Rokstarr

Background

Speaking to Pete Lewis of the Blues & Soul, Cruz explained the musical background behind the album: "This album shows quite a bit of scope. In that, while it's still got underlining hip hop, dance and R&B-type tones to it, it also has like rocky and indie rock elements. And lyrically, because essentially I come from a ballad place of listening to people like Boyz II Men and Babyface, many of the songs do tend to be about relationships in one way or another. But the difference this time is that, as well as the full-on love songs, I am having a little bit more FUN with it all!"

Critical reception

The album has received generally mixed to positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 61, based on 11 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Mike Driver from BBC gave an extremely favorable review, saying that: "Rokstarr bounces to a beat that feels fresh and vibrant". Ken Capobianco from The Boston Globe says that Rokstarr is "an agreeable, singles-going-steady kind of collection that should make for endless radio fodder." The New York Times review states that "There are vapid lyrics to navigate ("Hit the floor 'cause that's my plans plans plans plans/I'm wearing all my favorite brands brands brands brands," on "Dynamite"), but they don't disrupt the mood, which is emphatic and rarely sensual: turns out Mr. Cruz has no off switch." Entertainment Weekly opined that "The only song of equal caliber to "Break Your Heart" on his Stateside debut is the Ke$ha-assisted sexting number "Dirty Picture". The rest of the tracks are forgettable and include a cut for throwing hands in the air ("Dynamite") and one awkwardly placed effort to uplift ("I Can Be")."

The Rolling Stone review bluntly states "Cruz's singing lacks personality, and Rokstarr is ultimately a collection of decent, but generic, Eurodisco tracks without a star--"rok" or otherwise—to hold a listener's interest." NME confess that "Although Cruz's downfall comes when he acts the player ('Break Your Heart', 'Dirty Picture'), it's obvious his real talent comes when he exchanges vocal manipulation for balladeering as on 'Falling In Love', and disregards romantic cynicism for a rather hopeful 'The 11th Hour'." David Jeffres from Allmusic rated it 3 stars (out of 5) and concluded that: "The hooks are plentiful on Rokstarr and infectious as they come. while as a producer Cruz is the Akon-meets-will.i.am-meets- Xenomania package that radio and record labels have dreamed about. Sounds good, and the album does the whole way through, but lyrics are a sore point and when ballads appear to help round out the effort, just help emphasize how his words are trite. Still, when you let the clichés fade into the background this is a master class in what the mainstream wants for a soundtrack in 2010".

Commercial performance

The album debuted at #8 on the Billboard 200, with sales of 24,000 copies. In its second week, the album made a huge tumble from number eight to #50, with sales of just 9,000 copies. It later, dropped to #101, on its third week.

Singles

Track listing

^ Version A is the main version of the song, which was released as a single, and included on Stryder's album Catch 22. It features three rap verses by Stryder and the hook and chorus by Cruz.
^^ Version C is a solo version of the song, which replaces Stryder's rap verses with sung verses by Cruz. This version does not feature any vocals from Stryder.