Personal Journals
Personal Journals is the first solo studio album by American rapper Sage Francis. It was released on Anticon in 2002. It peaked at number 8 on CMJ's Hip-Hop chart. As of 2005, it has sold 36,000 units.
Critical reception
Chris Dahlen of Pitchfork gave the album an 8.7 out of 10, saying, "Personal Journals is a success because it turns the self-examination into poetry and then, harder still, turns the poems into great rap." Stanton Swihart of AllMusic gave the album 4 stars out of 5, saying, "The soundscapes that his team of producers came up with are every bit as unorthodox and superlative." Clay Jarvis of Stylus Magazine gave the album a grade of "A−," calling it "the finest hip hop album of this year."Daniel Thomas-Glass of Dusted Magazine said, "The combination of Sage Francis's boldly self-searching poetry with the beats of some of underground hip hop's most talented producers is out-and-out breathtaking, from the opener 'Crack Pipes,' that brilliantly flips Sixtoo's impossible-to-rhyme-over beat from his instrumental opus The Secrets That Houses Keep, to the closing bars of 'Runaways,' the Joey Beats-produced outro that is quite haunting in its beauty."
Track listing
Personnel
Credits adapted from liner notes.- Sage Francis – vocals, recording, mixing, cover art design
- Sixtoo – production, recording, mixing
- DJ Mayonnaise – production
- Jel – production
- Scott Matelic – production
- Reanimator – production
- Alias – production
- Odd Nosdam – production, layout
- Controller 7 – production
- Mr. Dibbs – production, recording, mixing
- Joe Beats – production
- DJ Mek – turntables
- DJ Signify – turntables
- Mike 2600 – turntables
- Grey Matter – turntables
- Jay Peters – guitar
- Matt Zimmerman – upright bass
- Tara – keyboards
- Matt Coolige – flute
- Scott Begin – drums
- Shalem B – turntables
- Chris Warren – recording, mixing
- Jonathan Wyman – mastering
- Kara Healy – photography