I Told You

I Told You is the debut studio album by Canadian 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".

I Told You
Studio album by Tory Lanez
Released	August 19, 2016
Recorded	2015–16
Studio	Milkboy, Philadelphia, PA Camp David, Miami, FL Spicewood, Spicewood, TX Downtown Music, New York City, NY No Excuses, Los Angeles, CA Record Plant, Los Angeles, CA Groove Bass, Los Angeles, CA No Excuses, Santa Monica, CA Thom Thom Club, Santa Monica, CA Matza Ball, New York City, NY
Genre	Hip hop PBR&B dancehall
Length	78:53
Label	Mad Love Interscope
Producer	Benjamin "Benny Blanco" Levin (exec.) Daniel "Play Picasso" Gonzalez (also exec.) Ben Free Cashmere Cat D33J DJ Dahi Fabio Almeida Frank Dukes Happy Perez JProof Lavish Matti Free Nito Jamez Noah Breakfast Pop Wansel Sergio Romero Toro Trvpvee Tory Lanez Two Inch Punch XXYYXX
Tory Lanez chronology
The New Toronto (2015) I Told You (2016) Chixtape IV (2017)
Singles from I Told You
"Say It" Released: July 15, 2015 "Luv" Released: July 29, 2016

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 started on July 22, in WayHome Music & Arts Festival in Oro-Medonte, Ontario. Lanez will be traveling across North America through December 2016, with stops at Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, Made in America, and the Mad Decent Block Party.[8]

Singles

On July 15, 2015, Lanez released the first single from the album, called "Say It".[9] The song was produced by Pop Wansel 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

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Album of the Year	58/100[12]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[13]
Exclaim!	6/10[14]
HipHopDX	2.8/5[15]
HotNewHipHop	80%[16]
Now	[17]
Pitchfork Media	6.3/10[18]
PopMatters	[19]

I Told You received lukewarm to decent reviews upon release. At Album of the Year, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 58 based on six reviews.[12]

In a positive review, online publication 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".[16] Kevin Ritchie of Now was also positive towards the project, saying that the album made "a convincing case for Lanez's pop appeal".[17]

Commercial performance

I Told You debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200 and number two on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart with 52,000 album-equivalent units and 32,000 in pure album sales in its first week of release.[20] In its second week, the album dropped to number 16 on the chart.[21] As of March 1, 2018, the album has earned 538,000 album-equivalent units and 95,000 in pure album sales in the United States.[22]

Track listing

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[23]

Standard edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"I Told You / Another One"	Daystar Peterson Daniel Gonzalez Carl Caruso Sarah Johnson	Play Picasso Lavish Tory Lanez	8:39
2.	"Guns and Roses"	Peterson Gonzalez Benjamin Ash Noah Beresin Matti Beresin	Play Picasso Two Inch Punch Noah Breakfast Matti Free Tory Lanez	4:28
3.	"Flex"	Peterson Gonzalez Caruso Marcel Everet Vanessa Elisha Johnson	Lavish Play Picasso XXYYXX Tory Lanez	5:45
4.	"To D.R.E.A.M."	Peterson Nathan Perez Gonzalez Ash Javeon McCarthy	Play Picasso Happy Perez Tory Lanez Two Inch Punch	6:34
5.	"4AM Flex"	Peterson Gonzalez Sergio Romero	Play Picasso Romero	4:27
6.	"Friends with Benefits"	Peterson Perez Gonzalez Adam Feeney	Tory Lanez Play Picasso Happy Perez Frank Dukes	5:29
7.	"Cold Hard Love"	Peterson Perez Gonzalez	Happy Perez Play Picasso Tory Lanez	5:58
8.	"High"	Magnus Høiberg Benjamin Levin Peterson Perez Gonzalez	Cashmere Cat Benny Blanco Happy Perez Play Picasso Tory Lanez	4:24
9.	"Dirty Money"	Peterson Gonzalez	Play Picasso Tory Lanez	5:37
10.	"Question Is"	Peterson Autoro Whitfield Jameel Roberts Andrew Wansel	Pop Wansel Toro	7:11
11.	"Loners Blvd"	Peterson Dacoury Natche Beresin Benjamin Freedlander	DJ Dahi Noah Breakfast Ben Free^[a]	6:58
12.	"All the Girls"	Peterson Perez Gonzalez	Happy Perez Play Picasso Tory Lanez	4:48
13.	"Say It"	Peterson Wansel Whitfield David Hall Nichole Gilbert Gordon Chambers	Pop Wansel Toro	4:26
14.	"Luv"	Høiberg Levin Peterson Anthony Kelly Wayne Passley Mark Wolfe Stephen Marsden	Cashmere Cat Benny Blanco	4:09
Total length:				78:53

Target deluxe edition (bonus disc)[24]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
15.	"Come Back to Me"	Peterson Gonzalez Romero Von Charles Marsden	Play Picasso Romero	3:08
16.	"Honda Civic"	Peterson Djavan Santos	D33J	4:49
Total length:				83:70

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer
• A skit is featured in between each track
• "I Told You / Another One" features additional vocals by Nichole Gilbert and Teisha J. Brown
• "Guns And Roses" and "4AM Flex" features additional vocals by Kadeem Brown and Elizabeth Ruiz
• "Flex" features additional vocals by Kadeem Brown and Mikhail McCreath
• "To D.R.E.A.M." features additional vocals by Javeon McCarthy and Kadeem Brown
• "High" and "Dirty Money" features additional vocals by Elizabeth Ruiz and Robert Brown
• "Question Is" features vocals by Brianna Cash and additional vocals by Teisha J. Brown, Nichole Gilbert and Elizabeth Ruiz
• "Loners Blvd" features additional vocals by Matthew Adam, Sebastian Jorge Rompotis and Sonstar Peterson
• "Say It" features additional vocals by Elizabeth Ruiz

Sample credits

• "Say It" contains elements and samples from "If You Love Me", written by Gordon Chambers, David Hall and Nichole Gilbert, as performed by Brownstone.
• "Luv" contains interpolations from "Everyone Falls In Love", written by Anthony Kelly, Wayne Passley, Mark Wolfe and Stephen Marsden.
• "Come Back to Me" contains elements and samples from "No Letting Go", written by Von Charles and Stephen Marsden, as performed by Wayne Wonder.
• "High" contains a sample of "In the Meantime", written and performed by Tinashe, Produced by T-Minus.
• Friends With Benefits samples Tinashe's Stunt, Written by Tinashe, Produced by Frank Dukes & !llmind.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[23]

Musicians Play Picasso – instrumentation (tracks 1–9, 12), programming (tracks 1–9, 12) Lavish – instrumentation (tracks 1, 3), programming (tracks 1, 3) Two Inch Punch – instrumentation (tracks 2, 4), programming (tracks 2, 4) Noah Breakfast – instrumentation (tracks 2, 11), programming (tracks 2, 11) Matti Free – instrumentation (track 2), programming (track 2) XXYYXX – instrumentation (track 3), programming (track 3) Happy Perez – instrumentation (tracks 4, 6–8, 12), programming (tracks 4, 6, 8, 12) Sergio R. – instrumentation (track 4), programming (track 4) Frank Dukes – instrumentation (track 6), programming (track 6) Benny Blanco – instrumentation (tracks 8, 14), programming (tracks 8, 14) Cashmere Cat – instrumentation (tracks 8, 14), programming (tracks 8, 14) Daystar Peterson – instrumentation (track 9), programming (track 9) Pop Wansel – instrumentation (tracks 10, 13), programming (tracks 10, 13) Autoro Whitfield – keyboards (track 10), instrumentation (track 13), programming (track 13) Jameel Roberts – keyboards (track 10) DJ Dahi – instrumentation (track 11), programming (track 11) Ben Free – instrumentation (track 11), programming (track 11)

Technical Daniel "Play Picasso" Gonzalez – engineering (tracks 1–12, 14) Johann Chavez – engineering (tracks 1, 5, 10, 14) Noah" Breakfast" Beresin – engineering (track 2) Daniel Fyfe – engineering (track 3) DJ Dahi – engineering (track 11) Kyle VandeKerhoff – engineering (track 13) Juan Carlos Torrado – engineering (track 13) Joe Gallagher – engineering (track 13) Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing (all tracks) Geoff Swan – mixing assistance (all tracks) Michael Freeman – mixing assistance (all tracks) Chris Gehringer – mastering (all tracks) Production Zvi "The Real Hoody Allen" Edelman – production coordination (all tracks) Andrew "McMuffin" Luftman – production coordination (all tracks) Seif "Mageef" Hussain – production coordination (all tracks) Astrid "Aaaaastriiiiid" Taylor – production coordination (all tracks) Sascha Stone Guttfreund – production coordination (all tracks) Joey Mingioni - production coordination (track 27) Brandon "Bdot" Zajac - production coordination (track 12) Donnie Meadows – production coordination (track 13) Tanisha Broadwater – production coordination (track 13) Additional personnel Matt Adam – creative director Nick Bilardello – creative director Stephanie Hsu – coordinator

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2016) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[25] 37 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[26] 69 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[27] 98 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[28] 5 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[29] 23 French Albums (SNEP)[30] 92 New Zealand Heatseeker Albums (RMNZ)[31] 4 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[32] 33 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[33] 36 UK Albums (OCC)[34] 18 US Billboard 200[35] 4 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[36] 2

Year-end charts Chart (2016) Position US Billboard 200[37] 164 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[38] 46

References

1. Lilah, Rose (March 26, 2016). "Tory Lanez On Play Picasso, Debut Album & New Collaboration With ASAP Ferg". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
2. Middleton, Ryan (September 25, 2015). "Mac Miller GO:OD AM Tour With Goldlink, Tory Lanez Announced". Music Times. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
3. Benton-Martin, Erika (October 15, 2015). "Tory Lanez Announces 'The Swavenation Tour' After Young Thug Gig Postponed". Music Times. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
4. Smith, Trevor (December 25, 2015). "Tory Lanez - The New Toronto | Download & Listen [New Mixtape]". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
5. "Tory Lanez - Chixtape 3 Mixtape - Stream & Download". DatPiff. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
6. "A$AP FERG AND TORY LANEZ ANNOUNCE 'LEVEL UP TOUR'". Rap-Up. April 1, 2016. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
7. Goddard, Kevin (June 10, 2016). "Tory Lanez Reveals Debut Album Title". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
8. "Tory Lanez Announces 'I Told You Tour'". Rap-Up. July 19, 2016. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
9. "Say It - Single by Tory Lanez on iTunes". iTunes. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
10. Davis, Justin (September 11, 2015). "Watch Tory Lanez's Video for "Say It"". Complex. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
11. "Luv - Single by Tory Lanez on iTunes". iTunes. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
12. "Tory Lanez - I Told You - Reviews - Album of the Year". Album of the Year. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
13. "I Told You - Tory Lanez - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic".
14. "Tory Lanez I Told You".
15. http://hiphopdx.com, HipHopDX -. "Tory Lanez - I Told You Review".
16. Cavaseno, Maxwell (August 23, 2016). "Tory Lanez I Told You Review News". Retrieved August 25, 2016.
17. https://nowtoronto.com/music/album-reviews/tory-lanez-debut-album-i-told-you-has-pop-appeal//
18. https://www.pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/22211-i-told-you/amp/
19. "Tory Lanez: I Told You".
20. Trevor Smith (March 3, 2018). "Tory Lanez' "Memories Don't Die" First Week Sales Projections: Report". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
21. "Billboard 200- September 17, 2016". Billboard (magazine). Retrieved March 8, 2018.
22. Keith Caulfield (March 7, 2018). "Tory Lanez's 'Memories Don't Die' Aiming for Top 5 Debut on Billboard 200 Albums Chart". Billboard (magazine). Retrieved March 8, 2018.
23. I Told You (CD liner notes). Tory Lanez. Interscope Records. 2016. 94388-0.CS1 maint: others (link)
24. "Tory Lanez – I Told You (Target Exclusive)". Target Corporation. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
25. "Australiancharts.com – Tory Lanez – I Told You". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
26. "Ultratop.be – Tory Lanez – I Told You" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
27. "Ultratop.be – Tory Lanez – I Told You" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
28. "Tory Lanez Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
29. "Dutchcharts.nl – Tory Lanez – I Told You" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
30. "Lescharts.com – Tory Lanez – I Told You". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
31. "NZ Heatseeker Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. August 29, 2016. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
32. "VG-lista - Topp 40 Album uke 35, 2016". VG-lista. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
33. "Swisscharts.com – Tory Lanez – I Told You". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
34. 26, 2016/7502/ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
35. "Tory Lanez Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
36. "Tory Lanez Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
37. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2016". Billboard. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
38. "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2016". Billboard. Retrieved May 28, 2020.