Songoftheday 10/9/23 - It was hard to find a brotha that was down for me, so I'm tellin' everybody let him be...

 

 

"Don't Mess With My Man" - Nivea featuring Brian & Brandon Casey of Jagged Edge

from the album Nivea (2001)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #8 (five weeks)

Weeks in the Top-40: 21

 

Today's song comes from R&B singer Nivea (nee' Hamilton), who grew up in Atlanta, and like many men and women in R&B music, came from a church music background in her youth. But in 2000, her big break came when Nivea sang the chorus on wild and foul-mouth rapper Mystikal's single "Danger (Been So Long)", which made the top-20 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart in the beginning of 2001.  With that exposure, the singer was signed to Jive Records, where she released her self-titled debut album in the autumn of 2001. That was preceded by the single "Don't Mess With The Radio", which slipped on to the Hot 100 at #90, and the R&B Singles list at #85. But in Australia, the song went all the way to #14, causing her debut to be released there month before the U.S.. In that time, a second single "Run Away (I Wanna Be With U)" which featured rapper Pusha T (then of the duo The Clipse), which was paired with "Radio" in the UK for a single that almost made their top-40 at #48. 

For the third single from the record, Jive released another "Mess" song, "Don't Mess With My Man", in the early summer of 2002. Produced by Bryan-Michael Cox, the track was written by him with Brandon Casey of the vocal group Jagged Edge, who also with his brother Brian appear as featured singers on the single. Jagged Edge were in a high point of their career, with their song "Where The Party At" spending five weeks at #3 on the Hot 100 in the fall of 2001. They would also be featured on rapper Fabolous' hit "Trade It All (Part 2)" which hit the top 20 on the Hot 100 in the autumn of 2002. The lyrics are a sassy warning to the other ladies, that she worked hard to get this man and they better not try stealing him (even referencing the parody single "No Pigeons" and well as her own "Danger" in the process). The Caseys come in with the same message for the guys who try to play their game for her, and their harmonies work well here. The production is standard Destiny's Child template. Only the chorus ends on a weird drop-off, which is weird. Otherwise, it's a slick and entertaining club track to bop your head to. The music video features Nivea and the brothers cavorting and singing in the streets, and for once doesn't look too canned...

"Don't Mess With My Man" reached the top ten on Billboard's Hot 100 in December of 2002, while surprisingly only reaching #25 on their R&B Singles chart. On the radio, the song peaked at #4 on the Mainstream Top-40 airplay chart and #5 on the dance/R&B-oriented Rhythmic format, but stopped at #29 on the R&B Airplay list. Internationally, the single made the top-10 in France (#8) and New Zealand (#10), while it climbed into the top-40 in Canada (#15 Sales) and Australia (#28), but JUST missed that mark in the United Kingdom at #41. The Nivea album, released in September of that year, climbed to #80 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, and #35 on the R&B Albums list. At the Grammy Awards in 2003, "Don't Mess With My Man" was nominated for Best R&B Duo/Group Vocal Performance, losing to Stevie Wonder and Take 6's live cover of Stevie's "Love's In Need Of Love Today".

A fourth single from the Nivea record, "Laundromat", which was written and produced by R. Kelly, who also sings on the record though he wasn't named on the label. That may have not evoked the fervor it would have otherwise, and in America it only went to #40 on Billboard's R&B Singles chart and #58 on the Hot 100. In the UK, however, it made the top-40 on the British Singles chart at #33 (it was paired with "Don't Mess With My Man"). 

Nivea will be back to the series.

(5/10)

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Here's Nivea performing the song on Showtime At the Apollo...

Up tomorrow: Singer-songwriter explores anatomy.