vocals and penchant for effortless hooks" and even "finds time to experiment, including on "Ghetto Gatsby", which features almost no percussion."[15]

Critical reception[edit]

Wasteland ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic73/100[16]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[17]
Clash7/10[1]
HipHopDX4.2/5[18]
The New York Times6/10[19]
Pitchfork5.9/10[20]

According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Wasteland received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 73 out of 100 from 5 critic scores.[16]

Clash's Robin Murray wrote that Wasteland "has been some five years in the making, and its arrival feels like a genuine event", noting a "palpable excitement online" with Faiyaz "trending globally for hours", but "the album doesn't quite feel like it meets the hype." Given the length of time leading up to the release, "some of the blockbuster highlights – the epic Tyler[, the Creator] feature, for example – have been online for some time now, dulling the unified impact." The album "contains some imperious highs" such as "Loose Change" which is "truly beautiful, the arrangement somehow both gloriously languid and ultra-minimalist", but the album suffers for a "streaming-friendly 19 tracks" which "could bare a little trimming" as well as "some songs that don't land" like "inessential" "Bad Luck" and "Addictions" which "takes the toxicity banner a little too far."[1] The Guardian's Tara Joshi wrote that "Although Faiyaz already has a dedicated fanbase, this assured, sensual and ambitious record looks likely to bring him to an ever-wider audience."[21]

Dani Blum of Pitchfork felt that Faiyaz's "lovely vocals and intriguing ideas" are lost "underneath blockbuster features and irritating interludes." The album is "cinematic in the most clunkily literal sense", with three skits and a "two-and-half-minute-long ramble" of an introduction which "culminates in an intriguing, if not obvious question: 'What purpose do your vices serve in your life?'", a question to which Faiyaz "spends the next hour dodging the answer." Compared to "clear influence[s]" Drake and The Weeknd, who both "ground [their] aching melodrama in tangible grit, sculpting scenes out of specifics", Faiyaz "mainly opts for sweeping statements about how evil he is, a rigid moral clarity that sometimes comes across as laziness" with any detail only acting to "further fuel the caricature."[20]

Year-end lists[edit]

Wasteland on year-end lists
Publication # Ref.
Billboard 45 [22]
Complex 46 [23]
The Fader 6 [24]
Nylon N/A [25]
Rolling Stone 32 [26]
Uproxx N/A [27]

Commercial performance[edit]

Wasteland debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart, earning 88,000 album-equivalent units (including 6,000 copies in pure album sales) in its first week.[28] This became Brent Faiyaz's first US top-ten debut on the chart.[28] The album also accumulated a total of 107.48 million on-demand official streams from the set's tracks.[28] In its second week, the album dropped to number nine on the chart, earning an additional 32,000 units.[29] On September 18, 2023, the album was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over 1,000,000 units in the United States.[30]

Track listing[edit]

All tracks are written by Christopher Wood with others noted.

Wasteland track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)ProducersLength
1."Villain's Theme"
  • Ware
  • Freeze
2:21
2."Loose Change"
3:46
3."Gravity" (with DJ Dahi featuring Tyler, the Creator)
DJ Dahi3:35
4."Heal Your Heart (Interlude)"
  • Dubock
  • Michael Bludson
  • Beat Butcha
  • Mike Blud
1:15
5."Skit: Egomaniac"
  • Wells
  • Bludson
  • Ware
  • Freeze
  • Mike Blud
  • Ware
1:26
6."All Mine"WoodFaiyaz3:36
7."Price of Fame"
6:19
8."Ghetto Gatsby" (featuring Alicia Keys)
  • Ware
  • Saadiq
3:18
9."Wasting Time" (featuring Drake and The Neptunes)
The Neptunes5:01
10."Rolling Stone"
2:42
11."FYTB" (featuring Joony)
  • Pope
  • Prep Bijan
3:18
12."Skit: Oblivion"WellsFreeze2:47
13."Dead Man Walking"
  • Faiyaz
  • Dpat
  • Ware
  • Lil Rece
4:07
14."Addictions" (featuring Tre' Amani)
  • Trey Miller
  • Ware
  • Dubock
  • Faiyaz
  • Ware
  • Beat Butcha
3:12
15."Role Model"
  • Faiyaz
  • Ware
  • No I.D.
  • Paperboy Fabe
3:14
16."Jackie Brown"
  • Faiyaz
  • L3gion
  • Ware
2:49
17."Bad Luck"
  • Nahounou
  • Carlos Muñoz
  • Avalos
  • Ware
  • Nash
  • Paperboy Fabe
  • Loshendrix
  • L3gion
  • Faiyaz
  • Ware
2:42
18."Skit: Wake Up Call"WellsFreeze5:05
19."Angel"
  • Ware
  • Saadiq
  • Ware
  • Saadiq
3:39
Total length:64:08

Charts[edit]

Certifications[edit]

Certifications for Wasteland
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[30] Platinum 1,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Murray, Robin (July 8, 2022). "Brent Faiyaz – Wasteland". Clash. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  2. ^ "Brent Faiyaz announces new album Wasteland". DIY. June 28, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  3. ^ "New Releases: Faiyaz is en Fuego". July 12, 2022. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  4. ^ Torres, Eric (June 24, 2022). "Brent Faiyaz Details New Album Wasteland Featuring Drake, Tyler, the Creator, Alicia Keys, and More". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
  5. ^ Folk, Antwane (September 20, 2020). "Brent Faiyaz Is a "Dead Man Walking" on New Single". Rated R&B. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
  6. ^ Cho, Regina (June 24, 2022). "Brent Faiyaz shares the true "Price of Fame" in latest single". Revolt. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  7. ^ Mahadevan, Tara C. (June 24, 2022). "Brent Faiyaz Releases Video for "Price of Fame", Shares Details About New Album Wasteland". Complex. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  8. ^ Gonzalez, Alex (September 9, 2022). "Brent Faiyaz Has an Eventful Night Out at the Theater in His New "Loose Change" Video". Uproxx. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
  9. ^ Darville, Jordan (September 9, 2022). "Brent Faiyaz Shares "Loose Change" Video". The Fader. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
  10. ^ Jones, James (May 7, 2023). "Brent Faiyaz Drops Wasteland Chopped Not Slopped". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  11. ^ "Wasteland – Chopped Not Slopped". Spotify. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  12. ^ Gage, Dewayne (July 8, 2022). "Brent Faiyaz Believes We Are Living in a Wasteland. He Makes It Sound Damn Good". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  13. ^ Pintro, Cassandra (July 7, 2022). "Brent Faiyaz on Personal Style and His Upcoming Second Album, Wasteland". Vogue. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  14. ^ Breihan, Tom (July 8, 2022). "Stream Brent Faiyaz's Gorgeously Gross New Album Wasteland". Stereogum. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
  15. ^ Price, Joe (July 8, 2022). "Stream Brent Faiyaz's Wasteland Album f/ Drake, Tyler, the Creator, the Neptunes, and Alicia Keys". Complex. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
  16. ^ a b "Wasteland by Brent Faiyaz Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  17. ^ Kellman, Andy. "Brent Faiyaz - Wasteland". AllMusic. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  18. ^ Brake, David Aaron (July 14, 2022). "Brent Faiyaz Wasteland is an Excellent Insular Rumination on the Duality of Man". HipHopDX. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  19. ^ Caramanica, Jon (July 20, 2022). "R&B That Sweats, Emotionally and Physically". The New York Times. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  20. ^ a b Blum, Dani (July 14, 2022). "Brent Faiyaz: Wasteland Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  21. ^ Joshi, Tara (July 9, 2022). "One to watch: Brent Faiyaz". The Guardian. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
  22. ^ Lamarre, Carl (December 6, 2022). "The 50 Best Albums of 2022: Staff List". Billboard. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  23. ^ Rose, Jordan (December 1, 2022). "The Best Albums of 2022". Complex. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  24. ^ Callender, Brandon (December 13, 2022). "The 50 best albums of 2022". The Fader. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  25. ^ Reed, Kelly. "Nylon's Favorite Albums of 2022". Nylon. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  26. ^ Gage, DeWayne (December 1, 2022). "The 100 Best Albums of 2022". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  27. ^ Oatman, Alexis (November 28, 2022). "The Best Albums of 2022". Uproxx. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
  28. ^ a b c d Keith Caulfield (July 17, 2022). "Bad Bunny Holds Atop Billboard 200 Chart for Fifth Week With 'Un Verano Sin Ti'". Billboard. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  29. ^ Keith Caulfield (July 24, 2022). "Bad Bunny's Un Verano Sin Ti Lands Sixth Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  30. ^ a b "American album certifications – Brent Faiyaz – Wasteland". Recording Industry Association of America.
  31. ^ "ARIA Top 50 Albums Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. July 18, 2022. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  32. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Brent Faiyaz – Wasteland" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
  33. ^ "Ultratop.be – Brent Faiyaz – Wasteland" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  34. ^ "Ultratop.be – Brent Faiyaz – Wasteland" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  35. ^ "Billboard Canadian Albums: Week of July 23, 2022". Billboard. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  36. ^ "Album Top-40 Uge 28, 2022". Hitlisten. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
  37. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Brent Faiyaz – Wasteland" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  38. ^ "Official Irish Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  39. ^ "2022 28-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. July 15, 2022. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  40. ^ "NZ Top 40 Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. July 18, 2022. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  41. ^ "Album 2022 uke 28". VG-lista. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  42. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Brent Faiyaz – Wasteland". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  43. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  44. ^ "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  45. ^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums: Week of July 23, 2022". Billboard. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  46. ^ "Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2022". Billboard. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  47. ^ "Independent Albums – Year-End 2022". Billboard. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  48. ^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2022". Billboard. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  49. ^ "Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2023". Billboard. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  50. ^ "Independent Albums – Year-End 2023". Billboard. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  51. ^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2023". Billboard. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
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