Songoftheday 6/23/23 - Girl, you made me believe again, if you happy then be with him....

 

 

"I Need A Girl (Part Two)" - P. Diddy and Ginuwine featuring Loon, Mario Winans, and Tammy Ruggieri

from the album We Invented The Remix (2002)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #4 (three weeks)

Weeks in the Top-40: 3

 

Today's song comes from R&B/hip-hop mogul and rapper Sean Combs, who in 2002 was going under the moniker P. Diddy. Combs' record label, Bad Boy, released a compilation of tracks from their various artists but reworked under the title We Invented The Remix. Diddy took the title of one of the songs on his own The Saga Continues album, "I Need A Girl", and only took the title and chorus, creating two new songs with "part one" and "part two". Both were released as singles, and "I Need A Girl (Part One)" with R&B superstar Usher and rapper Loon rose all the way to #2 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 in the spring of 2002.   

For "Part Two", Sean teamed up with another big R&B loverboy, Ginuwine, giving his co-lead credit, and brought back Loon along with singers Mario Winans and Tammy Ruggieri. Winans, related to the iconic gospel family including BeBe & CeCe Winans, was originally signed to Motown records in the late 1990's, and released his debut album Story Of My Heart in 1997. The single released from the record, "Don't Know", placed at #48 on Billboard's R&B Singles chart, and "bubbled under" the all-genre Hot 100 at #108. Joining the Bad Boy label, Mario guested on P. Diddy's single "Best Friend", from his Forever album, which was a minor hit on the Hot 100 (#59) and R&B (#54) charts in 1999-2000. Combs had planned and recorded a gospel album, Thank You, and a preview single from the set, "You", featured Winans and Ruggieri as well as Bad Boy labelmates Faith Evans, Carl Thomas, and 112, along with gospel vet Hezekiel Walker, Amy & Ashley, and Thelma Guyton. The song stopped at #85 on the R&B singles chart, and the album was scrapped. Concocted as a "sequel", the record again has Diddy setting out his lover wish list, with Ginuwine and then Mario crooning in tow. But before that he seems to be addressing ex-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez, rapping the above line and wishing her to "breathe again". Meanwhile, Tammy barely shows up until the end chorus as backup. Loon also gets a verse backed by Ginuwine and Mario, and it's the usual wealth porn you'd expect. The production is much sparser and staccato than part one, and it was such a departure from the first part that it found an audience as well, making the first time since I don't remember where a part one and two separately and independently made the top ten....

"I Need A Girl (Part Two)" reached the top five on Billboard's Hot 100 in August of 2002, while spending three weeks at #2 on the R&B singles chart. On the radio, the song went to #10 on the Mainstream Top-40 airplay chart, #2 on the Rap Singles chart, and #1 on the dance-oriented Rhythmic format. Internationally, the single went to #4 in the United Kingdom, #3 in Canada and #25 in Ireland. 

Loon would release his self-titled debut album on Bad Boy Records in 2003, which came in at #6 on the Billboard 200 sales tally. The lead single from the set, "How You Want That" featuring "Milkshake" singer Kelis, went to #88 on the Billboard Hot 100, and just missed the R&B top-40 at #41. That was followed by "Down For Me" featuring Mario Winans, which missed the Hot 100, "bubbling under" at #103, but doing better on the R&B singles list at #28. But after leaving Bad Boy mid-2000s, Loon's music career faded. He went to prison for drug trafficking, which stopped everything cold, only being released in 2020. 

On the other hand, Ruggieri has disappeared from the business since "I Need A Girl". As for Ginuwine, Mario Winans, and of course Diddy, they will return to the series.

(5/10)

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Here's Diddy, Loon, and Mario Winans doing part two in concert..

Song of the day will return Monday with a mentally bewildered Canadian.