Songoftheday 12/4/20 - Baby, I seen you with another lady I just finished having your baby, why'd you have to go don't leave me...

 

 

"What About Us" - Total

from the album Soul Food (Original Soundtrack) (1997)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #16 (four weeks)

Weeks in the Top-40: 22

 

Today's song of the day comes from the all-female R&B vocal group Total, whose eponymous debut album had spun off three top-40 pop/top-10 R&B hits with "Can't You See", "No One Else", and "Kissin' You", the latter in the summer of 1996. A year later, the trio of Kima, Kesha, and Pam returned with a contribution to the soundtrack to the movie Soul Food, starring Vanessa Williams, Vivica Fox, and Nia Long. "What About Us", was produced by up and coming rapper/artist Timbaland, who wrote the track with Missy Elliott (soon to be two of the biggest names in R&B/hip-hop). The mid-tempo 90's funk jam was released as the first single from the Soul Food album, and was warmly received by both urban and mainstream radio stations...

"What About Us" became Total's fourth top-40 pop hit in November of 1997. The single also climbed to #4 on Billboard magazine's R&B chart. Internationally, the single peaked at #48 in New Zealand. The Soul Food soundtrack topped Billboard's R&B Albums chart, and crested at #4 on the Billboard 200 sales tally.

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And here's the trio performing the song live for a TV concert with Missy Elliott...