Dignity is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Hilary Duff. It was released on March 21, 2007, by Hollywood Records. After releasing her third studio album Hilary Duff (2004), she experienced an eventful personal life, including a stalking incident, her parents getting divorced and her breakup with her boyfriend Joel Madden after two years of dating. Consequently, Duff assumed an integral position in its production, co-writing almost every track with longtime collaborator Kara DioGuardi instead of her previously-limited involvement.
In contrast to the pop-rock themes of her prior releases, Dignity takes on more of a dance and electropop sound, which she said was not her intention while writing the album. The lyrics reference the events Duff experienced in the years leading to the album's release, and the album's songs contain influences of rock and hip-hop music.
Critical response was mostly positive; the album was praised for its songwriting and her new musical direction. Upon release, Dignity debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200. This was a lower peak than Duff's previous albums and the album had lower sales, which Billboard attributed to the loss of fans during her musical evolution. Despite this, it produced Duff's highest-peaking single on the US Billboard Hot 100 to date, "With Love", which peaked at number twenty-four. The song also topped the US Dance Club Songs chart, as did her subsequent single from the album, "Stranger". The album reached the top ten in several countries and was certified Gold in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). To promote the album, Duff embarked on her fourth concert tour, the Dignity Tour, between July 2007 and February 2008.
Background Duff's previous studio album, the self-titled Hilary Duff (2004), received generally negative reviews. The album peaked at number two on the Billboard 200, and its commercial performance was still successful: it exited the chart after 33 weeks and sold 1.8 million copies in the United States.
Between the releases of Hilary Duff and Dignity, Duff's personal life was eventful. In October 2006, she and her boyfriend at the time, Joel Madden of punk rock band Good Charlotte, claimed that they were being stalked by Russian emigre Maksim Miakovsky and his roommate, paparazzo David Joseph Klein. According to a restraining order filed by Duff, Miakovsky came to the United States solely to pursue a relationship with her. He was later arrested after threatening to kill her. In November, she ended her two-year relationship with Madden. Around the same time, her parents Robert and Susan separated after 22 years of marriage following an affair between Robert and another woman.
Writing and development
Following the release of her first compilation Most Wanted (2005), Duff began working on new material between dates of her Still Most Wanted Tour. The album was initially planned for a November 2006 release before being postponed. In August 2006, Duff confirmed that her then-boyfriend Joel Madden would not be working on new material for the album as he had with Most Wanted, citing that his group Good Charlotte was busy with their own upcoming record."For The Record: Quick News On Hilary Duff, 'American Idol,' Kate Hudson, Travis Barker, Shanna Moakler & More". MTV News. August 14, 2006. Retrieved August 25, 2006.
Duff sought more creative control on Dignity than she had on previous records, co-writing all but one of the album's tracks. "That hadn't really been part of my process on previous records, except here and there. It was important this time," she said. Duff worked extensively with her previous collaborator, songwriter and producer Kara DioGuardi, who worked on several of Duff's previous singles such as "Come Clean" and "Fly".Dignity (album liner notes). 2007. Hollywood Records. Duff found her lyrics were complemented by DioGuardi's melodies, noting: "I helped with the melodies, but that's not my strongest suit. Coming up with the lyrics was mainly [what I did]. I'd tell her this is how I want it to go, and she would help with the lyrics, too, sometimes. She'd say, 'This doesn't really fit,' and if I was adamant, we'd make it work." Duff also collaborated with sister Haylie Duff on the track "Gypsy Woman" despite initial reports that Haylie would not be involved with the writing on the album. Duff explained her writing process:[The album] has all of me in it. I never did my records like that before. I got to choose the music, but this time around it was, like, I'd sit down and think: 'What happened to me yesterday? What happened to me today?' and just write. It was very therapeutic, in a way. And easy – I was shocked at how easy it was to be honest about yourself and things that affect you. It is a dance record, but I wanted it to be serious. I wanted to talk about serious things, but do it in a not-so-serious way, with music that makes you want to get up and dance.Much of Dignity was written in Duff's own home, as she felt "comfortable and free" there. Duff drew musical inspiration from other artists such as The Faint, Beyoncé, and Gwen Stefani. "Outside of You", the sole track on the album not to have any writing credits from Duff, was written by Pink, Chantal Kreviazuk and Raine Maida. In an interview, Maida stated that the song was written for a Pink album but did not make the final cut, and Duff later expressed interest in the song.
The title for the album was not chosen until the majority of it had been completed. Duff explained of the title, "I'm older and more mature now than I was when I made my last record, but I don't think I know it all. Having dignity is something you work on your whole life, in how you treat people and how you treat yourself. I hope I always strive to have it." She also noted, "It's not something that you can be given or that you can just get or that you're born with. It's something that you have to work on."2007. "At Home with Hilary Duff" featurette on Dignity deluxe edition DVD. Hollywood Records.
Composition
As inspiration for the album, Duff cited indie rock band the Faint and pop singers such as Gwen Stefani and Beyoncé, while critics compared her musical style with Stefani, Janet Jackson, Depeche Mode, Madonna and Justin Timberlake. Duff felt that the album's dance-pop themes were a deviation from the pop rock of her previous albums. "I didn't necessarily plan the album to sound like this, but it was so easy to write to," she said. Critics have noted that Dignity'''s musical style is dance-pop and electropop, with influences of hip hop, rock and roll and Middle Eastern music. According to Duff, the album is a combination of dance, electro and rock music.
The lyrics of several songs relate to Duff's experiences between the releases of Hilary Duff and Dignity. Despite speculation that the songs "Stranger" and "Gypsy Woman" were written about Madden's then-new girlfriend Nicole Richie, they were actually written about Duff's father's affair. She said that "Stranger" was written from her mother's perspective. "'Stranger' is a song I wrote about how my mom must feel around my dad," she said. "I made it seem like it was about a relationship I was in, because I didn't want people to know about my parents. But I've realized that so many people can relate to what I've gone through." The album's title track was also reported to be about Richie, to which Duff clarified: "Dignity is a song that is definitely about people in Hollywood. I wouldn't say that it is about her specifically but it is about people that kind of do what she does and act the way she acts." The song "Danger" was written about one of Duff's friends' relationships with an older man. "I understand that feeling of wanting to be dangerous," she said. "You may know morally something's not right, but you can't help yourself." She has stated that the song "Dreamer" was written about a stalker in a tongue-in-cheek fashion, and it has been speculated that it was written specifically about Miakovsky.
Artwork
The album's photography was done by Andrew Macpherson, in which a "newly brunette Duff wears grown-up black leather and diamonds," in line with its theme of "reinvention". The album artwork is a tightly framed portrait of Duff, with Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic opining: "From the soft-focused, impeccably styled, tasteful cover photo–better suited for Harper's Bazaar than a pop album [...] Dignity, appears to be the teen star's self-styled, self-conscious adult album. Almost too adult, actually, since the packaging makes it seem like Hilary skipped over her wild, restless years and headed straight toward polished adult contemporary blandness."
When asked by Westword if the artwork is a comment on how other celebrities should present themselves in the media, Duff stated: "The record cover is a big closeup of my face. It’s not like I have no clothes on or I’m trying to do something really edgy or provocative. [...] It’s not about anybody else. It’s my record and I would not ever want to try and make someone like me or say this is how you should be. I’m just saying this is how I am and this is how I want to be." Its artwork for the Japanese release was done by Leslie Kee, who captured her youthful appearance and "sexy" side as she transitioned into adulthood.
Promotion
To promote the album's release, Duff "worked tirelessly with the whole Hollywood Records staff to market [the] record." On the day of the album's release, April 3, MTV began airing the two-part documentary special, Hilary Duff: This Is Now. The documentary followed Duff as she prepared for the release of Dignity by attending photoshoots, interviews, wardrobe fittings, rehearsals and a trip to Europe. In addition, Duff hosted Total Request Live for the week of March 26, made several appearances at retail outlets and on television, and was given massive online coverage on MySpace and Yahoo!.
Accompanying Duff's new musical style, the record label began promoting her with a more mature image. Duff dyed her hair dark and "sexed-up" her image. According to Duff, she wanted to "try new things", but the image change "just happened. It is not like a conscious change. People think it is so different because they have watched me grow up but that is just what happens in life." Entertainment Weekly described Duff's new look as comprising "dark mane, dental veneers, luxe and vampy fashions". In mid-2007, concurrent to the preparation of the radio release of "Stranger", Duff was featured on the July covers of the magazines Us Weekly and Shape in a bikini, and on the August cover of Maxim accompanied by the declaration that she had gone "from the queen of teen to breakout sex symbol". The Associated Press wrote that Duff's more provocative image would help her singles to garner mainstream radio play. Guy Zapoleon, a radio consultant and former programmer for Top 40 radio, explained that "radio has a stigma about playing [Disney] acts, considering them teen and preteen in their appeal", and that Duff's provocative image would "definitely have a positive effect on the attitude of programmers, who are mostly male, as Disney tries to mature her image". A bonus EP containing five bonus remixes was released exclusively to US Walmart stores as a package with the album.
Singles