Robbed hit of the week 2/20/17 - Leila K. w-Rob N Raz's "Got To Get"...
from the album Rob 'N' Raz featuring Leila K. (1990)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #48
This week's "robbed hit" comes from Swedish dance-pop singer/rapper Leila K., who went from strict Moroccan parental upbringing to hooking up with producers Rob 'N' Raz (Robert Wåtz and Rasmus Lindwall). Releasing a collaborative album in 1990, after the success of like-sounding artist Neneh Cherry, their infectious single "Got To Get", written by Leila, became an international hit, reaching the clubs and radio of America...
While "Got To Get" climbed to #8 on Billboard's Dance Club Play chart, the single stopped short of the pop Top-40 in the U.S. in March of 1990. Internationally, the record made the top ten in the Netherlands (#2), Germany (#3), Austria (#3), Switzerland (#3), Norway (#4), the UK (#8), Finland (#10), and her native Sweden (#10).
Her follow-up single with Rob N Raz, "Rok The Nation", did even better in Sweden, hitting #3, but missed the British top-40 by a hair at #41. Leaving behind the duo, Leila returned in 1992 with the rave track "Open Sesame", which was a top ten single in The Netherlands (#2), Switzerland (#4), Germany (#5), Austria (#5), and Finland (#9), and reached the top-40 in the UK (#23) and Sweden (#21). Three years later Leila K came back into the top ten in Sweden and Finland with "Electric", one of three local top-40 hits from her Manic Panic album. But after that, as that style of music faded away, so did Leila's fortunes, eventually finding her living on the streets by the new millenium. I can only hope that she's doing better (she doesn't have an online presence right now), though you can view a documentary on her 90s antics, Fuck You, Fuck You Very Much.
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Here's the original version of the song's video from its Swedish release...
...and finally, the Fuck You, Fuck You Very Much doc, which is an interesting (and depressing) look at the bad side of stardom...
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