I Told You

I Told You
Studio album by Tory Lanez
Released	August 19, 2016
Recorded	2015–16
Genre	Hip hop PBR&B dancehall
Length	76:13
Label	Mad Love Interscope
Producer	Various Benny Blanco (also exec.) Play Picasso (also exec.) Tory Lanez Happy Perez Cashmere Cat D33J Two Inch Punch Noah Breakfast Sergio Romero Matti Free Frank Dukes DJ Dahi Ben Free Lavish Pop XXYYXX Toro JProof
Tory Lanez chronology
The New Toronto (2015) I Told You (2016)
Singles from I Told You
"Say It" Released: July 15, 2015 "Luv" Released: July 29, 2016

I Told You is the debut studio album by Canadian singer and rapper Tory Lanez. It was released on August 19, 2016, by Mad Love Records and Interscope Records. Recording sessions took place from 2015 to 2016, with the production that was contributed by Lanez, alongside several other record producers such as Benny Blanco, Cashmere Cat, Two Inch Punch and Noah Breakfast, among others. The album was supported by two singles: "Say It" and "Luv".

Recording and production

In an interview with HotNewHipHop, Lanez spoke on the album: "I was tryna come up with a title for mad long and that what was kind of slowing me down cause I didn't want to make music off the wrong title... I might fuck around and not put no features on it. It has to have features that I can put on it and then there's those days where I'm like 'you know, I don't really need any features on it'. I prefer albums in the 10-12 [track list range], you know that 18 be too long sometime because sometimes I wanna listen to an album from top to front and 18 songs is like 70 minutes of music. That's too much for me to comprehend and understand and I really want people to look at the musicalities of what we're putting out as far as the product and how good it is."^[1]

Release and promotion

In August 2015, Lanez performed on the Mac Miller's GO:OD AM Tour.^[2] On October 15, 2015, Lanez announced that he will be headlining "The Swavenation Tour" with fellow American rapper Boogie.^[3] On December 25, 2015, these mixtapes such as Chixtape III and The New Toronto were promoted as the prelude for his major-label debut album.^[4][5]

On April 1, 2016, Lanez and fellow American rapper ASAP Ferg announced that they will be performing in "The Level Up Tour", setting up the two to performed in a special joint set, trading off between their own tracks and collaborations.^[6] On June 10, 2016, Lanez revealed the title to the album and tweeted, "The Album is coming this summer".^[7]

On July 7, 2016, Lanez announced that he will be headlining the I Told You tour, to support the album. The tour starts on July 22, in WayHome Music & Arts Festival in Oro-Medonte, Ontario. Lanez will be traveling across the North America through December 2016, with the stops at Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, Made in America, and the Mad Decent Block Party. The remaining 21 dates will be announced later this year.^[8]

Singles

On July 15, 2015, Lanez released the first single from the album, called "Say It".^[9] The song was produced by Pop and Toro. The music video was released on August 11, 2015.^[10] The song peaked at number 23 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and number 10 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. On July 29, 2016, Lanez released the second single from the album, called "Luv" on iTunes.^[11] The song was produced by Cashmere Cat and Benny Blanco. The song peaked at number 19 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and number 9 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[12]
Exclaim!	6/10[13]
HipHopDX	2.8/5[14]
HotNewHipHop	80/100 [15]
Now	[16]
Pitchfork Media	6.3 [17]
PopMatters	[18]

The album received generally positive reviews. HotNewHipHop, who collectively rated the album an 80, described the album as an "ambitious and lavish" project that showed that Lanez's future seemed "only brighter from here". Kevin Ritchie of Now was also positive towards the project, saying that the album made "a convincing case for Lanez's pop appeal".

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200 with sales of 53,000 units, with streaming added.

Track listing

Sample credits

• "Flex" contains a sample of XXYYXX's song "Unknown" featuring Vanessa Elisha, which he produced himself.
• "Friends With Benefits" contains a sample of Frank Dukes' original composition "Cop Blood", which he composed himself.
• "Loners Blvd" contains a sample of Raleigh Ritchie's song "Life in a Box", which was also produced by DJ Dahi.
• "Say It" contains samples of Brownstone's song "If You Love Me".
• "Luv" contains an interpolation of Tanto Metro and Devonte's song "Everyone Falls In Love".^[20]
• "Come Back to Me" contains samples of Wayne Wonder's song "No Letting Go".^[21][22]

Charts

References