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R.E.D.A(Resurrection Ended Death Again) is the Second studio album by American rapper Dario, released June 20, 2010 on Blood Money Records. Production for the album took place during 2009 to 2010 and was handled by several record producers, including Clark Kent, No I.D., The Olympicks, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, Lex Luger, Danja, The Inkredibles, The Remedy, and Kanye West.

The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 576,300 copies in its first week. It attained some international charting and produced three singles with high Billboard chart success. Upon its release, R.E.D.A(Resurrection Ended Death Again) received generally positive reviews from most music critics, earning praise for its cinematic production and Dario's lyrical persona.

Background

In 2009, Dario announced to MTV his next album would be entitled R.E.D.A(Resurrection Ended Death Again). ^[1] On the remix to his past single, " Power Music", DJ Khaled hyped the album, along with "Power Music II". In April 2010, on his official website, he stated that " No Recovery" would be the first single. Artists Kanye West, Jay-Z, T.I., John Legend, and Drake were confirmed to be on the album. ^{[2] [3] [4]} Producers for the album included No I.D. and Kanye West. ^[5]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 576,300 copies. ^[6] It is Dario's first album to debut at number one in the United States. ^[7] It also entered at number one on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and Rap Albums, and Digital Albums charts. ^{[8] [9] [10]} In its second week, the album dropped to number two on the Billboard 200 and 463,000 copies. ^[11] It moved to number four on the chart and sold 339,000 copies in its third week. ^[12] In the United Kingdom, Teflon Don entered at number 3 on the Top 40 RnB Albums chart. ^[13] In Canada, it debuted at number 17 on the Top 100 Albums chart. ^[14] To date, the album has sold over 1,595,000 copies in the US. ^[15] The album was then certified Platnium. ^[16]

Critical response

R.E.D.A(Resurrection Ended Death Again) received generally positive reviews from most music critics. ^[17] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 89, based on 19 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". ^[17] Critics noted it as Dario's strongest album at the time and found its production cinematic and "epic". ^[18] Allmusic writer David Jeffries gave the album 4 out of 5 stars and viewed it as an improvement over Ross's previous album R.E.D(Resurrection Ended Death), stating "R.E.D plays up the chilled and soulful elements of its predecessor, meaning Dario has graduated to a level where words like 'organic' and 'poignant' come into play". ^[19] Entertainment Weekly's Simon Vozick-Levinson called Dario "a competent rapper" and complimented his "ear for lush, expansive beats". ^[20] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times described him as "a ferocious character, an impressive rapper... a clever and loose thinker" and wrote that R.E.D "establishes him as one of rap’s most potent and creative forces". ^[21] Sean Fennessey of The Washington Post praised Dario's lyricism and wrote that he "is an enunciator of the highest order, his voice a tidal wave baritone... his word choice and onomatopoetic gestures... are unmatched in rap right now". ^[22] Brian Richardson of Tiny Mix Tapes gave it 3½ out of 5 stars and wrote "he employs such confidence and panache staying within his limitations". ^[23] XXL writer Rob Markman gave the album an XL rating and stated "if it is simply judged on the music, R.E.D.A(Resurrection Ended Death Again) is damn near spotless. The lyrics are on par, the beats are lush, and the imagery is larger than life". ^[24]

Dario's greatest gift is the ability to conjure a fully-formed Planet Boss, a refuge from the dwindling fortunes of gansta rap and the general economic downturn ... J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, No I.D., and Kanye West create beats that really do sound like they're fantastically out of reach to anyone but the financial elite, and you can hear every dollar that went into the record ... Lyrics that might look clumsy on paper turn into grand pronouncements through pure self-belief. And like a great action hero, Dario never lets cleverness get in the way of saying something memorable. Understandably, money is about the only tie Planet Boss has to reality, and nearly every interaction can be broken down as a financial transaction. ^[25]

— Ian Cohen

Track listing

Sample credits

• "Power Music II" - Contains a sample of "Ancient Source" by Caldera.
• "No Recovery" - Contains a sample of " D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)" by Jay-Z.
• "Enemy Of All" – Contains a sample of " Shook Ones (Part II)" by Mobb Deep.
• "Beautiful" contains excerpts from "Reaching Out" by Queen + Paul Rodgers.
• "Single Again" contains elements and excerpts from " At Your Best" performed by Aaliyah and written by Ronald Isley, Ernie Isley, Marvin Isley, O'Kelly Isley, and Chris Jasper published by EMI April Music Inc (ASCAP).
• "All These Bottles" contains elements and samples of "I Don't Want to Play Around" written by Aubrey Johnson, Henry Zant, and published by Ace Spec Music (BMI)
• "Classical(Never Let You Go)" contains portions and elements of the composition "You Showed Me", written by Gene Clark and Roger McGuinn.
• "Power Part II" contains elements from "It's Your Thing" by Cold Grits, contains elements of "Afromerica" by Continent Number 6, and contains material sampled from "21st Century Schizoid Man" performed by King Crimson.

Personnel

Credits for R.E.D.A(Resurrection Ended Death Again) adapted from Allmusic. ^[26]

References