Songoftheday 1/16/24 - Got somebody she's a beauty very special really and truly,t ake good care of me like it's her duty want you right by my side night and day...

 

"No Letting Go" - Wayne Wonder

from the album No Holding Back (2003)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #11 (three weeks)

Weeks in the Top-40: 21

 

Today's song comes from dancehall music artist Wayne Wonder, who grew up Von Wayne Charles in the northeastern parish of Portland in Jamaica.  Wayne grew a local following, and in 1987 released his debut album One More Chance on the indie label Pickout. Yearning for a wider audience, Wonder left for the more prestigious reggae imprint VP, putting out a self-titled album in 1992 that also saw his first release in the United States. Like many artists in the genre, Wayne flitted between labels, releasing four more albums under three different labels. But being signed to VP brought the singer and rapper to a wider set of resources, while the turn of the century saw him evolving his style from the "pure" reggae sound to a fusion with hip-hop and R&B. 

 

With this direction becoming more palatable to the mainstream, VP partnered with Atlantic Records to distribute his seventh studio effort No Holding Back.The lead single from the record was "No Letting Go", written by Wayne with producer Steven "Lenky" Marsden (who also helmed yesterday's SOTD "Get Busy" by Sean Paul). And like Paul's then-future #1 hit, "No Letting Go" featured the Indian-inspired "Diwali Rhythm" to anchor the track. The lyrics are, well, interesting, having Wonder first extolling the virtues of "his woman" that he's "glad he dated". But by the second verse he explains that they're not together, on account of his cheating. But he's still saying she's by his side, though in the patois it's hard to discern the tense he's singing about. But all in all it's not the party track that "Get Busy" is, even with the same production hook behind it. Wayne sings like he's auditioning for New Edition, and he's emotive enough to carry off the dichotomy of the verses. The musical backdrop is more soul than reggae, but the rhythm throws a nice punch into the mix. The video for the single tried to make the breakup a little more apparent by slipping in a little bit of album closer "The Saddest Day" before segueing to "No Letting Go"...

"No Letting Go" became Wonder's first, biggest, and only top-40 hit on Billboard magazine's Hot 100, just missing the top ten in May of 2003, while climbing to #14 on their R&B Singles chart and #7 on the Rap Singles list (though there really isn't rapping in this). On the radio, the song peaked at #10 on the Mainstream Top-40 chart, #13 on the Mainstream R&B Airplay list, #35 on the older-skewing Adult R&B station tally, and #8 on the dance/R&B-oriented Rhythmic format. Internationally, the single hit the top ten in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands (both at #3), while reaching the top-40 in Ireland (#21), Belgium (#21 Flanders), Sweden (#23), Switzerland (#24), Canada (#26 sales), Germany (#31), and France (#37). The No Holding Back album, released in March of that year, came in at #29 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, #10 on the R&B Albums chart, and #2 on the Reggae Albums list. At the Grammy awards in 2004, No Holding Back was nominated for Best Reggae Album, losing to Sean Paul's Dutty Rock. 

The second single from the album, "Bounce Along", was a more upbeat song about dancing, but even with a New York-based video, it didn't get much attention in the States. It did do better across the pond, rising to #19 on the British singles chart. Meanwhile, another track from the record, the love ballad "Perfect Proposal", was able to place on Billboard's Rhythmic radio chart for a month with a high of #32. Also in 2003, he collaborated with rappers Capone-N-Noreaga and reggae artist Lexxus for the single "Anything Goes", which climbed to #85 on the R&B Singles chart. 

Like a lot of reggae artists who break through to pop, there was a flood of releases from indies putting out their older material, but Wonder's next true studio album Foreva didn't come until 2007, and didn't have the Atlantic machine behind it. Nevertheless, the set got to #6 on Billboard magazine's Reggae Albums chart. 

Wonder's most recent album My Way was released on his own Singso imprint in 2012. Since then he's put out sporadic singles, with "Find A Way" arriving in 2023.

(6/10)

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Here's Wayne performing in a club in 2022...

and lastly, with just an acoustic guitar backup...

Up tomorrow: An R&B lothario gets expletively positive.