Cheers 2 U

This article is about the album. For the title track from the album, see Cheers 2 U (song).

Cheers 2 U is the only studio album by American R&B group Playa. It was released on March 24, 1998, through Def Jam Recordings subsidiary Def Soul. Recording sessions took place at Manhattan Center Studios, Soundtrack Studios and Axis Studios in New York City, at Master Sound Studios in Virginia Beach and at Scream Studios in California. Production was handled by member Smoke E. Digglera, Timbaland and James Earl Jones, with Derrick "D-Man" McElveen and Static Major serving as co-producers. It features guest appearances from Magoo, Aaliyah, Foxy Brown and Missy Elliott.

Cheers 2 U
Studio album by Playa
Released	March 24, 1998 (1998-03-24)
Recorded	July 1997 – February 1998
Studio	Manhattan Center Studios (New York, NY) Mastersound Studios (Virginia Beach, VA) Soundtrack Studios (New York, NY) Axis Studios (New York, NY) Scream Studios (California)
Genre	Contemporary R&B
Length	1:05:42
Label	Def Soul
Producer	James Earl Jones III Smoke E. Digglera Timbaland
Singles from Cheers 2 U
"Don't Stop the Music" Released: September 9, 1997 "Cheers 2 U" Released: March 10, 1998 "I Gotta Know" Released: 1998

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]

Background

The album was originally going to be named eponymously, and release was planned for October 1997. Later, Static named the album Cheers 2 U after one of their songs. All three members share lead vocals on most songs, with Static dueting with Aaliyah on "One Man Woman", Black leading "Everybody Wanna Luv Somebody", and Black and Smokey handling leads on the title track.

Commercial performance

In the United States, the album debuted at number 86 on the Billboard 200 and number 19 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. The album was supported with three singles: "Don't Stop the Music", "Cheers 2 U" and "I Gotta Know". Its lead single made it to number 73 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 26 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. The second single off of the album reached number 38 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 10 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. The album's third and final single previously appeared on Def Jam's How to Be a Player soundtrack.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Intro (Interlude)" (featuring Magoo)	Stephen Garrett Benjamin Bush Melvin Barcliff Jawaan Peacock Norman Gimbel Antônio Carlos Jobim Vinícius De Moraes	Smokey	1:39
2.	"Don't Stop the Music"	Garrett Bush Timothy Mosley Sylvester Stewart Cavin Yarbrough Alisa Peoples	Timbaland	4:45
3.	"All the Way"	Garrett Bush Mosley	Timbaland	4:56
4.	"Everybody Wanna Luv Somebody"	Garrett Bush Peacock Mosley	Smokey Timbaland (co.)	5:18
5.	"Together"	Garrett Bush Peacock	Smokey	3:55
6.	"Derby City (Interlude)" (featuring Magoo)	Garrett Bush Barcliff Peacock	Smokey	2:24
7.	"I-65"	Garrett Bush Peacock	Smokey	4:36
8.	"Cheers 2 U"	Garrett Mosley	Timbaland	5:11
9.	"Ms. Parker" (featuring Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott)	Melissa Elliott Mosley	Timbaland	5:02
10.	"Top of the World"	Garrett Peacock Mosley	Timbaland	4:58
11.	"One Man Woman" (featuring Aaliyah)	Garrett Peacock	Smokey	4:30
12.	"I'll B 2 C U"	Garrett Bush Peacock Mosley Keith Crouch Rahsaan Patterson Kevin Todd Jones	Timbaland	4:25
13.	"Push"	Garrett Bush Peacock	Smokey	4:01
14.	"Buggin' Over You"	Garrett Bush Peacock	Smokey Static (co.)	3:51
15.	"Gospel Interlude"	Garrett Bush Peacock		2:12
16.	"I Gotta Know" (featuring Foxy Brown)	Bush Inga Marchand James Earl Jones Derrick McElveen Lorenzo Patterson Andre Young	James E. Jones Derick "D Man" McElveen (co.)	3:59
Total length:				1:05:42

Sample credits

• Track 1 contains a sample from "The Girl from Ipanema" written by Norman Gimbel, Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinícius De Moraes as recorded by Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto.
• Track 2 contains interpolations of "Thank You" written by Sylvester Stewart and "Don't Stop The Music" written and performed by Yarbrough and Peoples.
• Track 12 contains interpolations from "Baby" written by Keith Crouch, Rahsaan Patterson and Kipper Jones and "Bad Girls" written by Joe Esposito, Edward Hokenson, Bruce Sudano and performed by Donna Summer.
• Track 16 contains an interpolation of "Message to B.A." written by Lorenzo Patterson and Andre Young and performed by N.W.A.

Personnel

• Jawaan "Smoke E. Digglera" Peacock – vocals, vocal arrangement (tracks: 10, 13, 14, 16), arrangement (track 15), producer (tracks: 1, 4-7, 11, 13, 14), A&R
• Stephen "Static Major" Garrett – vocals, vocal arrangement (tracks: 8, 10, 13, 14, 16), arrangement (track 15), co-producer (track 14), A&R
• Benjamin "Digital Black" Bush – vocals, vocal arrangement (tracks: 10, 13, 14, 16), arrangement (track 15), A&R
• Melvin "Magoo" Barcliff – vocals (tracks: 1, 6)
• Melissa "Missy" Elliott – vocals (track 9)
• Aaliyah Dana Haughton – vocals (track 11)
• Inga "Foxy Brown" Marchand – vocals (track 16)
• Bill Pettaway – additional guitar (track 3), guitar (track 10)
• Kerie Cooper – keyboards (track 16)
• Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley – producer (tracks: 2, 3, 8-10, 12), co-producer (track 4), recording (track 3), mixing (tracks: 2, 3, 8, 10, 12)
• James Earl Jones III – producer & vocal arrangement (track 16)
• Derrick "D-Man" McElveen – co-producer (track 16), additional programming (tracks: 13, 14)
• Jimmy Douglass – recording (tracks: 1-3, 6, 9, 15), mixing (tracks: 1-6, 8-10, 12, 15)
• Steve Sola – recording (tracks: 4, 5)
• Wayne Allison – recording (track 7), engineering assistant (track 13)
• Rob Paustian – recording (tracks: 13, 16)
• Conley Abrams – recording (track 14), mixing (tracks: 7, 13, 14, 16)
• Todd Wachsmuth – engineering assistant (tracks: 1, 4, 5, 9, 11)
• James Rosenthal – engineering assistant (tracks: 7, 13)
• Victor Bruno – engineering assistant (track 13)
• James Cruz – mastering
• Barry Hankerson – executive producer
• Jomo Hankerson – executive producer
• Jonathan Mannion – photography
• The Drawing Board – art direction, design

Charts

Chart (1998)	Peak position
US Billboard 200[2]	86
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[3]	19