Commercially, 11:11 debuted at number nine on the US Billboard 200, making it his 12th consecutive top-ten album in the country.[13] The singles "Summer Too Hot", "Sensational" and "Nightmares"[14] were released in the album's promotion.[15] "Residuals" was released as the only single from the deluxe edition of 11:11. Despite not being released as a single, the album's opening track "Angel Numbers / Ten Toes" became its most successful song, reaching the top ten in several countries.
11:11 is a double album, with its two sides containing 11 tracks each.[19] The album's musical style mixes R&B, pop music, Afrobeats and dancehall.[2] According to Kayla Sandiford of Renowned for Sound, 11:11 "seeks to make use of a range of rhythmic elements", with Brown incorporating Afrobeats "on various tracks which embrace a funkier, percussion-driven feel".[20] Lyrically, 11:11 mostly features lighthearted content, while also containing tracks where Brown faces themes of anxiety and regret.[21]AllMusic's TiVo Staff found its lyrical content to be "a little more romantic" than the singer's previous album Breezy.[22]
Artwork
The album's artwork was designed by Courtney Walter,[2] and depicts four images of Brown standing to form 11:11's title. The head shots used to form the colon include the singer with black and blonde hair, the juxtaposition symbolizes the negative and the positive in life. The colors used in each of the standing images are a nod to body chakras: yellow (manipura – solar plexus chakra symbolizing wisdom and power), indigo (ajna – third eye chakra symbolizing awareness), blue (vishuddha – throat chakra symbolizing communication), and green (anahata – heart chakra symbolizing love and healing) and tie in with the spiritual meaning of "11:11". Brown used similar imagery in the lyrics of his 2019 song "Indigo", from the album Indigo.[23]
Exclaim! listed the album cover as 16th worst of 2023, writing: "One Chris Brown is already too many, so this just feels cruel. But we tried wishing his career away on it anyway — fingers crossed!"[24] The deluxe version's cover was listed by Exclaim! as 20th worst of 2024, although "this one gets points for covering his face."[25]
Release and promotion
On May 19, 2023, Brown teased the release of new music on his Instagram account, writing: "Y'all ready for some new music? Been locked in the studio", stating "No more 20- to 40-song albums", hinting that his next album would mark a detachment from the length of his previous three albums Heartbreak on a Full Moon, Indigo and Breezy.[26] On that same day he announced the release of "a single for the summer".[27][28] On June 17, Brown officially announced on his Instagram account the album's lead single "Summer Too Hot", and its release date for June 23, 2023.[29]
On August 17, he unveiled the album's title, 11:11, along with its release date for November 11, 2023, also stating that it would contain 11 songs.[30][31][7][32] On September 29 the singer announced that the album was "complete", sharing a possible black and white album cover.[33] On October 17, 2023, Brown unveiled the second single from the album, titled "Sensational" featuring Lojay and Davido, with a video where he performs a choreography for it with his dancing crew.[34] On October 20, 2023, Brown released "Sensational" along with a music video directed by videographer Child.[35] On October 21, Brown revealed that the album would be a double disc consisting of two sides featuring 11 tracks each, with the first one being released at 11 AM, and the final part on 11 PM of November 11, revealing the official album cover as well.[36] On November 2, Brown previewed a new song on his Instagram titled "Walking on 10 Toes".[37] On November 4, the singer previewed another track titled "No One Else" featuring Fridayy. The album's tracklist was revealed on November 6, confirming guest appearances from Byron Messia, Future, and Fridayy, teasing two other guests scheduled to be revealed on a later date. The following day, the song "Nightmares" featuring Byron Messia was released alongside its music video.[38] On November 9, he announced that 11:11 would be released on November 10, a day earlier than what previously announced.[39]
Brown performing "Residuals" during his 2024 "The 11:11 Tour"
A few hours before the release of 11:11, its last track was changed from the previously announced "Double Negative", which features Justin Bieber, to a track called "Views". Brown explained the last minute change on his Instagram account on the album's release day: "Double negative unfortunately did not make the deadline in time with the lawyers, so we couldn't put it on the album. Justin my little brother for life, so we will make that moment happen soon. Sorry to the fans that really wanted it to be on the album".[40]
On February 19, 2024, Brown officially announced the release of the deluxe edition of 11:11, stating that it would contain 11 additional tracks, with April 11, being a possible release date for it.[41][42] On March 10, he confirmed the date, stating that the deluxe version of 11:11 will encompass 13 new songs, sharing its tracklist, and featured guests, including Bryson Tiller, Joyner Lucas, Tee Grizzley and Davido.[43][44] He then shared snippets of the songs "Bruce Lee", "Go Girlfriend" and "Freak" on his Instagram account, revealing the appearance of American rapper Lil Wayne on the track "Freak".[45]11:11 (Deluxe) was released digitally on April 11, 2024.[46][47][48][49]
The album was further promoted with Brown embarking his 2024 tour named "The 11:11 Tour".[50] The tour featured singers Ayra Starr, Muni Long and Maeta as supporting acts.[51][52]
The album received positive reviews by music critics. Kayla Sandiford of Renowned for Sound described 11:11 as "palatable", praising Brown's vocal performances, saying that he "does well to demonstrate his dynamic vocal quality", but criticized the record's length, stating "although Brown can be commended for this, there are moments that feel like 11:11 has gotten wrapped up in quantity over quality".[20] TiVo Staff of AllMusic found the record to be "more concise and a little more romantic" compared to his previous album Breezy.[22]HipHopDX called 11:11 "his best album in almost a decade".[54]
Different publications, including Billboard, Rated R&B, Yardbarker and HotNewHipHop put 11:11 among the best R&B albums of the year.[21][18][55][56]Billboard's staff wrote that the singer "remains a formidable draw in his 18th year in the music industry. His 11th album, 11:11, proves as much".[21] Hayley Hynes of HotNewHipHop reviewing the album noted that Brown "seems more worried about impressing himself than critics".[55] Mya Singleton writing for Yardbarker stated that "the formulas Brown uses in his music continue to work in his favor, and he's showing no signs of slowing down".[18]Rated R&B said that with 11:11 the singer "continued to add stones to his jeweled, fan-dubbed crown".[56]
In the United States, 11:11 debuted at number nine on the US Billboard 200 with 45,000 album-equivalent units, which included 6,000 pure album sales in its first week, making it his 12th consecutive top-ten album in the country.[13][58] The album also accumulated 50.97 million on-demand audio streams in the United States for its track list of 22 songs.[13][59] It serves as Brown's fifth album to debut at number one on the Top R&B Albums chart, which began in 2012.[60]
