Heartbreak Studies

Heartbreak Studies is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter/producer La'Shawn. It was released on 15 December 2023 by Apathetic Records, becoming the Christmas #1 album, selling nearly 240,000 copies in its first week, becoming the fastest-selling album of 2023.

Release & Reception
Following the success of his debut album, Signs, and his highly-publicized breakup with R&B singer Vanessa Viik while on tour in the UK with Viik in 2022, La'Shawn set about crafting tracks for his second album. Created with the loose concept of "a diary or 'how-to' guide to dealing with a breakup", the album once again saw La'Shawn craft songs from a multitude of different influences, including 60s and 70s soul, modern house music, R&B, alt-pop, and hip-hop.

The resulting album, Heartbreak Studies, was widely acclaimed by critics, making several year-end "Best of" lists, and debuting with massive sales over Christmas week, with nearly 240,000 copies sold in its first week.

First single, "Glass Boxes", debuted at #1 in September 2023, becoming La'Shawn's first #1 single. The track, which dealt with issues surrounding urban gentrification, was initially intended for the soundtrack to the Netflix series East Flatbush, which La'Shawn filmed in early 2023, prior to the SAG/AFTRA and SAG strikes that year. East Flatbush's release was pushed back into 2024, and as such, "Glass Boxes" was released as a standalone single, and the first from Heartbreak Studies.

Second single, "Villain", was released in December 2023, and adopted a more uptempo beat-forward sound, heavily reminiscent of Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins' productions of the late 1990s. The single, which was originally written for Aurora Reed, was rewritten slightly for La'Shawn, and was released to high praise from critics. The track debuted at #1 the week of December 14, 2023, selling over 115,000 copies in its first week.

Tracklisting
All tracks written and produced by Alex Washington except where noted

Charts
Heartbreak Studies debuted during the busy Christmas rush, becoming the fastest-selling album of 2023, with 239,972 copies sold in its first week.