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Undid revision 1285224755 by Materialscientist (talk) NME's review calls it a dance, soul and R&B album and not a pop one |
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{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{more sources needed|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox album
|
| type = studio
|
| cover = Mutya Buena - Real Girl.png
|
| released = {{Start date|df=yes|2007|6|4}}
|
| genre = <!--Do not add unsourced genres -->{{hlist|[[Dance music|Dance]]|[[Soul music|soul]]|[[Contemporary R&B|R&B]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/reviews/mutya-buena/8623 |title=NME review |work=[[NME]] |date=1 June 2007 |accessdate=31 August 2011}}</ref>}}
| length = 51:17
| label = [[Island Records|Island]]
| producer =
* Ruadhri Cushnan
* Craigie Dodds
* [[Jonny Dollar]]
* Johnny Douglas
* Sam Frank
* [[Groove Armada]]
* Dean Gillard
* [[Felix Howard]]
* James Jackman
* Guz Lally
* [[George Michael]]
* RedEye
* [[Salaam Remi]]
* Jony Rockstar
* [[Guy Sigsworth]]
* [[Paul Simm]]
* [[Matt Ward (record producer)|Matt Ward]]
* [[Eg White]]
* [[Wayne Wilkins]]
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title =
| next_year =
| misc = {{Singles
| name = Real Girl
| type = studio
| single1 = [[This Is Not Real Love]]
| single1date = 20 November 2006
| single2 = [[Real Girl (song)|Real Girl]]
| single2date = 28 May 2007
| single3 = [[Song 4 Mutya (Out of Control)]]
| single3date = 23 July 2007
| single4 = [[Just a Little Bit (Mutya Buena song)|Just a Little Bit]]
| single4date = 22 October 2007
| single5 = [[B Boy Baby]]
| single5date = 23 December 2007
}}
}}
'''''Real Girl''''' is the debut
Upon release, ''Real Girl'' received mixed reviews from critics. Commercially, the album peaked at ten on the [[UK Albums Chart]], and charted in four additional countries, including Scotland and Ireland. The album was supported by three singles; "[[Real Girl (song)|Real Girl]]", its lead single, debuted at two on the [[UK singles chart]], becoming Buena's first top ten single there, and charted within the top ten in seven additional countries, becoming Buena's most successful single to date. The album's second and third singles, "[[Just a Little Bit (Mutya Buena song)|Just a Little Bit]]" and "[[B Boy Baby]]", failed to match the success of the lead single, peaking below the top 50 in the UK, causing Island to drop Buena in 2008. ''Real Girl'' also contains the singles "[[This Is Not Real Love]]" with [[George Michael]] and "[[Song 4 Mutya (Out of Control)]]" with [[Groove Armada]], which both peaked within the top 15 in the UK.
==Singles==
"[[Real Girl (song)|Real Girl]]", the album's lead single, was digitally released on 14 May 2007. The single was produced by Full Phatt, a London-based production company. It peaked at number two on the [[UK singles chart]], becoming Buena's most successful single. It also reached the top ten in Finland, Slovakia, and the Netherlands. The second single from the album, "[[Song 4 Mutya (Out of Control)]]", was released on 27 July 2007. The song was a collaboration with electronic music duo [[Groove Armada]]. It peaked at number eight on the UK singles chart, becoming Buena's second top-ten solo single. "Song 4 Mutya" received heavy airplay in Australia, where it peaked at number twenty-four. It also managed to chart in other countries including Ireland, the Netherlands, and Finland, where it peaked at number twelve on the [[The Official Finnish Charts|Finnish Singles Chart]]. "[[Just a Little Bit (Mutya Buena song)|Just a Little Bit]]" was chosen to be the third single, and was released in late October 2007 in the United Kingdom. The single peaked at number sixty-five on the UK singles chart. The fourth and final single from the album, "[[B Boy Baby]]" featuring [[Amy Winehouse]], was released in late December and peaked at number seventy-three on the UK singles chart.
The track, "Strung Out" gained significant attention for being co-written by [[Amelle Berrabah]], who subsequently replaced Buena after she left the group. The Sugababes confirmed during a radio interview that they recorded an uptempo version but ultimately did not use it.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fFcrlwrtZ0 | title=Sugababes about Strung Out | website=[[YouTube]] | date=16 February 2009 }}</ref> The track was later given to Buena without her knowledge of Berrabah's writing contributions. Buena was reportedly unhappy upon finding this out, but record company executives pushed for the song's inclusion on the album.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a65613/buena-unhappy-over-sugababes-song.html |title=Buena unhappy over Sugababes song – Music News |publisher=[[Digital Spy]] |date=12 July 2007 |accessdate=31 August 2011}}</ref> Upon the release of ''Real Girl'', Sugababes became aware of Buena's version. Berrabah is not credited as a writer in the liner notes.
==Critical
{{Album ratings
|rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
|rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name="AllMusic">[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r1081922/review|pure_url=yes}} AllMusic review]</ref>
|rev2 = [[Digital Spy]]
|rev2score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite web|author=Released on Monday, 4 June 2007 |url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/a60183/mutya-buena-real-.html |title=Digital Spy review |publisher=Digital Spy |date=4 June 2007 |accessdate=31 August 2011}}</ref>
|rev3 = ''[[The Guardian]]''
|rev3score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name="theguardian">{{cite web|first=Caroline |last=Sullivan|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/jun/01/popandrock.shopping |title=Mutya Buena, Real Girl |website=[[The Guardian]]|date=1 June 2007 |access-date=9 January 2023}}</ref>
|rev4 = ''[[NME]]''
|rev4score = {{Rating|4|10}}<ref name="nme">{{cite web|first=Krissi|last=Murison|url=https://www.nme.com/reviews/mutya-buena/8623 |title=NME review |work=NME |date=1 June 2007 |accessdate=31 August 2011}}</ref>
|rev5 = [[Yahoo Music]]
|rev5score = {{Rating|7|10}}<ref name="yahoo">{{cite web|first=Jaime|last=Gill|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070515000000*/http://uk.launch.yahoo.com/070614/33/21bki.html|title=Yahoo! Music UK review |publisher=Uk.launch.yahoo.com |date=14 June 2007 |accessdate=31 August 2011}}</ref>
}}<!-- Automatically generated by DASHBot-->
''Real Girl'' earned generally mixed reviews from music critics. Caroline Sullivan from ''[[The Guardian]]'' found that "what emerges from her debut album is the fact that she'd quite like to be compared to [[Mary J. Blige]], but will settle for [[Jamelia]]. Turning her back on [[Sugababes|Suga]]-pop, she has set herself up as a sophisticated urban girl, availing herself of the talents of [[Groove Armada]], [[Amy Winehouse]] and [[George Michael]] to produce perfectly buff R&B. The Armada collaboration [...] stands out as a grinding electronic rave-up that's unmatched by anything else here."<ref name="theguardian"/> [[AllMusic]] editor Sharon Mawer described the album as "a mixture of danceable R&B songs" rated the album three out of five stars.<ref name="AllMusic"/> Jaime Gill, writing for [[Yahoo Music]], found that "a few more spiky moments like this "["B Boy Baby"] and "Song 4 Mutya", and a few less mid-tempo snoozes like "It's Not Easy", and this could have been a brilliant, bold debut by one of our most interesting pop stars. As it is, it will have to settle for an interesting mixed bag."<ref name="yahoo"/> Krissi Murison from ''[[NME]]'' felt that ''Real Girl'' was "a debut's worth of octave-warbling, R&B dross. And not even [[Amy Winehouse|Winehouse]] herself (who rocks up on backing vocals on "[[B Boy Baby]]" – the not-quite-funny re-working of [[The Ronettes]] classic of nearly the same name) can stop it being any less of a letdown."<ref name="nme"/>
==Chart performance==
''Real Girl'' debuted and peaked at number ten on the [[UK Albums Chart]], having sold 35,103 copies.<ref name="UK2"/> It reached Silver status after only four days of release and was certified Gold by [[British Phonographic Industry]] on 14 December 2007.<ref name="BPI"/> In Ireland, the album charted at number fifty-one. It also managed to chart on the Netherlands and Switzerland albums charts, at number seventy-one and sixty-six, respectively.
==Track listing==
{{Track listing
| headline = ''Real Girl'' {{nobold| – Standard edition}}
| extra_column = Producer(s)
| title_width = 30%
| writing_width = 40%
| extra_width = 30%
| title1 = [[Just a Little Bit (Mutya Buena song)|Just a Little Bit]]
| writer1 = {{hlist|[[Eg White]]|[[Pam Sheyne]]}}
| extra1 = White
| length1 = 3:17
| title2 = [[Real Girl (song)|Real Girl]]
| writer2 = {{hlist|[[Lenny Kravitz]]|[[Niara Scarlett]]|[[Matt Ward (record producer)|Matt Ward]]|Dean Gillard}}
| extra2 = {{hlist|Ward|Gillard|[[Andreas Olsson]]{{ref|a|[a]}}|[[Martin Terefe]]{{ref|a|[a]}}}}
| length2 = 3:29
| title3 = [[Song 4 Mutya (Out of Control)]]
| note3 = featuring [[Groove Armada]]
| writer3 = {{hlist|[[Mutya Buena]]|[[Andy Cato]]|Tim Hutton|[[Karen Poole]]|[[Groove Armada|Tom Findlay]]}}
| extra3 = [[Groove Armada]]
| length3 = 3:30
| title4 = Breakdown Motel
| writer4 = {{hlist|Craigie Dodds|[[Jonny Dollar]]}}
| extra4 = {{hlist|Dodds|Dollar}}
| length4 = 4:20
| title5 = Strung Out
| writer5 = {{hlist|Buena|[[Pete Kirtley]]|[[Tim Hawes]]|[[Obi Mhondera]]}}
| extra5 = {{hlist|Jony Rockstar|Jeremy Wheatley{{ref|a|[a]}}|Richard Edgeler{{ref|a|[a]}}}}
| length5 = 4:20
| title6 = It's Not Easy
| writer6 = {{hlist|Buena|[[Felix Howard]]|Sam Frank|[[Paul Simm]]}}
| extra6 = {{hlist|Howard|Frank|Simm}}
| length6 = 4:32
| title7 = Suffer for Love
| writer7 = {{hlist|Buena|[[Ali Tennant]]|Guz Lally|Gus Redmond|[[The Lost Generation (band)|Larry Brownlee]]|[[Lowrell Simon]]}}
| extra7 = Lally
| length7 = 3:27
| title8 = Not Your Baby
| writer8 = {{hlist|Buena|Ward|Gillard}}
| extra8 = {{hlist|Ward|Gillard}}
| length8 = 3:29
| title9 = Wonderful
| writer9 = {{hlist|Josh Thompson|Gandalf Roudette-Muschamp}}
| extra9 = [[Guy Sigsworth]]
| length9 = 3:07
| title10 = [[B Boy Baby]]
| writer10 = {{hlist|[[Phil Spector]]|[[Ellie Greenwich]]|[[Jeff Barry]]|[[Angela Hunte]]}}
| extra10 = [[Salaam Remi]]
| length10 = 3:53
| title11 = [[This Is Not Real Love|This is Not (Real Love)]]
| note11 = with [[George Michael]]
| writer11 = {{hlist|Michael|James Jackman|Ruadhri Cushnan}}
| extra11 = {{hlist|Michael|Jackman|Cushnan|Johnny Douglas{{ref|a|[a]}}}}
| length11 = 5:58
| title12 = Paperbag
| note12 = United Kingdom and Australia bonus track
| writer12 = {{hlist|Buena|Douglas|[[Nina Woodford]]}}
| extra12 = Douglas
| length12 = 4:18
| title13 = My Song
| writer13 = {{hlist|Thompson|Roudette-Muschamp|[[Wayne Wilkins]]}}
| extra13 = {{hlist|Wilkins|Redeye}}
| length13 = 3:36
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = ''Real Girl'' {{nobold| – Japan edition (bonus tracks)}}
| extra_column = Producer(s)
| title_width = 30%
| writing_width = 40%
| extra_width = 30%
| title12 = My Song
| writer12 = {{hlist|Thompson|Roudette-Muschamp|Wilkins}}
| extra12 = {{hlist|Wilkins|Redeye}}
| length12 = 3:36
| title13 = Real Girl
| note13 = Duncan Powell Remix
| writer13 = {{hlist|Kravitz|Scarlett|Ward|Gillard}}
| extra13 = {{hlist|Ward|Gillard|Olsson{{ref|a|[a]}}|Terefe{{ref|a|[a]}}|Duncan Powell{{ref|b|[b]}}}}
| length13 = 5:58
| title14 = Real Girl
| note14 = Full Phatt Remix
| writer14 = {{hlist|Kravitz|Scarlett|Ward|Gillard}}
| extra14 = {{hlist|Ward{{ref|b|[b]}}|Gillard{{ref|b|[b]}}|Olsson{{ref|a|[a]}}|Terefe{{ref|a|[a]}}|Duncan Powell{{ref|b|[b]}}}}
| length14 = 3:26
| title15 = Paperbag
| writer15 = {{hlist|Buena|Douglas|Woodford}}
| extra15 = Douglas
| length15 = 4:18
}}
'''Notes'''
*<sup>{{note|a|[a]}}</sup> signifies an additional producer
*<sup>{{note|b|[b]}}</sup> signifies a remix producer
*[[Amy Winehouse]] is credited as a backing vocalist for "B Boy Baby", not as a featured artist.
'''Sample credits'''
*"Real Girl" contains excerpts from "[[It Ain't Over 'til It's Over]]" (1991) as written and performed by [[Lenny Kravitz]].
*"Song 4 Mutya (Out of Control)" contains elements of "Let's Be Adult" (1984) as written by [[Arto Lindsay]] and Peter Scherer and performed by [[Ambitious Lovers]].
*"Suffer for Love" contains a sample of "Sorry I Can’t Help You" (1970) as written by Gus Redmond, Larry Brownlee, and [[Lowrell Simon]] and performed by [[The Lost Generation (band)|The Lost Generation]].
*"B Boy Baby" is a derivative of "[[Be My Baby]]" (1963) as written by [[Phil Spector]], [[Ellie Greenwich]], and [[Jeff Barry]] and performed by [[The Ronettes]].
==Charts==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
===Weekly charts===
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+ Weekly chart performance for ''Real Girl''
! scope="col"| Chart (2007)
! scope="col"| Peak<br>position
|-
{{album chart|Netherlands|71|artist=Mutya Buena|album=Real Girl|rowheader=true|accessdate=20 October 2020}}
|-
{{album chart|Ireland2|51|artist=Mutya Buena|rowheader=true|accessdate=20 October 2020}}
|-
{{album chart|Scotland|21|date=20070610|rowheader=true|accessdate=20 October 2020}}
|-
{{album chart|Switzerland|66|artist=Mutya Buena|album=Real Girl|rowheader=true|accessdate=20 October 2020}}
|-
{{album chart|UK2|10|date=20070610|rowheader=true|accessdate=20 October 2020|refname="UK2"}}
|-
{{album chart|UKR&B|4|date=20070610|rowheader=true|accessdate=20 October 2020}}
|}
{{col-2}}
==
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+Year-end chart performance for ''Real Girl''
! scope="col"| Chart (2007)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ukchartsplus.co.uk/ChartsPlusYE2007.pdf|title=UK Year-End Charts 2007|publisher=[[Official Charts Company]]|accessdate=5 April 2021}}</ref>
| 186
|}
{{col-end}}
==Certifications==
{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications for ''Real Girl''}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|title=Real Girl|artist=Mutya Buena|type=album|award=Gold|certyear=2007|id=5385-3118-2|refname="BPI"}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=yes}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Mutya Buena}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:2007 debut albums]]
[[Category:Mutya Buena albums]]
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