Robbed hit of the week 5/29/23 - Nappy Roots' "Awnaw"...

 

 

"Awnaw" - Nappy Roots

from the album Watermelon, Chicken, & Gritz (2002)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #51 (two weeks)

 

This week's "robbed hit" comes from the hip-hop group Nappy Roots, who came together in Kentucky in the mid-1990's when they were all attending university in the state. After a couple of independently-released mixtapes, the group was signed to Atlantic Records, where they recorded their debut major-label release Watermelon, Chicken, & Gritz. The lead single from the record was the party track "Awnaw", written by the act's Melvin Adams, Kenneth Anthony, William Hughes, and Vito Tisdale along with producer James Chambers. Producer/singer/artist Phalon "Jazze Pha" Alexander sings the chorus, serving like a Greek chorus to the individual members casting off adversaries while infusing a heaping helping of southern rural Black culture in the mix. It was a mashup of the brag rap of the cities and the brain-heavy rhymes of the suburbs, and it got them noticed enough to claim their first hit...

While "Awnaw" climbed to #18 on Billboard magazine's R&B Singles chart, spending a hefty 21 weeks on the list, and #15 on their Rap Singles list, the single stalled just under the halfway mark on their all-genre Hot 100 in May of 2002. On the radio, the song made in on the dance-oriented Rhythmic radio chart at #19. The Watermelon, Chicken, & Gritz album, released in February of that year, peaked at #24 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, going on to sell over a million copies. With this momentum, they scored a top-40 crossover on their next try.

(6/10)

(Click below to see the rest of the post)

Helping the popularity of the single was a "rock remix" that featured guitarist Marcos Curiel from the Hispanic Christian Rock band P.O.D...

Lastly, here's the group performing live..