Black Star Elephant

{{Album ratings

|MC=58/100{{cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/music/black-star-elephant/nico-vinz|title=Black Star Elephant – Nico & Vinz|work=Metacritic|publisher=CBS Interactive|access-date=31 January 2015}}

|rev1=AllMusic

|rev1Score={{rating|3|5}}{{cite web|author=Thomas Erlewine, Stephen|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/black-star-elephant-mw0002711279|title=Black Star Elephant – Nico & Vinz|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=18 December 2014}}

|rev2=Billboard

|rev2Score={{rating|2.5|5}}{{cite magazine |last=Arnold |first=Chuck |date=14 October 2014 |url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6281650/nico-%26-vinz-black-star-elephant-album-review |title=Album Review: Nico & Vinz's Debut 'Black Star Elephant' Proves Doubters Right |magazine=Billboard |publisher=Prometheus Global Media |access-date=18 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016134452/http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6281650/nico-%26-vinz-black-star-elephant-album-review |archive-date=16 October 2014 |url-status=dead |df=dmy }}

|rev3=The Guardian

|rev3Score={{rating|3|5}}{{cite web|last=Sullivan|first=Caroline|date=27 November 2014 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/nov/27/nico-vinz-black-star-elephant-review|title=Nico & Vinz: Black Star Elephant review – world-pop mashup full of positivism |work=The Guardian|access-date=18 December 2014}}

|rev4=The Northern Echo

|rev4Score=7/10{{cite web|last=Harker |first=Simon|date=11 December 2014|title=Album Review: Nico & Vinz – Black Star Elephant|url=http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/entertainment/11660639.Album_Review__Nico___Vinz___Black_Star_Elephant/|work=The Northern Echo|publisher=Newsquest|access-date=31 January 2015}}

|rev5=PopMatters

|rev5Score={{rating|6|10}}{{cite web|last=Faulkner|first=Brent|date=30 January 2015|url=http://www.popmatters.com/review/189518-nico-vinz-black-star-elephant/|title=Nico & Vinz: Black Star Elephant|publisher=PopMatters|access-date=31 January 2015}}

|rev6=Renowned for Sound

|rev6Score={{rating|2.5|5}}{{cite web|last=Janes |first=Naomi |date=27 November 2014 |url=http://renownedforsound.com/index.php/album-review-nico-vinz-black-star-elephant/ |title=Album Review: Nico & Vinz – Black Star Elephant |website=Renowned for Sound |access-date=17 November 2017}}

}}

Black Star Elephant received mixed reviews from music critics divided by the mixture of the duo's socially conscious lyrics and the production driving it. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 58, based on 5 reviews.

Jon Caramanica of The New York Times praised the duo's decision to deliver social issues through African-influenced pop production that didn't muddle it, saying that "Behind that choice seems to be an understanding that reaching the most really means alienating the fewest."{{cite web|last=Caramanica|first=Jon|author-link=Jon Caramanica|date=13 October 2014|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/14/arts/music/albums-by-mary-lambert-nico-vinz-and-angaleena-presley.html?_r=0|title=Albums by Mary Lambert, Nico & Vinz and Angaleena Presley|work=The New York Times|access-date=29 August 2016}} Simon Harker of The Northern Echo praised the album's upbeat pop numbers for delivering social messages that feel refreshing, concluding that "Not every track manages to avoid coming across a little too treacly or earnest, but the likes of the Stargate-helmed 'Imagine' and easygoing rhythms of 'In Your Arms' are just as catchy and enjoyable as their best-known hit." AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine felt that the duo's approach to genre-bending tracks resembled that of Bruno Mars but that it also helped shaped them, concluding that "this cultural disconnect enhances them because it emphasizes how, at their core, Nico & Vinz are lite bubblegum worldbeat pop, and will try on any fashion just as long as it might bring them a hit."

Brent Faulkner of PopMatters said that despite the record's misuse of interludes and its tracks being too sugary and not quite matching "Am I Wrong", he praised the duo's delivery of social consciousness for sounding authentic, saying that "All in all, Black Star Elephant seems accomplished in its goals – delivering an album that thrives off its ‘good vibes’. There is no denying that Nico & Vinz better their listeners by eschewing negativity, not to mention avoiding profanity for the most part. That said, sometimes so much positivity grows ever too schmaltzy and a bit blasé." Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian praised the duo's vocal delivery of inspiration lyrics over eclectic worldbeat production but felt the interludes drag their message down, saying that it "nudges the album into the cheese zone." Chuck Arnold of Billboard said that despite the duo showing some heart and charm on tracks like "Know What I'm Not", he criticized the album's cheesy African instrumentation and inspirational lyrics, concluding that "Black Star Elephant goes all amateur theater Lion King on you. That shows just how wrong Nico & Vinz can be."

{{Track listing

| extra_column = Producer(s)

| title1 = Intro

| note1 = interlude

| writer1 = {{flatlist|

• Raymond Sereba
• Kouame Sereba

}}

| extra1 = {{flatlist|

• Kahouly Nicolay Sereba
• Vincent Dery
• R. Sereba
• K. Sereba
• Magnus "Magnify" Martinsen{{ref|a|[a]}}
• Petter "Walther" Walthinsen{{ref|a|[a]}}

}}

| length1 = 0:39

| title2 = Am I Wrong

| writer2 = {{flatlist|

• Dery
• K. N. Sereba
• William "Will IDAP" Wiik Larsen
• Abdoulie Jallow

}}

| extra2 = Larsen

| length2 = 4:07

| title3 = Last Time

| writer3 = {{flatlist|

• Dery
• K. N. Sereba
• Thomas Eriksen
• David Agwumaro

}}

| extra3 = Eriksen

| length3 = 4:19

| title4 = Leave Us

| note4 = interlude

| writer4 = {{flatlist|

• R. Sereba
• K. Sereba

}}

| extra4 = {{flatlist|

• K. N. Sereba
• Dery
• R. Sereba
• K. Sereba
• Martinsen{{ref|a|[a]}}
• Walthinsen{{ref|a|[a]}}

}}

| length4 = 0:18

| title5 = Know What I'm Not

| writer5 = {{flatlist|

• Dery
• K. N. Sereba
• Larsen
• Jørgen Ousman Jaquesson Sowe

}}

| extra5 = Larsen

| length5 = 3:48

| title6 = Miracles

| writer6 = {{flatlist|

• Dery
• K. N. Sereba
• Agwumaro
• Sowe
• Larsen
• Terje Wiik

}}

| extra6 = Larsen

| length6 = 3:25

| title7 = New in Town

| note7 = interlude

| writer7 = {{flatlist|

• R. Sereba
• K. Sereba
• Martinsen

}}

| extra7 = {{flatlist|

• R. Sereba
• K. Sereba

}}

| length7 = 0:26

| title8 = My Melody

| writer8 = {{flatlist|

• Dery
• K. N. Sereba
• Ntirelang Berman
• Larsen

}}

| extra8 = Larsen

| length8 = 4:11

| title9 = Powerful

| note9 = interlude

| writer9 = {{flatlist|

• R. Sereba
• K. Sereba

}}

| extra9 = {{flatlist|

• K. N. Sereba
• Dery
• R. Sereba
• K. Sereba
• Martinsen{{ref|a|[a]}}
• Walthinsen{{ref|a|[a]}}

}}

| length9 = 0:15

| title10 = Another Day

| writer10 = {{flatlist|

• Dery
• K. N. Sereba
• Magnus Eliassen
• Erik Eliassen
• Larsen

}}

| extra10 = {{flatlist|

• Larsen
• Eliassen

}}

| length10 = 2:19

| title11 = People

| writer11 = {{flatlist|

• Dery
• K. N. Sereba
• Dave Kuncio
• Larsen

}}

| extra11 = Larsen

| length11 = 4:23

| title12 = Runnin'

| writer12 = {{flatlist|

• Dery
• K. N. Sereba
• Eriksen
• Agwumaro

}}

| extra12 = Eriksen

| length12 = 4:15

| title13 = Imagine

| writer13 = {{flatlist|

• Dery
• K. N. Sereba
• Mikkel S. Eriksen
• Tor Erik Hermansen
• Larsen

}}

| extra13 = {{flatlist|

• Stargate
• Larsen

}}

| length13 = 2:57

| title14 = In Your Arms

| writer14 = {{flatlist|

• Dery
• K. N. Sereba
• Larsen
• Chriss Rune Olsen Angvik

}}

| extra14 = Larsen

| length14 = 3:25

| title15 = Homeless

| writer15 = {{flatlist|

• Dery
• K. N. Sereba
• Ntirelang Berman
• Larsen

}}

| extra15 = Larsen

| length15 = 2:59

| title16 = Lakota

| note16 = interlude

| writer16 = {{flatlist|

• R. Sereba
• K. Sereba

}}

| extra16 = {{flatlist|

• K. N. Sereba
• Dery
• R. Sereba
• K. Sereba
• Martinsen{{ref|a|[a]}}
• Walthinsen{{ref|a|[a]}}

}}

| length16 = 1:23

| title17 = Thought I Knew

| writer17 = {{flatlist|

• Dery
• K. N. Sereba
• Eriksen

}}

| extra17 = Eriksen

| length17 = 4:25

| title18 = Arrival

| note18 = interlude

| writer18 = {{flatlist|

• R. Sereba
• K. Sereba

}}

| extra18 = {{flatlist|

• K. N. Sereba
• Dery
• R. Sereba
• K. Sereba
• Martinsen{{ref|a|[a]}}
• Walthinsen{{ref|a|[a]}}

}}

| length18 = 0:34

| title19 = When the Day Comes

| writer19 = {{flatlist|

• Dery
• K. N. Sereba
• Sowe
• Larsen

}}

| extra19 = Larsen

| length19 = 3:47

| title20 = Kokadinye

| note20 = interlude

| writer20 = {{flatlist|

• R. Sereba
• K. Sereba

}}

| extra20 = {{flatlist|

• K. N. Sereba
• Dery
• R. Sereba
• K. Sereba
• Martinsen{{ref|a|[a]}}
• Walthinsen{{ref|a|[a]}}

}}

| length20 = 1:29

| title21 = Imaa Imaa

| writer21 = {{flatlist|

• Dery
• K. N. Sereba
• Eriksen
• Agwumaro

}}

| extra21 = Eriksen

| length21 = 4:05

}}

;Notes

• ^{{{note|a|[a]}}} signifies an additional producer
• "Imagine" contains an interpolation of "The Champ" written by Harry Palmer.{{cite AV media notes|others=Nico & Vinz|title=Black Star Elephant|year=2014|type=booklet|publisher=Warner Bros. Records, 5 Star Entertainment|id=9362-49327-8}}

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Category:2014 albums

Category:Nico & Vinz albums

Category:Warner Records albums

Category:Albums produced by Stargate