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Sweet Justice (album)

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Sweet Justice
Studio album by
Tkay Maidza
Released3 November 2023 (2023-11-03)
Length43:59
Label
Tkay Maidza chronology
Last Year Was Weird (Vol. 3)
(2021) 		Sweet Justice
(2023)
Singles from Sweet Justice
  1. "Silent Assassin"
    Released: 7 July 2023
  2. "Ring-a-Ling"
    Released: 28 July 2023[1]
  3. "WUACV"
    Released: 6 September 2023[2]
  4. "Out of Luck"
    Released: 6 October 2023[3]
  5. "Won One"
    Released: 3 November 2023[4]
  6. "Ghost"
    Released: 16 November 2023[5]

Sweet Justice is the second studio album by Australian singer and rapper Tkay Maidza, released on 3 November 2023 by 4AD and Dew Process.[1][6]

Upon announcement on 26 July 2023, Maidza stated: "Sweet Justice was a way for me to channel my emotions from what I've experienced in the last two years. It's a diary of things and thoughts I've kept to myself. Making the record was a healing experience and I'm grateful to have worked with producers who have inspired me throughout my career."[7]

At the 2024 ARIA Music Awards, the album won Best Soul/R&B Release while Maidza was nominated for Best Solo Artist.[8]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic77/100[9]
Review scores
SourceRating
Beats Per Minute55%[10]
DIY[11]
The Guardian[12]
The Line of Best Fit8/10[13]
NME[14]
The Observer[15]
Pitchfork7.6/10[16]

According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Sweet Justice received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 77 out of 100 from 7 critic scores.[9]

Kayleigh Watson from NME wrote that "a break-up album to everything that was holding her back and a personal homecoming, it is clear Maidza has found fun and fluidity in writing again." Watson concluded by saying, "Maidza has crafted a collection of perfectly constructed songs that encapsulate her karmic truth: that living well is the best revenge".[14] Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen from The Guardian felt that "Sweet Justice lands with a bang. It's an ambitious, sprawling record that again defies and hops across genres, flirting with different styles and sounds. It's more eclectic and bolder than her first full-length album, Tkay, but maintains that record's pop sensibilities on tracks such as 'Out of Luck', 'Walking on Air' and the synthy pulses of 'Ghost!'"[12]

Noah Barker from The Line of Best Fit called it "her most assured and confident release thus far, one that is unmistakably underpinned by an ebbing sea of brittle anxiety. For as prickly sweet and lovesick as much of the tracklist is, this is pop music at the precipice of something, whether that be the end or a new beginning. Abstract philosophizing aside, Sweet Justice remains as immediately gratifying as the rest of her catalogue; its rapping is smoother, its hooks are catchier, and its instrumentals more fine-tuned and studied."[13] Pitchfork's Dylan Green described Sweet Justice as "a cheeky, colorful album" that "expands on [Maidza's] growing musical confidence, the whiplash between funk, dance, and industrial styles more intense than ever".[16]

The Music called the album "an epic ode to growth and evolution".[17]

Track listing

[edit]
Sweet Justice track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicProducer(s)Length
1."Love and Other Drugs"Takudzwa Maidza
  • Farber
  • The Imports
  • Fermin Suero Jr.
3:01
2."WUACV"
  • Maidza
  • Alexis Andrea Boyd
  • Maidza
  • Farber
  • Farber
  • The Imports
  • Suero
2:17
3."Out of Luck" (featuring Lolo Zouaï and Amber Mark)
3:50
4."What Ya Know"Maidza
  • Maidza
  • Brian Fisher
  • Adam Korbermeyer
  • Cut&Dry
  • The Imports
  • Austin Millz
  • Suero
3:22
5."Won One"Maidza
2:41
6."Love Again"Maidza
  • Maidza
  • Grant Nelson
  • Medasin
  • The Imports
  • Suero
3:29
7."WASP"Maidza
  • Maidza
  • Farber
  • David Nathan
  • Farber
  • The Imports
  • Suero
3:02
8."Ghost!"
  • Maidza
  • Boyd
3:54
9."Ring-a-Ling"Maidza
  • Maidza
  • Pa Salieu Gaye
  • Cassio Lopes
  • Kendrick Nicholls
  • Sherwin Nicholls
  • Michael Oatman
  • Two Fresh
  • The Imports
  • Suero
2:58
10."Free Throws"
  • Maidza
  • Boyd
  • Maidza
  • Farber
  • Farber
  • The Imports
  • Suero
2:17
11."Silent Assassin" (with Flume)
  • Maidza
  • Boyd
  • Flume
  • The Imports
  • Suero
2:07
12."Our Way"
  • Maidza
  • Boyd
  • Maidza
  • Celestin
  • Kaytranada
  • The Imports
  • Suero
3:57
13."Gone to the West" (featuring Duckwrth)
  • Maidza
  • Alvin Flythe Jr.
  • Jason Kellner
  • K. Nicholls
  • S. Nicholls
  • Two Fresh
  • The Imports
  • Suero
3:17
14."Walking on Air"Maidza
  • Maidza
  • Farber
  • Farber
  • The Imports
  • Suero
3:47
Total length:43:59

Personnel

[edit]

Charts

[edit]
Chart performance for Sweet Justice
Chart (2023) Peak
position
Scottish Albums (OCC)[18] 20
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[19] 11
UK R&B Albums (OCC)[20] 1

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Tkay Maidza announces new album Sweet Justice". NME. 26 July 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  2. ^ "Tkay Maidza Drops Confident New Single 'WUACV'". DIY. 6 September 2023. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  3. ^ "Tkay Maidza unveils the brand new single, "Out of Luck"". The Line of Best Fit. 6 October 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  4. ^ "Tkay Maidza Releases Second Album 'Sweet Justice' Tkay has also dropped a final album single, 'Won One', a track that addresses the misogyny in the music industry". Rolling Stone Australia. 3 November 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  5. ^ "Hear Tkay Maidza's New Single, A Thumping All-Star Collab Called 'Ghost'". Music Feeds. 17 November 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  6. ^ "Tkay Maidza Unveils First Album For 4AD, Sweet Justice". The Quietus. 25 July 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  7. ^ "Tkay Maidza Announces New Album Sweet Justice". Music Feeds. 26 July 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  8. ^ "ARIA Awards 2024 nominations — everything you need to know". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 26 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  9. ^ a b "Sweet Justice by Tkay Maidza". Metacritic. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  10. ^ Forstneger, Steve (3 November 2023). "Album Review: Tkay Maidza – Sweet Justice". Beats Per Minute. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  11. ^ Robinson, Otis (3 November 2023). "Tkay Maidza - Sweet Justice". DIY. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  12. ^ a b Au-Nhien Nguyen, Giselle (3 November 2023). "Tkay Maidza: Sweet Justice review – an intoxicating album from a chameleonic rapper". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  13. ^ a b Barker, Noah (1 November 2023). "Tkay Maidza Sweet Justice". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  14. ^ a b Watson, Kayleigh (1 November 2023). "Tkay Maidza – 'Sweet Justice' review: her eclectic resurrection through karmic truth". NME. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  15. ^ Empire, Kitty (5 November 2023). "Tkay Maidza: Sweet Justice review – the Australian rapper levels up". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  16. ^ a b Green, Dylan (3 November 2023). "Tkay Maidza: Sweet Justice Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  17. ^ "Tkay Maidza's 'Sweet Justice' Is An Epic Ode To Growth And Evolution: 'My Music Is About Overcoming Things'". The Music. 26 October 2023. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  18. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  19. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  20. ^ "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
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