Songoftheday 5/8/24 - They callin' me to come back to the streets, Sean P. a/k/a Sharp Crease...

 

 

"Damn!" - Youngbloodz featuring Lil' Jon

from the album Drankin' Patnaz (2003)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #4 (three weeks)

Weeks in the Top-40: 25

 

Today's song comes from the rap duo Youngbloodz, who hail from the hip-hop hub of Atlanta. Sean Paul (not to be confused with the dancehall hitmaker) Joseph and Jeffrey "J-Bo" Grigsby were schoolmates who started when they were young. The duo was discovered and taken in by the local indie label Ghett-O-Vision, who put out their first single "U-Way (How We Do It)", which climbed to #46 on Billboard magazine's R&B Singles chart. With that momentum, the pair were signed until LaFace Records under Arista distribution for their debut album Against da Grain, which was released in 1999 and included that song. A second single, "85" featuring Big Boi of Outkast, was a minor R&B hit at #53. The album came in at #92 on the Billboard 200 sales tally and #21 on the R&B Albums list.

For their sophomore effort, Sean Paul and J-Bo were moved laterally to Jermaine Dupri's So So Def imprint. In 2003, they came back with Drinkin' Patnaz. The lead single from the record, "Cadillac Pimpin'", an ode to the elderly auto brand, managed to only spend four weeks on the R&B Singles chart with a high of #93. But the follow-up brought out the big guns. "Damn!" was produced and featured the King of Crunk, Lil' Jon, who had landed in the top ten himself just weeks before with "Get Low". The verses are just free-flowing braggadocio and branding, with the chorus the only thing grounding it with the "If you don't give a damn, we don't give a f*ck" chant. But it's the production, which definitely is the precursor to the immensely more popular future Usher smash "Yeah!" with the same synth pattern albeit a slightly different key. And instead of Usher crooning Sean P and J-Bo growl their raps like some background noise...

"Damn" became Youngbloodz' first and only top-40 hit as a lead artist on Billboard's Hot 100 in November of 2003, while spending three weeks at #2 on their R&B Singles chart and topping the Rap Songs list for a week. On the radio, the song took a week at #1 on the Mainstream R&B airplay chart, came in at #5 on the dance/R&B-oriented Rhythmic format, and slipped on to the Dance Airplay list for a peak of #25. The Drinkin' Patnaz album, released in August of that year, entered at #5 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, and spent a week at #1 on the R&B Albums chart, going on to sell over a half million copies. 

A third and final single, "Lean Low" featuring Backbone, spent a month in the lowest rung of the R&B Singles chart with a high of #94. Two years later, Youngbloodz and Lil Jon would be featured on R&B singer Nivea's song "Okay", which slipped on to the Hot 100 top-40 at #40.

The Youngbloodz went back to LaFace for their third and most recent studio album together, Ev'rybody Knows Me, which got to #7 on the R&B Albums chart in 2005 but stalled outside the Billboard 200 top-40 at #44. Three of it's singles made the R&B chart, with only "Presidential" making the top-40 at #28, while slipping on to the Hot 100 at #81. However, after the pair were arrested for weapons and drug charges that were eventually cleared, it seems their career was sidelined. Sean Paul (going as Sean P) did some features that will bring him back to the series. 

(3/10)

Here they are performing live on MTV...

Up tomorrow: This Philly rap duo is perpetual.