Robbed hit of the week 5/13/24 - Blu Cantrell's "Breathe"...

 

 

"Breathe" - Blu Cantrell featuring Sean Paul

from the album Bittersweet (2003)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #70

 

This week's "robbed hit" comes from R&B singer Blu Cantrell, whose breakthrough single "Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops)" rose all the way to the runner-up spot on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart in the summer of 2001. In 2003, Blu returned with her second (and so far most recent) album, Bittersweet. Bringing in high-profile producers like Mike City, Chris "Tricky" Stewart, and Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs, the album was meant to build on the momentum of her debut hit. The lead single from the set, "Breathe", featured one of the hottest new acts on the scene, dancehall artist Sean Paul, who had gone to #1 with his own "Get Busy" and was about to spend over two months at the top with his collaboration with Beyonce, "Baby Boy". The song was written by the team of Richard Bembery, Melvin Bradford, Stephon Harris, and Alvin Joiner, using a prominent sample of the instrumental to Dr. Dre's album cut "What's The Difference?", giving credit to rapper Eminem, producers Ivan Matias and Andrea Martin, and the writer of the sample for that track, French chanson king Charles Azvanour. The Aznavour sample, filtered through the hip-hop beats of the Dre version, harkens to Blu's first hit, with the bouncy brass groove anchoring the sway in the record. 

While Breathe was a decently modest radio hit, reaching the top-40 on Billboard's Mainstream Top-40 (#36), Dance Airplay (#22), and Rhythmic (#23) format charts, the lack of a CD single was a factor in it stalling down in the lower parts of the Hot 100 (sales & airplay) in August of 2003, while only making it to #83 on the R&B Singles list. The remixes of the song, done by Andy & The Lamboy, were more warmly received in the clubs, and it climbed to #17 on Billboard's Dance Club Play chart. Internationally, though, it was a totally different story, where it was a worldwide smash, hitting #1 in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Romania, and reaching the top ten in Croatia (#3), the Netherlands (#4), Switzerlands (#5), Norway (#6), Germany (#7), Denmark (#7), Australia (#8), and Hungary (#8). It also made the top-40 in Austria (#11), France (#13), Sweden (#14), Belgium (#15 Wallonia/#22 Flanders), and Italy (#28). The Bittersweet album, released in June of 2003, reached the top-40 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, and #8 on the R&B Albums list. At the Grammy Awards in 2004, Bittersweet was nominated for Best R&B Album, losing to Luther Vandross' sentimental pick Dance With My Father. A second single from the record overseas, "Make Me Wanna Scream" featuring Ian Lewis from the reggae band Inner Circle, was a top-40 hit in the UK (#24) and Ireland (#33). Meanwhile, the lush track "Sleep In The Middle" got some play on the Adult R&B format in the States, peaking at #27.

 

(8/10)

 

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Here's the album version with doesn't include Sean Paul...

 

 Next up, an edit of the Andy and the Lamboy remix with was a minor club hit...

Cantrell performed the song on The Tonight Show....