Robbed hit of the week 1/15/24 - Baby's "What Happened To That Boy"...

 

 

"What Happened To That Boy" - Baby featuring Clipse

from the album Birdman (2002)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #45 (three weeks)

 

This week's "robbed hit" comes from label head Bryan Williams of Cash Money Records, who was also releasing his own music as a rapper in 2002 under the name "Baby", though with and "aka Birdman" that would eventually become his chosen moniker. After scoring a hit with producer/rapper Mannie Fresh as the Big Tymers with "Still Fly", Baby broke out on his own with the crossover hit "Do That..." in the beginning of 2003. For the follow-up single, Baby collected another rap duo, who had scored a pair of crossover top-40 hits on the Hot 100 themselves in 2002 with "Grindin'" and "When The Last Time". The result was "What Happened To That Boy", produced by Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo of The Neptunes, who had helmed the two hits for the Clipse, though accusations of the team not getting paid in the end caused the Neptunes never to produce for the label. The Clipse dominate the track with Malice and Pusha T handling the first and third verses respectivly, and Baby grabbing the second and the outro. The lyrics are the usual gun violence and brand name porn fodder, with the title a sarcastic jab on the guy who they felt had it coming to them. It's the same drug and gangsta product but with an even more grittier deliver, but the Neptunes deliver a better-than-deserved groove to the affair. The music video, which has the trio roaming the not so good streets of New Orleans, is pretty damn threatening in itself...

While "What Happened To That Boy" did better that "Do That" on Billboard magazine's R&B Singles chart at #14, it stalled under the top-40 on their all-genre Hot 100 in March of 2003, while almost making the top ten on the Rap Singles list at #11. On the radio, the song peaked at #15 on the Mainstream R&B airplay chart, and popped on to the dance/R&B-oriented Rhythmic format list at #38. 

A third release from the Birdman album, "Baby You Can Do It", had A-lister Toni Braxton singing on it, and Tim "Timbaland" Mosley producing, and interpolating a known hit (SOS Band's "Take Your Time (Do It Right)" but somehow flopped. 

(2/10)

Ed. Note: You know, with singles like this, I feel regretful naming this series of also-rans "robbed hits", but in the name of continuity it'll stay but know that the "robbed" more means its proximity to the upper echelon than its quality at times.