Released May 8, 2007 Artist Paris Bennett Label TVT Records | Recorded 2006-2007 Release date 8 May 2007 | |
 | ||
Producer Eddie F.
P. Jones
Tyrice Jones
Darren Lighty
J. Isaac Moore
Charles Roane Princess P
(2007) A Royal Christmas
(2008) Genres Contemporary R&B, Pop music, Soul music Pop music albums American Idol Season 5, Best Of, Latin Classics Mijares, Cicero Park, BEGIN | ||
Princess P is the debut album by American Idol contestant, Paris Bennett. It was released on May 8, 2007. Bennett is currently signed to 306 Entertainment, owned by Paul Jones, her uncle. Bennett worked with Jon Jon Traxx, Darren Lighty, and Rodney Jerkins on Princess P. The album name comes from the nickname used affectionately for her by Ryan Seacrest on American Idol. Bennett co-wrote the album with J. Isaac Moore.
Contents
Critical reception
Princess P garnered mixed reviews from music critics. A writer from AllMusic said that, "Like a lot of AmIdol artists, Bennett's music can seem light and fluffy, but it's that very quality that makes Princess P a pleasurable pop concoction." Adam B. Vary of Entertainment Weekly wrote about the album saying, "Fans of Kewpie-sweet Paris Bennett from American Idol's fifth season may never get over what they hear on Princess P, her debut CD. "Imma give it to you straight no chaser," she bellows on "I'm So Hot," the hardest – and least winning – of the album's hard-edged, surprisingly competent (but not catchy) club tracks. Other than the hook-soaked "Get Bizzy" (co-written by her mother, Jamecia), what gives these sub-Ciara songs their kick is Paris' full-throated delivery. The less said about her rap with Kevin "Chicken Little" Covais, meanwhile, the better." Elysa Gardner of USA Today noted how Bennett and her team of songwriters and producers tend to "cling to tried-and-true contemporary pop-R&B formulas." She concluded with, "Still, the album offers enough homespun charm to leave you rooting for the plucky upstart." In a dual review with Elliott Yamin's self-titled debut, Vibe writer Sean Fennessey criticized the overly upbeat and pop-centric material that misuses Bennett's vocals to the point of anonymity, concluding that "Unlike the goofily sincere Yamin, she never seems to be herself."
Singles
"Ordinary Love" is the debut single from Paris Bennett, the American Idol fifth place finalist (May 3, 2006) with production Jon Jon Traxx and J. Isaac.
"Ordinary Love" failed to make it onto any charts.
Music video
The video to Ordinary Love was filmed on January 12, in Minneapolis and directed by Danny Kimura with Dustin Breeding of boy band B5 as the leading man and features her friends from high school. The director said "I sense Paris is hungry for this, and she's going to go for it today."
The video begins with closeups of Bennett and Breeding, with shots of Bennett singing in a red room, driving in a car with her friends, talking on the phone and dancing with friends. Then Bennett discovers Breeding flirting with another girl, breaks up with him and the song changes to I'm So Hot, in which Bennett and dancers are shown dancing in a studio. The video was officially premiered on Yahoo! Music on April 23, 2007.
Songs
1All Hail the Princess (intro)1:24
2Ordinary Love3:28
3Dreamin'3:40