Songoftheday 08/02/24 - Bushes we won't beat around, bushes we just eat 'em now...
"Gigolo" - Nick Cannon featuring R. Kelly
from the album Nick Cannon (2003)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #24 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 14
Today's song comes from Nick Cannon, who grew up on the rough side of San Diego, California, where he had initially started a music career in a group called Da G4 Dope Bomb Squad while being a "child actor" in Nickelodeon channel shows All That and spin-off Kenan & Kel. In 2001 he was signed to Jive Records as a rapper, releasing his self-titled debut album in 2003. At the time, he was being promoted as a multi-facet entertainer, starring in the movie Can't Buy Me Love with fellow music artist Christina Milian. Nick even gradutated to have his own program on the network, The Nick Cannon Show, which pulled A-list music stars as guests. After a first single, "Your Pops Don't Like Me", stiffed, his second try, "Feelin' Freaky", which featured the R&B vocal group B2K which just topped the pop charts with "Bump Bump Bump", climbed to #46 on Billboard magazine's R&B Singles chart and snuck on to the all-genre Hot 100 at #92. That track was co-written and co-produced by R. Kelly, who was still hanging on to approval from his fanbase in the face of increasing charges against him, even returning to the top 10 at the close of 2003 with "Step In The Name Of Love".
For the third single from the debut, Nick got Kelly completely on board to co-write, produce, and sing on "Gigolo". But the results are Kelly helping Cannon painting himself to be an even more creepier fuckboi than even Kelly aspired to be (on record at least), posturing for the ladies but making no pretense that he is in no way looking for a steady thing. There are some truly cringy lines here, including the blog title quote as well as "Shorty call me Scarecrow, I'm looking for some brain". Oof. The production is sparse, which makes the sing-song melody on the chorus even more noticeable. But it fit the pop-rap of the time, even if it was an homage to Nate Dogg, and MTV, which Cannon would gain more clout on later, jumped on board, and Nick found himself with his biggest success...
"Gigolo" became Cannon's first and only top-40 hit on Billboard's Hot 100 in January of 2004, while peaking at #21 on their R&B Singles chart and #9 on the Rap Songs list. On the radio, the song hit #20 on the Mainstream Top-40 chart. The Nick Cannon album, released in December of 2003, crested at #83 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, and #15 on the R&B Albums list.
A final single from the record, album opener "Get Crunk Shorty" with rappers the Ying Yang Twins and Fatman Scoop, pretty much stiffed at that time.
In 2005, Cannon attempted a return with music recorded for a soon-to-be-aborted second album, with the anti-choice track "Can I Live?" stalling at #85 on the R&B Singles chart. (Karma's a bitch, Nick.) The following year, he resurfaced on Motown with "Dime Piece", which sampled Bell Biv Devoe's "Poison", but also went cold at #70 on the R&B Singles list.
But by that time, Nick was getting much more attention by hosting the MTV comic roast battle show Wild N Out, which is still going on as of 2023 in its 20th season. He also married Mariah Carey in 2008, filing for divorce in 2014 when he released the now-forgotten White People Party Music on his on N'Credible label. He's been a near-constant presence on television, first as host of America's Got Talent, and most recently as the host of the American version of The Masked Singer. But like most the other D-listers on that show (Jenny McCarthy, Robin Thicke), he's devolved into a cultist lunatic, first losing multiple gig's with anti-semitic remarks (which he sheepishly apologized for), and supporting Kanye (MAGA crazy) West in his fake big for president in 2020. But his name comes up more because of his "baby daddy" status to a dozen kids (one which died in infancy). He mostly tours as a comic now. His most recent album, The Explicit Tape: Raw & B, came out in 2022.
For what it's worth, Cannon disavows his career-making turn with Kelly, who will be back to the series.
(2/10)
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