US alone – namely a hip-hop backdrop of hard-knock beats tempered by a soul-lite vocal [...] A lack of originality and too much filler mark Ashanti more as a pedestrian than the princess she purports to be." Steve Appleford from the Los Angeles Times wrote that Ashanti and Concrete Rose sound "trapped, sapped of strength and ideas, and buried beneath all the worst cold and calculated production tendencies of her label [...] What follows is modern R&B; formula at its most flat and uninspired. For all her lovesick panting, pleading and purring, Ashanti is never emotionally engaged with the songs, which aren't worth the trouble anyway." Entertainment Weeklys Raymond Fiore remarked that "the thin-voiced vixen's third disc bruises both genres with a slew of mostly midtempo clunkers built with her weapons of choice: faux grit and forced sensuality." In his review for Slant Magazine, Sal Cinquemani wrote: "Ashanti is incapable of doing slinky or sexy and, despite her incessant attempts at vamping, she can't all-out sing either – she's even upstaged by a Hammond organ." Chart performance During the week of Christmas, Concrete Rose debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200 album chart with first-week sales of 254,000 units sold. In total, it remained on the Billboard 200 albums chart for 20 consecutive weeks. On the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart the album debuted at number two where it spent a total of 28 consecutive weeks on the chart. On January 14, 2005, the album was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for one million shipped units. Outside the United States the album debuted or peaked at #25 in the United Kingdom, #98 in France, #35 in Germany and #66 in Switzerland. Track listing Samples "Message to the Fans (Skit)" [which serves as the intro to "Only U"] contains a sample of "Why You Treat Me So Bad" by Club Nouveau, written by Denzil Foster, Jay King, Jocelyn McElroy, and Thomas McElroy. "Don't Let Them" contains a sample of "Heaven & Hell" by Raekwon featuring Ghostface Killah, written by Dennis Coles and Corey Woods, which itself samples "Could I Be Falling In Love" by Syl Johnson, written by Willie Mitchell, Yvonne Mitchell, Earl Randle, and Lawrence Seymour. "Love Again" contains a sample of "Fuck Faces" by Scarface featuring Too Short, Tela, & Devin the Dude, and written by Devin Copeland, Mike Dean, Brad Jordan, Winston