Bella-May (album)

Bella-May is the sophomore album release by pop singer Bella-May. Released via Strawberry Records on August 8th 2011, it was Bella's first #1 album and has since gone platinum. The album's lead single "The Orgy Song" featured Polish beauty Kazimiera and Bella's friend Flaming SteffY and was released on May 2nd 2011, becoming Bella's first #1 single. The album was then proceeded by the Fernando Garibay produced "Hooker On A Church Corner", also a #1 single. The album spawned 3 singles; The Orgy Song, Hooker On A Church Corner and Dangerous.

The album was released in the USA on February 21st 2012 and was proceeded by the track, "Dangerous", released on February 14th. The USA edition of the album came with another new track, "An Old Man's Touch", and the Starsmith remix of Bella's debut single "Boom Boom Bang".

Background
Bella announced that she had begun recording brand new tracks as early as February 2011. She tweeted while being in the studio with RedOne, who previously worked "The Escort" album. From February until April, Bella kept fans 'in the know' with who she was working with on the album. She revealied, via Twitter, that she had worked with RedOne, Fernando Garibay, Stargate and Akon. Come March 2011, Bella said to fans that they would hear new music "sooner than you think!;)". "The Orgy Song" was announced in April 2011 and was originally meant to feature Butterscotch who backed out last minute and retired from the music industry to become a professional Bartender.

Critical Reception
Bella-May recieved generally positive reviews from critics. Allmusic gave the album 4.5 out of 5 stars, stating that the album went "into darker terretories than The Escort [album] could even dream of!". The Guardian rated the album 3 out of five stars. They praised the album's decent production, adding that "Best Damn Blowjobs" was their favourite track, but slated Bella's weak vocals and deemed the album "too controversial to be allowed on the shelves". They also described it as "the soundtrack to a hard-core porn movie". The Independent gave the album 5 out of 5 stars and described it as "the perfect way of giving the middle finger to censorship!" and praised Bella's courage to release something so filthy. Popjustice gave the album a B+, describing it as "fun, filthy and not to be taken seriously". They added that it was the perfect party album and admired Bella's raunchy lyrics.

Chart Performance
Bella-May debuted on the album charts at #1, selling just over 100,000 copies. In it's fourth week, the album was certified platinum. It has since sold over 400,000 copies.

Singles

 * "The Orgy Song" was the album's first single, released worldwide (except for the United Kingdom and Ireland) on May 2nd and on May 30th in the UK and Ireland. The track was produced by Butterscotch and Max Martin and featured guest vocals from Flaming SteffY and Kazimiera. The song debuted at #1 on the UK singles charts but was the lowest selling #1 debut in 2 years.


 * "Hooker On A Church Corner" was chosen as the album's 2nd and final single, released a week prior to the album on August 1st 2011. The song was produced by Fernando Garibay and went on to be a huge hit for Bella, selling over 370K. The track had a tough chart battle with rival song "Insomnia" by fellow songstress Kleo. "Hooker On A Church Corner" took to the top of the charts, while "Insomnia" debuted at #2. Despite this, Kleo's single ended up selling more than "Hooker On A Church Corner" in the long run.


 * "Dangerous" was released as the album's 2nd and final single in the United States. It was a newly recorded track, recorded specifically for the USA edition of the album. The track had no music video, but charted at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Tracklisting
All tracks on the album were written by Bella-May (except "Best Damn Blowjobs", written by Candi)

Tours
The album was toured in August 2011 with The Hookertastic Show: Starring Bella-May!. The tour visited 17 theaters around the United Kingdom and Ireland and was 96% sold out. Tracks from the album were also performed on the Sex Before Marriage Tour in July 2012 which saw Bella embark on her first ever UK arena tour.