Songoftheday 8/7/22 - I'm getting a little tired of your broken promises, lookin' at your pager seein' different numbers...

 

 

"No More (Baby I'ma Do Right)" - 3LW

from the album 3LW (2000)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #23 (one week)

Weeks in the Top-40: 14

 

Today's song comes from the female R&B vocal group 3LW (for "three little women"), who came together in New Jersey in the late 1990's. Signed to Epic Records, Adrienne Bailon, Naturi Naughton, and Kiely Williams released their self-titled debut album in 2000. The lead single from the record was "No More (Baby I'ma Do Right). Written by producer Sean Hall with Nate Butler and Cameron Giles, aka rapper Cam'ron, the song plays like a younger version of Destiny Child's "Bug A Boo", right down to the dated mention of beepers as they dismiss a cheating lover. It's sassy, the young women have the right amount of attitude, and while the song doesn't break any new ground, it's not offensive or bland (save for the use of auto-tune which does knock it down a notch)...

"No More" became 3LW's first and only top-40 pop hit in April of 2001. The song climbed to #22 on Billboard's R&B Singles chart, while on the radio the song made it to #12 on the pop radio chart, and #10 on the dance-oriented Rhythmic format. Internationally, the song did pretty well for an American R&B single, reaching the top ten in New Zealand (#5) and the United Kingdom (#6), while making the top-40 in Ireland (#22) and Australia (#26). The 3LW album, released in December of 2000, climbed to #29 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, and #19 on the R&B Albums list, going on to sell over a million copies. 

The second release from the debut, "Playas Gon' Play", was again written by Hall and Butler, featured Naughton, who was left out of getting a verse in the previous hit. Having the same man-shaming theme, the song made it to #58 on the R&B Singles chart and #81 on the pop Hot 100, while peaking at #17 on the Rhythmic radio chart. Internationally the track was a second top-40 hit in the United Kingdom (#21) and New Zealand (#36). The trio also were featured on rap trio Naughty By Nature's 2002 single "Feels Good (Don't Worry Bout A Thing)", which was a minor hit at #53 on the Hot 100, #25 on the R&B Singles chart, but did top Billboard's Rap Songs list for five weeks. 

3LW returned in the summer of 2002 with a new single, "I Do (Wanna Get Close To You)", which previewed what would be their sophomore effort, A Girl Can Mack. Although it brought in big gun Sean Combs (then using the moniker P. Diddy) and fellow rapper Loon. The track probably didn't do as well as expected, stopping at #50 on Billboard's R&B Singles chart and #58 on the Hot 100, though on the radio it made the top-40 on both the Mainstream top-40 (#26) and Rhythmic (#13) formats. Moreover, Naughton left the group inamicably before the release of the album, which had a higher ranking on the Billboard 200 at #15, but ended up selling far less. Bailon and Williams continued as a duo temporarily, releasing the holiday album Naughty Or Nice in 2002, picking up new member Jessica Benson the following year, when they guested on rap group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's single "Get Up and Get It", which was a minor R&B hit at #63.

However, at that same time, Bailon and Williams appeared in the Disney Channel musical movie The Cheetah Girls as member of the titular group with Raven Symone and Sabrina Bryan. The movie was a hit, with the soundtrack making the top-40 on the Billboard 200 at #33 and selling over two million copies. When the soundtrack to the second Cheetah Girls movie went to #5 on the albums chart, Bailon and Williams pulled the plug on 3LW. 

Meanwhile, Naturi Naughton starred in the remake of the 80s movie classic Fame. Her update on the title track "Fame 09" climbed to #15 on Billboard's Dance Club Play chart in 2009. Bailon made her mark on TV, co-hosting talk show The Real for years and appearing on The Masked Singer. Williams has also done some low-budget film work. Most recently, a trio of singles have been released under the 3LW name this year, including "How U Gonna Act". 

(6/10)

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Here's the trio appearing on Live At The Apollo...

and lastly, at a radio concert in 2001...

Up tomorrow: R&B group makes a vow.