Crowns Down

Crowns Down (stylized as CrownsDown) is the third studio album by American hip hop duo Themselves. It was released on Anticon in 2009.[1] A remix version of the album, Crowns Down & Company, was released in 2010.[13]

Crowns Down
Studio album by Themselves
Released	October 20, 2009[1]
Genre	Alternative hip hop
Length	40:28
Label	Anticon
Producer	Jel, Doseone
Themselves chronology
The Free Houdini (2009) Crowns Down (2009) Crowns Down & Company (2010)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	72/100[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
BBC Music	favorable[4]
Christgau's Consumer Guide	[5]
Drowned in Sound	8/10[6]
Exclaim!	favorable[7]
Pitchfork	6.7/10[8]
The Skinny	[9]
Spectrum Culture	3.5/5[10]
Tiny Mix Tapes	[11]
XLR8R	8/10[12]

Critical reception

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 72% based on 7 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[2]

Brian Howe of Pitchfork gave the album a 6.7 out of 10 and described it as "a back-to-basics album from a group who probably needs one, having ventured so far afield."[8] Thomas Quinlan of Exclaim! said, "Themselves may not have snatched the crown but they've certainly thrown down the gauntlet with CrownsDown, their confident and comfortable return to the royal rap court."[7]

BBC Music named it one of the best albums of 2009.[14]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Doseone and Jel, except "Back II Burn" by Doseone, Jel, and Pedestrian.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Back II Burn"	4:06
2.	"Oversleeping"	3:15
3.	"The Mark"	4:54
4.	"Gangster of Disbelief"	3:50
5.	"Daxstrong"	3:37
6.	"You Ain't It"	3:48
7.	"Roman Is As Roman Does"	4:00
8.	"Skinning the Drum"	3:34
9.	"Deadcatclear II"	5:30
10.	"Gold Teeth Will Roll"	4:00

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.

Themselves

• Doseone – vocals, production
• Jel – vocals, production

Additional musicians

• D-Styles – turntables (3)
• Jordan Dalrymple – vocals (5)
• Markus Acher – vocals (5)
• Dax Pierson – vocals (6)

Technical personnel

• Odd Nosdam – mixing
• Yoni Wolf – mixing
• Mike Wells – mastering
• Doseone – photography
• Matthew Scott – photography
• K Photo – photography

References

1. "CrownsDown". Anticon. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
2. "Crownsdown by Themselves". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
3. Anderson, Rick. "Crownsdown - Themselves". AllMusic. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
4. Kennedy, Adam (2009). "Themselves - CrownsDown - Review". BBC Music. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
5. Christgau, Robert. "Themselves". Christgau's Consumer Guide. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
6. Tudor, Alexander (October 22, 2009). "themselves - CrownsDown". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
7. Quinlan, Thomas (December 2009). "Themselves - CrownsDown". Exclaim!. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
8. Howe, Brian (October 20, 2009). "Themselves: CrownsDown". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
9. Maloney, Ali (October 29, 2009). "Themselves - CrownsDown". The Skinny. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
10. Hanover, Nick (November 19, 2009). "Themselves: Crownsdown". Spectrum Culture. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
11. Rovinelli, Jeffrey Dunn (October 29, 2009). "Themselves - CrownsDown". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
12. Fallon, Patric (October 20, 2009). "CrownsDown". XLR8R. Archived from the original on October 26, 2013. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
13. "CrownsDown & Company". Anticon. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
14. Diver, Mike (January 6, 2010). "BBC Music's Best Albums of 2009". BBC Music. Retrieved March 19, 2017.

External links

• Crowns Down at Discogs (list of releases)