Songoftheday 11/2/22 - While he was schemin' I was beamin' in the Beamer just beamin', can't believe that I caught my man cheatin'...

 

 

"Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!)" - Blu Cantrell

from the album So Blu (2001)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #2 (two weeks)

Weeks in the Top-40: 21

 

Today's song comes from singer/songwriter Blu Cantrell, who grew up Tiffany Cobb in Rhode Island before embarking on a music career. At first singing backup and in a vocal group, Cantrell eventually was signed to Arista Records, which was led at the time by L.A. Reid (Babyface's longtime production partner). It was there that she released her debut album So Blu in the summer of 2001. The lead single from the record was "Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!)", written and produced by Dallas Austin. The record uses a sample from a real rarity, "Boys Night Out", a non-single from Frank Sinatra from 1962...

The sample is laid under a modern R&B production from Austin, as Blu sings about catching her lover cheating, and unbeknownst to him proceeds to drain his assets, run up his credit card, and sell his stuff before taking off. It's a great sassy revenge track, and the slight swing color from the sample made the single stand out. I know if it was released today, the producers wouldn't have added a bridge (because their lazy and attention deprived) but it ties the song in a nice way and allows Blu to vamp it up. The music video basically plays out the plotline of the lyrics...

"Hit 'Em Up Style" became Cantrell's first and by far biggest hit in America, reaching the runner-up spot on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart in July of 2001, while getting to #6 on their R&B Singles list. On the radio, the song topped the Mainstream Top-40 chart for five weeks, went to #18 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay list, and rose to #5 on the dance-oriented Rhythmic format. Internationally, the single made the top ten in Australia (#3), New Zealand (#3), Canada (#7), and the Netherlands (#10). It also reached the top-40 in the United Kingdom (#12), Belgium (#12F/#46W), Norway (#12), Denmark (#16), Hungary (#19), Italy (#26), Sweden (#35), and Ireland (#37). The So Blu album, released in July as the song was cresting at radio, peaked at #8 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, as well as #5 on the R&B Albums list, going on to sell over a half-million copies. At the Grammy Awards in 2002, "Hit 'Em Up Style" was nominated for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, losing to Alicia Keys' debut "Fallin'". 

Despite the warm reception for her first hit, the second single pulled from the debut, the ballad "I'll Find A Way", didn't do as well. Even though produced and co-written by James (Jimmy Jam) Harris and Terry Lewis,  the song only placed at #25 on the older-skewing Adult R&B radio chart. 

In 2003, Blu returned with her second (and so far most recent) album, Bittersweet. Bringing in high-profile producers like Mike City, Chris "Tricky" Stewart, and Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs, the album was meant to build on the momentum of her debut hit. But the first single from the project, "Breathe", which featured up and coming reggaeton rapper Sean Paul, stiffed in America, stalling at #70 on the Hot 100 and #83 on the R&B Singles chart, despite slipping into the pop radio top-40 at #36. The record tried again to use a post-swing sample, this time Charles Azvanour's "Parce Que Tu Crois". It was a different story worldwide, as it became Cantrell's biggest international success, hitting #1 in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Romania, and reaching the top ten in Croatia (#3), the Netherlands (#4), Switzerland (#5), Norway (#6), Germany (#7), Denmark (#7), Australia (#8), and Hungary (#8). Also, dance remixes of the track, done by Andy & The Lamboy, helped it rise to #17 on Billboard's Dance Club Play chart in the U.S. The Bittersweet album, which went to #37 on the Billboard 200 in America, was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2004 for Best R&B Album, which went to Luther Vandross for his swan song disc Dance With My Father. A second single from the record overseas, "Make Me Wanna Scream" featuring Ian Lewis from the reggae band Inner Circle, was a top-40 hit in the UK (#24) and Ireland (#33). Meanwhile, the lush track "Sleep In The Middle" got some play on the Adult R&B format in the States, peaking at #27.

As Reid exited Arista, so went Cantrell. She's since did some stage and TV work, and in 2016 emerged with a Christmas single, "Joy To The World". 

(8/10)

(Click below to see the rest of the post)

An "urban" remix featuring rapper Foxy Brown that tossed the swing sample for a funk groove, was on the single...

In 2010, the indie-folk group Carolina Chocolate Drops, covered "Hit 'Em Up Style" for their album Genuine Negro Jig, which won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album the following year..

And lastly, Cantrell appearing on Australian television...

Up tomorrow: Rap collective travel the mountains majesty.