Songoftheday 6/29/23 - I want to know your name and I want to know if you got a man, I want to know everything I want to know ya number and if I can come over...

 

 

"Just A Friend 2002" - Mario

from the album Mario (2002)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #4 (two weeks)

Weeks in the Top-40: 15

 

Today's song comes from R&B singer Mario (Barrett), who grew up in Baltimore, where he started in music in school. In fact, uber record exec Clive Davis signed Mario to his new J Records label when he was just fourteen years old. In 2001 he was a featured singer on a track from rapper Fabolous of the soundtrack to Dr. Doolittle 2, "Tameeka". A year later, Mario released his debut album, Mario. The lead single from the record was "Just A Friend 2002". The "2002" tied it to the top ten pop hit by Biz Markie from 1990, though the only similarity was the chorus. As opposed to Markie's rap on infidelity, Mario played the more innocent friend-zoned boy. The production by Warryn Campbell has plucked electric guitars over a drum sample of Run DMC's "Sucker MCs". Mario's voice is deeper than his years, and while the result isn't anything new, it's professionally delivered. And with his good looks and charm in the music video picked up by MTV and BET (which has a cameo from Biz), Mario found himself with a big hit out of the gate...

"Just A Friend 2002" climbed to the top five on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 in August of 2002 (higher than Markie's ever got), while also reaching #4 on the R&B Singles chart. On the radio, the song went to #6 on the Mainstream Top-40 airplay chart, and #8 on the dance-R&B oriented Rhythmic format. Internationally, the single peaked at #8 in Canada, and made the top-20 in New Zealand (#15) and the United Kingdom (#18). The Mario album, released in July of that year, came in at #9 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, and #3 on the R&B Albums list, going on to sell over a half million copies. 

 

Mario's follow-up single was "Braid My Hair", also produced and co-written by Campbell and featured the singer using his falsetto to good effect. However the song stalled down at #74 on the Hot 100, though on urban radio it did better, cresting at #18 on the R&B Singles chart. That was followed by "C'mon", which was a minor R&B hit at #61, but was an unexpected success in Britain, scoring a second top-40 hit at #28.

Mario will be back to the series.

(6/10)

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Here's Mario performing to a throng of screaming young women in 2002...

Up tomorrow: Spanish and German producers come together with a Dutch singer for a trance rework of a power-ballad hit from 1985.