Songoftheday 10/20/22 - He was a six-foot stallion say a storybook thug, he was the kind that made you wonder how he put down the love...

 

 

"I Do!!" - Toya

from the album Toya (2001)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #16 (three weeks)

Weeks in the Top-40: 17

 

Today's song comes from singer Toya, who grew up as LaToya Rodriguez in St. Louis, where she came under the wing of the same management as bigtime hometown rapper Nelly. Toya was signed to Arista Records by uber-producer/executive L.A. Reid, where she released her self-titled debut album in the summer of 2001. The lead single from the set with the uptempo millennial R&B jam "I Do!!!". Written by Toya with Harold Guy and produced by Antoine Macon, the song has Toya finding a hot guy at a club, enticing him with her dancing and eventually roping him in, with the chorus asking if he's as into her as she is with him. The skittish beat on the production is very much like Nelly's, which works to Toya's favor is letting her stand out from the other female R&B singers and groups. The music video though somehow ages her down to high school then switches to a club that I don't think high school age people can get in. Nevertheless, the song caught on and became Toya's first and biggest success as a lead artist...

"I Do!!!" made it to the top half of the top-40 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 in December of 2001, while reaching #25 on their R&B Singles list. On the radio, the song hit #6 on the Mainstream Top-40 chart and #21 on the dance-oriented Rhythmic format. Internationally, the single peaked at #9 in New Zealand and #12 in Australia. The Toya album, released in August of that year, topped out at #109 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, and #60 on the R&B Albums list. 

Despite the good reception of "I Do!!!", the second single from her debut, "No Matta What (Party All Night)", stalled down at #86 on the Hot 100, despite doing alright at radio, reaching #33 on the Mainstream Top-40 chart and #34 at the Rhythmic format. It was co-written and produced by David Frank of the System, it attempted to merge the St. Louis hip-hop sound with rock tones, and was interesting enough to deserve better (there's talk of shenanigans on Reid's part). She was subsequently let go from Arista, but them landed her biggest hit overall as a featured guest on rapper Cam'ron's single "Hey Ma", which spent a week at #3 on the Hot 100 and peaked at #7 on the R&B singles list. But other than that, Toya faded from the music scene. She has since married coach Tee Martin of the Baltimore Ravens, and has been raising a family. But as mentioned, she will be back to the series for one last time.

(6/10)

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Like many R&B singles from that period, there was an overhauled "Pt. 2" remix of "I Do". This one featured rapper Murphy Lee of the St. Lunatics (Nelly's affiliated group), and sampled the disco hit "Do You Wanna Get Funky With Me" by Peter Brown...

Up tomorrow: This country singer is fully satisfied.