3 Words is the debut studio album by English singer Cheryl Cole released on 23 October 2009 by Fascination Records.

Following this, it was announced that Cole's band Girls Aloud would take a break from releasing material, having enjoyed five successful albums and twenty consecutive top-ten singles.

In April 2009, Cole started working on solo material in Los Angeles and London, mainly collaborating with will.i.am, who served as executive producer of the album.

After having street dancing lessons during the filming of the ITV2 series Passions of Girls Aloud, Cole was picked to appear in the song's video.

[5] "Parachute", written by singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson and Marshall Altman with production from Syience, was described by Cole as "left-of-field" and "unique".

[9] "Rain on Me", co-written by prolific American songwriters Sam Watters and Louis Biancaniello, was one of the last songs to be recorded for 3 Words.

[11] Cole said that she listened to the demo of "Happy Hour", initially titled "Sweet and Sour", on repeat because she enjoyed the song so much.

And I don't know if it had something to do with her personal situation at the time, but …"[16] "Boy Like You", featuring and produced by will.i.am, samples Fleetwood Mac's 1987 single "Little Lies", which initially attracted Cole to the song.

Andy Gill of The Independent described the album's lyrics as showing that the "path to romantic fulfillment is pock-marked with treachery, uncertainty and secrecy".

[19] Lyrics on some of the songs have a "deeper undertow of paranoia" such as "Parachute", "Make Me Cry" and "Don't Talk About This Love", which Gill described as being "a fear that others are bent on destroying her relationship, so 'the less they know, the less they judge'.

"[19] 3 Words is a dance-pop and R&B album that explores a variety of genres including modern pop with elements of '90s throwback music.

[20][21] The album's production is characterised as being "restrained" in its arrangements with heavy beats built over "light piano-style motifs and acoustic guitar elements", according to Mike Diver of the BBC.

[22] The cover shows the singer bare-shouldered, looking over her shoulder in a veiled and be-flowered headpiece, the album's title tattooed on her skin.

[29] In December ITV1 aired a one-off television special titled Cheryl Cole's Night In, presented by Holly Willoughby.

In January 2010, Cole flew to Germany to perform "3 Words" at the German award ceremony DLD Starnight, which took place at the Haus der Kunst in Munich.

[33] Following a performance on The X Factor live results show, "Fight for This Love" became the fourth best-selling single of 2009 in the UK.

[41] The Guardian gave the album three stars out of five but felt it was "ultimately too tentative and slight to be more than a footnote in Cheryl's unstoppable celebrity story".

"[45] The Daily Telegraph described the album as a "selection of sexy but underwhelming R'n'B pop", noting that there was "not a hint of the bubbly personality that has won over X Factor viewers" or "the electro-guitar fusion that put Girls Aloud on top".

[44] Financial Times also called it a "dismayingly boring solo album, [...] swapping Girls Aloud's sparkly pop for thin R&B-flavoured songs with dreary beats and characterless singing.

"[50] Pete Paphides of The Times agreed that Cheryl's personality is "absent from mid-paced fillers" and exclaimed that "even when 3 Words gives you something to admire, the emotional temperature rarely nudges above frosty.

"[19] Pierre Oitmann of Dutch news site Nu.nl pointed out "the album is mostly being characterised by strong A&R management; i.e. thoroughly sought together songs and consistent production values", before concluding "Cheryl's role is reduced almost entirely to 'hot chick' on the cover.