Songoftheday 5/6/21 - I'm mad he don't call me any more, we don't even kiss am I his fool?

 

 

"Make It Hot" - Nicole featuring Missy Elliott and Mocha

from the album Make It Hot (1998)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #5 (three weeks)

Weeks in the Top-40: 23

 

Today's song of the day comes from R&B singer Nicole Wray, who grew up in the Virginia Beach-adjacent city of Portsmouth, Virginia, where she hooked up with singer/rapper/songwriter/producer Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott. Elliott signed Nicole to her vanity label Goldmind, and wrote and produced most of her debut album Make It Hot, released under just her first name. The title track was released as the lead single, and featured rap verses from both Elliott and fellow newcomer Mocha. Written by Missy with producer/collaborator Tim "Timbaland" Mosley, the track follows the pattern of most of their early hits, with Nicole cooing out lyrics about romantic games trying to convince a lover to stay with her promising to up her carnal game. But the lyrics take a backseat to the rhythm on this record...

"Make It Hot" became Nicole (and Mocha's) first and biggest hit, and their sole time in the pop top 40 in America, reaching the top ten in August of 1998. The single spent three weeks at #2 on Billboard magazine's R&B chart. Internationally, the single peaked at #22 in the UK, and #26 in New Zealand. The Make It Hot album, released shortly after the song's peak in August, just missed the top-40 on the Billboard 200 sales tally at #42, while cresting at #19 on their R&B Albums list, going on to sell over a half million copies.

Nicole's second single from her debut, "I Can't See", also featured Mocha. It wasn't released as a retail single (most likely to goose sales of the album), but radio was much more tepid on the track, where it stalled at #60 on Billboard's R&B Airplay chart, and missing the pop list altogether. (It did become a minor hit in the UK at #55.) That was followed by "Eyes Better Not Wander", which got to #71 on the main R&B chart as the eligibility rules changed to allow all tracks to chart. Nicole also guested on Missy Elliott's single "All In My Grill" in 1999, which climbed to #16 on the R&B chart and #64 on Billboard's pop Hot 100. 

Wray was preparing her second album in 2001, but after lead single "I'm Lookin'" stiffed at #66 on the R&B chart, and didn't make the pop chart, Nicole left the label. Adding her surname, she briefly went with Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records, but again after sassy single "If I Was Your Girlfriend" (not to be confused with the Prince ballad) stopped at #57 on the R&B chart, plans for a followup dried up. (It deserved a bit better than that.)

Since then, she has released music independently, with Queen Alone, under the moniker Lady Wray, coming out in 2016. 

(4/10)

(Click below to see the rest of the post)

And here's Nicole and Missy appearing on the Wayans Brothers comedy show, performing "Make It Hot"...

 Up tomorrow: A Fugee goes for the (political) bigtime.