In Love & War is the fourth studio album by American singer Amerie, released November 3, 2009 on Def Jam Recordings. Recording sessions for the album took place between 2008 and 2009 at Record Plant Studios in Hollywood, California and at other recording studios in Miami, Florida and Atlanta, Georgia. The album serves as Amerie's first release after leaving Columbia Records and forming her own label, Feenix Rising, which released the album under exclusive license and distribution through the Island Def Jam Music Group. The album debuted at number forty-six on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 12,500 copies in its first week. Upon its release, In Love & War received generally positive reviews from most music critics. Background In January 2008, Entertainment Weekly reported that Amerie had left her record label, Columbia Records, and in April 2008, Amerie's name was removed from the label's roster. Recording sessions for the album took place during 2008 to 2009 at Record Plant Studios in Hollywood, California, and at other recording studios in Miami, Florida and Atlanta, Georgia. On her official Twitter account, Amerie revealed that she had been secretly recording new music in Atlanta, Georgia, and that a late summer July/August release date was in the works, with a possible first single in late May or early June. In multiple interviews, Amerie confirmed that Rich Harrison, who had produced her previous work, would not be contributing to the album. At the end of April, Amerie revealed on Twitter that the album's title to be changed from Breakups to Makeups to In Love & War. She also announced that the album's first single is "Why R U", which she cited with "Higher" as one of two of her favorite tracks from the album. Music Amerie has described the album's sound as "a fusion of hip hop, soul and old school rock". She spoke about the concept of In Love & War in an interview with The Green Magazine, stating: The album features collaborations with rapper Fabolous and singer Trey Songz. The latter has a guest appearance on "Pretty Brown", which samples R&B group Mint Condition's "Breakin' My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)" (1991). The song was produced by Australian hip hop producer M-Phazes. Title and artwork The album was originally titled Breakups to Makeups. However, in April 2009, Amerie announced that the album's title would be In Love & War via her official Twitter