Songoftheday 5/30/22 -Why you callin' me on the phone? Why you not at home on time? You say you're stayin' over your friends 'cause you got alot on your mind...

 

 

"Just Be A Man About It" - Toni Braxton featuring Dr. Dre

from the album The Heat (2000)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #32 (two weeks)

Weeks in the Top-40: 6

 

Today's song comes from R&B/pop singer Toni Braxton, whose album The Heat had already scored a #2 pop/#1 R&B hit in the spring of 2000 with "He Wasn't Man Enough".  The second single from the record would be another emasculating throwdown in "Just Be A Man About It". Written by producer Teddy Bishop, the song had Toni getting dumped not only by phone, but by payphone, letting her know he won't be home because he "needs space". Rapper Dr. Dre fills the position as the guy on the other end, and Toni doesn't have time for his nonsense, and in the music video, she trashes the place all though his excuses. The production is kind of plodding along, and doesn't use Braxton for her strengths, and while it's not embarrassing, it's a little overkill after the same theme done better on "He Wasn't Man Enough"...

"Just Be A Man About It" became Toni's second top-40 pop hit from The Heat, and so far her most recent to date, in September of 2000. The single got a better reception on urban radio, especially with Dr. Dre coming off of two big hits with "Forgot About Dre" and "The Next Episode", and rose to #6 on Billboard magazine's R&B Singles chart, spending 37 weeks on the chart, while spending two weeks at #1 on the older-skewing Adult R&B radio list, and getting to #36 on the dance-oriented Rhythmic format airplay chart. 

The third single from The Heat, "Spanish Guitar", tried to recreate the dance-ballad fusion that powered the successes of previous hits "Un-Break My Heart" and "Breathe Again". Written by Diane Warren and produced by David Foster with remixes from Hex Hector/Mac Quayle and Mousse T, it did bring the epic goodness, but by then the momentum from the album had run flat, and while it topped Billboard's Dance Club Play chart for a week, and got to #20 on their Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio chart, the single stalled all the way down at #98 on the pop Hot 100 and #75 on the R&B Singles list. It did better internationally, where it made the top-40 in Romania (#12), the Netherlands (#19), Austria (#28), Belgium (#32W/#46F), Switzerland (#36), France (#37), and Italy (#38). I feel it deserved better, and may have kept the hits rolling if it was the second single instead. A fourth offering from the record, "Maybe", missed the Hot 100 altogether, reaching #74 on Billboard's R&B Singles chart and just missing the Dance Club Play top ten at #11. 

Toni released a holiday album, Snowflakes, in the winter of 2001, which spun off a minor seasonal Adult Contemporary hit at #25 with "Snowflakes Of Love", her last appearance on that chart. As she was set to release a new regular album as well, Braxton's next set More Than A Woman was held off as she had her second child. On its release in 2002, the album got a much more muted reception, reaching #13 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, and selling just a half million copies. The lead single "Hit The Freeway" featuring rapper Loon which was actually the third choice to be released, barely made the R&B top-40 at #32, while stalling down at #86 on the pop Hot 100, though again the DJ's showed their love, having it spend a week at #2 on the Dance Club Play list. Arista poorly promoted the record, and in the process Toni and the label parted ways.

Braxton moved to her manager Barry Hankerson's label Blackground Records, where she recorded her sixth studio set Libra. That proves to be a disaster, with that label messing the release and promotion of the record, with first single "Please", a Scott Storch co-write/production, also just making the R&B top 40 at #36, while only "bubbling under" the pop Hot 100 at #104 (it did go to #7 on the older-skewing Adult R&B radio list). The album returned Toni to the top ten on the Billboard 200 (#4) and R&B Albums (#2), but didn't sell well in the long run, and ended with Braxton in a protracted legal battle with Hankerson that kept her from recording (and the Libra album eventually going to streaming) for years.

In the meantime, Braxton had a successful run as the signature act at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, which ran for a few years before Toni having to leave for health reasons. That departure, along with her settlement with Hankerson, left the singer having to declare bankruptcy, and having to do stunts like appearing on Dancing With The Stars to get money before finally getting signed by Atlantic Records. She released her sole record for them, Pulse, in 2010, which came in at #9 on the Billboard 200, and topped the R&B Albums list for a week. It was meant to be a Santana-like collaboration-laden "comeback" album, but after months of internet leaks the result was much more restrained and guest-free. Lead single "Yesterday" (not the Beatles song) with Trey Songz went to #12 on Billboard's R&B Singles chart, and #11 on the Adult R&B radio list, but again "bubbled under" the pop Hot 100 at #116. 

The entire Braxton singing family started up their own "reality show" Braxton Family Values in 2011, which was on the WE TV network for seven seasons, and kick-starting sister Tamar's own solo career. The following year, Toni released the one-off single "I Heart You", which topped the Dance Club Play chart for a week, but would be her final recording on Atlantic. It also was her last collaboration with husband Keri Lewis of the R&B group Mint Condition, as they split in 2013. That painful breakup would fuel the soul behind her next project, a collaborative album with singer/producer Babyface, Love, Marriage, & Divorce, which came out on Motown Records in February of 2014. The album was one of her all-time best, and topped the R&B Albums chart for a week, while getting to #4 on the Billboard 200. Lead track "Hurt You" got to #33 on Billboard's R&B Singles chart, while topping their Adult R&B radio list for four weeks, and "bubbled under" the pop Hot 100 at #113. The album won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album in 2015.

After another four-year break that had Toni battling more health trouble with a lupus diagnosis, she returned on Def Jam Records with Sex & Cigarettes, which came in at #22 on the Billboard 200. From i the song "Long As I Live", the second single from the record, topped the Adult R&B chart for five weeks in 2018, and was nominated for two Grammy Awards, losing Best R&B Performance to Daniel Caesar and H.E.R.'s "Best Part", and Best R&B Song to Ella Mai's "Boo'd Up". The Sex & Cigarettes album was also up for Best R&B Album, which H.E.R. took home for her self-titled album. Another track from the record, "Coping", was remixed for the dancefloor and spent a week at #1 on Billboard's Dance Club Play chart

Braxton's most recent album, Spell My Name, was released on Island Records in 2020. Two songs from the record, "Do It" and "Gotta Move On" with H.E.R., topped Billboard's Adult R&B Airplay chart for multiple weeks, and the album went to #163 on the Billboard 200. 

(4/10)

Up tomorrow: Boyband requests another evening. In Spanish.