Songoftheday 3/14/24 - Now that love's taken over I'm 100% sure that it's here to stay...
"4 Ever" - Lil' Mo featuring Fabolous
from the album Meet The Girl Next Door (2003)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #37 (two weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 3
Today's song comes from singer and rapper Cynthia Loving, who records as Lil' Mo, whose debut album Based On A True Story had spun off a crossover hit in its second single "Superwoman", which was tweaked into a "Part II" remix that rose to #11 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 in the spring of 2001. However an attack on her that summer had not only derailed the promotion of the album but affected the artist's psyche greatly of course. Thankfully, Lil Mo eventually bounced back, and was featured on two big hits from radio DJ/rapper Angie Martinez with "If I Could Go!" and Fabolous, who had guested on "Superwoman", with his top ten "Can't Let You Go". She also followed Martinez's lead, appearing as a radio host sporadically.
Mo returned in 2003 with her sophomore effort Meet The Girl Next Door. The lead single from the record paired her again with Fabolous on "4 Ever". Written by the pair with producers Brian-Michael Cox and Craig Love, the song does a callback to her first hit in the intro, before settling into a breezy Mary J. Blige-esque groove about wanting to settle down herself with her man. It's notable how strong Loving's vocals are on this one, and the production fleshes it out with tight harmonies that recall the early-90's R&B group era while letting her voice not get drowned out. It's nothing groundbreaking, but it's very well executed, and deserved to have a wider audience. But Lil Mo and Fabolous (whose verse is nice but not striking) managed to get back into the top 40 with the song...
"4 Ever" became Lil Mo's second top-40 hit on the Hot 100 as a lead artist in June of 2003, while climbing to #13 on Billboard's R&B Singles chart. On the radio, the song went to #24 at the dance/R&B-oriented Rhythmic format chart. The Meet The Girl Next Door album, released in April of that year, came in at #17 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, and #4 on the R&B Albums list.
The second single from the album, "Ten Commandments" with fellow diminutive rapper Lil' Kim, missed both the pop and R&B charts (though coming a notch away on the latter's "bubbling under" list). Instead, an off-the-fly answer record to 50 Cent's #1 hit "21 Questions" called "21 Answers" featuring multi-hyphenate artist Free, went to #50 on the R&B Single chart, and appeared on a re-release of the album. After the lackluster push behind the album Lil Mo left Elektra Records which was in its waning years as it was.
The singer/rapper signed on with Cash Money Records, and began to record a new album there. However after a lead single "Hot Girls" with Lil Wayne failed to make the main pop and R&B charts, and follow-up "Dem Boyz" stalled at #86 on the R&B list, the project was cancelled. The problem was that Cash Money didn't know how to handle a good singer like Loving.
Loving's eventual third Lil Mo album, Pain & Paper, came out on the indie label Drakeweb Record in 2007, and took a sole week at #112 on the Billboard 200 and peaking at #14 on the R&B Albums list. Since then, Lil Mo has release two more studio albums independently, most recently The Scarlet Letter in 2014. She's semi-retired from music, but frequently appears on television, showing up on both the R&B Divas and Love & Hip-Hop reality show franchises.
(6/10)
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Up tomorrow: The country newcomer wants a permanent break.
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