Ready or Not

'Ready or Not' is Bella-May's third studio album, released throughout Europe and Oceania on August 5th 2013 and in the United States and Canada on November 5th 2013. The album was Bella's first album release in two years and was delayed for release a number of times, most notably from it's original date of February 25th, due to the under-performance of it's lead single "Ain't Got Shit". Ready or Not was released alongside it's second single "Jägerbomb" and debuted at #1, becoming Bella's second #1 album.

"Ain't Got Shit" was not released in the USA and instead "Jägerbomb" served as the first single there. The album was released stateside on November 5th 2013, alongside the album's third overall single "Outer Space".

Background
Bella began writing and recording tracks for the album as early as December 2011. According to the singer, the album was initially complete in September 2012 but she decided to record more tracks in order to have a larger selection to choose from for the final product. The first producer connected to the album was Fernando Garibay, who produced Bella's hit "Hooker On A Church Corner. Bella then began working with more urban producers such as Agent X, Alex Da Kid, Bangladesh and HyGrade. None of the HyGrade tracks made the album, though.

Critical Reception
Prior to release, Ready or Not received favorable reviews from critics. At Metacritic, the record received an average score of 82, based on 27 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Allmusic gave the album a high rating of 4.5/5 and praised tracks such as "Outer Space", "Club Banger" and "Song for Jesy". They called it "a superb pop record, worth waiting two long years for". Over at BBC Music, the album was received positively also. Naomi Bruce of BBC Music stated that the album was "very dance orientated" and cited the only filler tracks as being the two UK bonus tracks "Dragon" and "Last One Standing", which she called "good songs, but not very memorable". Popjustice gave Ready or Not an exceptionally positive track-by-track review. They claimed "Sex Before Marriage" was one of their favorites and called it "an obvious single choice". Other tracks noted for their single potential were "Outer Space", "Bella From the Block" and "Touch the Booty". They described "Touch the Booty" as "a delicious, urban-pop mess which uses it's sample perfectly and sounds like everything The Saturdays' "Gentleman" wanted to be". NME's review of the album saw them give it a rating of 7.5/10. They praised the quality of the lyrics and the production, but claimed the album's downfall was the "lack of diversity". According to them, the album's dance sound became tiring by the final few tracks.

Singles

 * "Ain't Got Shit" was the first single released from the album. It was released on February 25th 2013 using the On Air/On Sale method of releasing music. The track sparked minor controversy and is considered a "minor flop" by Bella due to it not having the big "comeback sales" she hoped for. Despite this, the track did sell over 250,000 copies and was certified platinum.
 * "Jägerbomb" was released as the album's second single on August 5th 2013. It was written by Bella and produced by David Guetta. The music video was shot in Los Angeles and received positive reviews for not being the generic, beach-themed video must summer hits usually are. The single shot to #1 and sold 413,294 copies, being certified platinum and becoming Bella's best selling single.
 * "Outer Space" was released as the album's third single on November 3rd 2013. It served as the second single in the USA as "Ain't Got Shit" was not released there. The single peaked at #7 on the UK singles chart and at #3 in the USA, becoming another hit single for Bella.
 * "Song For Jesy" was released on May 26th 2014 as the fourth official single from the album. The accompanying music video marked was written and directed by Bella herself, becoming the first video she directed herself. Hollywood actress Bianca Lawson portrayed Bella's love interest, Jesy, in the video. The single charted at #TBA in the UK and #TBA in the USA.

Tracklisting
All tracks on the album were written by Bella-May (except "Airtight", written by 8-Bit and "Bella From the Block", written by J-Lo and Birds of Prey)