Toni Braxton (album)

Toni Braxton
File:Toni Braxton (album).png
Studio album by Toni Braxton
Released	July 13, 1993 (1993-07-13)
Recorded	May 1992; November 1992–1993
Studio	Various Bosstown Recording Studios, Doppler Studios, Studio LaCoCo (Atlanta, Georgia) Central Studio (Bladensburg, Maryland) Elumba Recording Studios, Summa Music Group (Los Angeles, California) Encore Studios (Burbank, California) Newark Sound Studios (Newark, New Jersey)
Genre	R&B pop soul
Length	53:18
Label	LaFace Arista
Producer	Babyface Vassal Benford Bo & McArthur Toni Braxton Vincent Herbert Ernesto Phillips L.A. Reid Daryl Simmons Tim & Ted
Toni Braxton chronology
Toni Braxton (1993) Secrets (1996)Secrets1996
Singles from Toni Braxton
"Another Sad Love Song" Released: June 29, 1993 "Breathe Again" Released: August 6, 1993 "Seven Whole Days" Released: October 8, 1993 "You Mean the World to Me" Released: April 22, 1994 "I Belong to You/How Many Ways" Released: June 10, 1994

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Chicago Tribune
Robert Christgau
Entertainment Weekly	C
Los Angeles Times
Q
Rolling Stone
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide

Toni Braxton is the debut studio album by American singer Toni Braxton, released on July 13, 1993 by LaFace Records and Arista Records.

Overview

Toni Braxton debuted at number 36 on the Billboard 200 and later spent two non-consecutive weeks atop the chart as well as three non-consecutive weeks atop the R&B Albums chart. It has sold 5,135,000 copies in the United States and 10 million copies worldwide. The album was primarily produced by Reid, Babyface, and Daryl Simmons. The first single, "Another Sad Love Song", peaked at number seven and number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B Singles charts, respectively. The album's second single, "Breathe Again", peaked in the top five of both the Hot 100 and R&B charts and at number two on the UK Singles Chart. More singles from Toni Braxton were released in 1994, including "You Mean the World to Me", "Seven Whole Days", and "I Belong to You"/"How Many Ways".

The album earned Braxton several awards, including three Grammy Awards (for Best New Artist and two consecutive awards for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance in 1994 and 1995). She also won two American Music Awards (for Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist and Favorite New Adult Contemporary Artist) in 1994 and another one in 1995 (for Favorite Soul/R&B Album).

In Japan, the album was released as Love Affair, also a song on the album. The Japanese edition contains the same track listing as the standard version; the only difference is the Obi strip and the bonus lyrics booklet written in Japanese.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Another Sad Love Song"	Babyface Daryl Simmons	L.A. Reid Babyface Simmons	5:01
2.	"Breathe Again"	Babyface	Reid Babyface Simmons	4:29
3.	"Seven Whole Days"	Babyface Antonio Reid	Reid Babyface Simmons	6:22
4.	"Love Affair"	Tim Thomas Ted Bishop	Tim & Ted	4:28
5.	"Candlelight"	Gaylor D John Barnes	Reid Babyface Simmons	4:36
6.	"Spending My Time with You"	Bo & McArthur	Bo & McArthur	4:08
7.	"Love Shoulda Brought You Home"	Babyface Simmons Bo Watson	Reid Babyface Simmons	4:56
8.	"I Belong to You"	Vassal Benford Ronald Spearman	Benford	3:53
9.	"How Many Ways"	Vincent Herbert Toni Braxton	Herbert	4:45
10.	"You Mean the World to Me"	Reid Babyface Simmons	Reid Babyface Simmons	4:53
11.	"Best Friend"	Braxton Vance Taylor	Ernesto Phillips Braxton	4:28
12.	"Breathe Again" (Reprise)	Babyface	Reid Babyface Simmons	1:19
Total length:				53:18

European edition bonus track
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
13.	"Give U My Heart" (Mad Ball Mix)	Watson Babyface Reid Simmons	Reid Babyface Simmons Herbert	6:11
Total length:				59:29

Spanish edition bonus track
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
14.	"Breathe Again" (Spanish Version)	Babyface	Reid Babyface Simmons K. C. Porter	4:30
Total length:				63:59

Notes

• ^{^a} signifies a co-producer
• ^{^b} signifies a remixer and additional producer
• ^{^c} signifies a remix producer

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Toni Braxton.

• Toni Braxton – vocals (all tracks); backing vocals (tracks 1–6, 8–12); co-production (track 11)
• Constance Armstrong – album coordination
• Babyface – keyboards, production (tracks 1–3, 5, 7, 10, 12); backing vocals (track 7); executive production
• Vassal Benford – all music, production (track 8)
• Ted Bishop – engineering (track 4)
• Bo & McArthur – production (track 6)
• Trina Broussard – backing vocals (track 7)
• Fil Brown – engineering (track 7)
• Milton Chan – mixing assistance (track 7)
• Pamela Copeland – backing vocals (tracks 3, 4)
• Tammy Davis – backing vocals (track 3)
• Valerie Davis – backing vocals (track 8)
• DeRock – percussion (tracks 2, 3, 10)
• Daniela Federici – photography
• Victor Flores – engineering, mixing (track 8)
• John Frye – mixing assistance (tracks 2–6, 12); additional MIDI programming (tracks 2, 3, 10, 12); assistant engineering (track 6)
• Ben Garrison – engineering, mixing, music (track 9)
• Jon Gass – mixing (track 6)
• Brad Gilderman – engineering (track 5)
• Noelle Groin – music (track 9)
• Vincent Herbert – mixing, music, production (track 9)
• Ron Horvath – engineering (track 4)
• Keisha Jackson – backing vocals (track 3)
• Kayo – bass (tracks 1, 5–7, 10)
• Thom Kidd – engineering (track 4)
• Debra Killings – backing vocals (tracks 1, 7)
• Tomi M – guitar (track 6)

• McArthur – guitar (track 6)
• Susan Mendola – art direction
• Barney Perkins – mixing (tracks 1, 7); engineering (track 7)
• Ernesto Phillips – guitar, mixing, production (track 11)
• Orlando Phillips – bass guitar (track 11)
• Bill Plummer – engineering (track 11)
• Herb Powers, Jr. – mastering
• Skip Pruitt – saxophone (track 4)
• L.A. Reid – mixing (tracks 1–7, 12); drums (tracks 1–3, 5–7, 10, 12); production (tracks 1–3, 5, 7, 10, 12); executive production
• Rex Rideout – keyboards, programming (track 11)
• John Rogers – engineering (track 1)
• Bob Rosa – mixing (track 11)
• Jason Schablik – assistant engineering (track 6)
• Steve Schwartzberg – engineering (track 7)
• Daryl Simmons – production (tracks 1–3, 5, 7, 10, 12)
• Davett Singletary – project coordination
• Phil Tan – engineering (track 4)
• Vance Taylor – keyboards (tracks 3, 5, 10); acoustic piano (track 7)
• Tim Thomas – backing vocals (track 4)
• Tim & Ted – drums, keyboards, production (track 4)
• Tye-V – backing vocals (track 4)
• Dana Vlcek – assistant mix engineering (track 11)
• Randy Walker – technician (track 5)
• Bo Watson – synthesizer programming, vocal and rhythm arrangement (track 6); keyboards (tracks 6, 7)
• Dave Way – mixing (tracks 2–5, 12)
• Matt Westfield – engineering (track 7)
• Sean Young – engineering (track 7)
• Jim "Z" Zumpano – engineering (tracks 1–7, 10, 12)

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1993–94)	Peak position
Australian Albums Chart	6
Canadian Albums Chart	4
Dutch Albums Chart	11
Hungarian Albums Chart	39
Japanese Albums Chart	79
New Zealand Albums Chart	2
Norwegian Albums Chart	14
Scottish Albums Chart	36
Swedish Albums Chart	24
UK Albums Chart	4
UK R&B Albums Chart	21
US Billboard 200	1
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums	1

Chart (1997)	Peak position
German Albums Chart	7

Year-end charts

Chart (1993)	Peak position
US Billboard 200	69
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums	10

Chart (1994)	Peak position
Canadian Albums Chart	17
Dutch Albums Chart	34
German Albums Chart	83
New Zealand Albums Chart	19
US Billboard 200	7
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums	3

Chart (1995)	Peak position
US Billboard 200	172
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums	82

Chart (1997)	Peak position
German Albums Chart	52

Decade-end charts

Chart (1990–99)	Position
US Billboard 200	68

Certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)	Gold	35,000
Canada (Music Canada)	2× Platinum	200,000
Japan (RIAJ)	Gold	100,000
Netherlands (NVPI)	Gold	50,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)	Platinum	15,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	Gold	100,000
United States (RIAA)	8× Platinum	5,135,000
^shipments figures based on certification alone

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Ref.
United States	July 13, 1993	LaFace Arista
Japan	September 22, 1993	BMG

See also

• List of Billboard 200 number-one albums of 1994
• List of Billboard number-one R&B albums of 1993