The Dutchess is the debut solo studio album by American singer and rapper Fergie. It was released on September 13, 2006, through A&M Records and the will.i.am Music Group as her first solo album. The album was recorded between The Black Eyed Peas' tour in 2005, and the songs were written throughout the last eight years that preceded its release. While developing the album, Fergie wanted to create an autobiographical album that would be more intimate between her and the listener. By doing so, the album experiments with different music genres, including pop, hip hop, R&B, reggae, punk rock and soul. Lyrically, The Dutchess has themes about love and critics, while also dealing with her drug abuse and addiction.
Upon its release, The Dutchess received mixed reviews from music critics, with many praising its production, calling it one of the most eclectic and adventurous albums of 2006, but some criticized the album's lyrical content and believed the material was not strong enough for her voice. It became a commercial success, reaching number two on the US Billboard 200 and spending ninety-four weeks inside the chart, while also topping the Australian Albums Chart and becoming a worldwide success, reaching platinum status in over eight countries. It has been certified 5× Platinum in the United States and has sold 12 million copies worldwide.
The album produced five top five singles in the United States, including three number-one hits on the US Billboard Hot 100, "London Bridge", "Big Girls Don't Cry", and "Glamorous", as well as the number two single "Fergalicious" and the number five single with N.W.A "Clumsy". All five of the aforementioned singles have sold over two million digital downloads each in the United States, thus setting a new record in the digital era for the most multi-platinum singles from one album. Fergie held this record until 2012, when Katy Perry achieved six multi-platinum singles with her album Teenage Dream (2010).
Background
After ten years with the band Wild Orchid, Fergie joined the hip-hop group The Black Eyed Peas in 2002, replacing Kim Hill and receiving a prominent role in the group. Fergie's debut album with the band, Elephunk, was the group's breakthrough, spawning the worldwide hit singles "Where Is the Love?" and "Shut Up", selling over 8 million copies worldwide and receiving four Grammy nominations (and winning one for the song "Let's Get It Started"). Later, while releasing her second effort with the group, the even more successful Monkey Business (2005), which features the hit singles "Don't Phunk with My Heart" and "My Humps" (with both receiving a Grammy award) and sold 10 million copies worldwide, the singer announced that she and the other members of the group were working on solo projects, with her debut album being announced for a 2006 release. In an interview for Jam! Canoe, Fergie claimed, "We've been working on it, Will and I," she says. "And I'm so happy with the way it's turning out, but we just felt after 'Elephunk' that we needed to make another Black Eyed Peas record." Regarding the album's musical direction she said, "It'll be a deeper look into who I am. Soundwise, it'll be eclectic like the Peas but I'll get to experiment with more of the different sounds of my voice. I like to use my voice as an instrument sometimes and I'll be able to show that on that album."
Recording and production
The Dutchess was initially recorded in 2005, among promotion from The Black Eyed Peas' album Monkey Business. Great part of the album was recorded on the John Lennon studio bus while touring with the band. As stated by Fergie, "We'd go in a couple of hours before going on stage and that's how it got done. The songs span a seven-year period. Some were done before I was in the Black Eyed Peas – we just updated them, and some were done in this one-month span that we took off from touring, which is very rare for us. Will and I moved into this studio house in Malibu called Morningview. It's like a ranch. It was very serene-complete opposite to the chaos of touring. I was alone a lot, which is something that doesn't happen to me on tour, so I got to find these emotions that are a little bit deeper than the surface. [For example], 'The Makeup Song (All That I Got)' and 'Velvet' are very intimate lyrically and feeling-wise. I wanted [the latter] to sound like velvet feels-very smooth-and I wanted it to be sensual."