Songoftheday 11/4/24 - All up in the club looking fly, made your first approach and caught his eye...

 

 

"Move Ya Body" - Nina Sky featuring Jabba

from the album Nina Sky (2004)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #4 (one week)

Weeks in the Top-40: 22

 

Today's song is from the duo Nina Sky, who are twin sisters Nicole and Natalie Albino (they used the first two letters from each name for their moniker), who were born in Puerto Rico and grew up in Queens, New York. They were discovered by producers Elijah Wells & Lionel Bermingham (aka the Jettsonz), who would help them get signed to the Next Plateau label (which back in the day sported Salt-n-Pepa). The pair released their self-titled debut album in 2004, with the song "Move Ya Body" as the lead single. Written by the sisters and producers along with Luis Diaz and Cordel Burrell, the track uses the "Coolie dance" style of dancehall riddim (as suggested to them by another production duo, Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo of the Neptunes) as a foundation for a dance party track. The lyrics are simply about hooking up at a club, leading them on the dancefloor and presumably to other things. By the end they're interpolating the chorus to Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam's freestyle classic "Can You Feel The Beat", which is a pleasant throwback. Their vocal skills are pretty basic, but at least they can keep up with the tempo. Jabba, a rapper/toaster that really hasn't been noticed before or since, serves as the duo's hypeman. It's the production that sells this, with the bright Coolie riddim a nice change from the overused Diwali. The music video has them slinking around the club...

"Move Ya Body" became Nina Sky's biggest success, reaching the top ten on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 in August of 2004, while peaking at #14 on their R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart. On the radio, the song climbed to #5 on the Mainstream Top-40 chart, #18 on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop list, #6 on the dance/R&B-oriented Rhythmic format, and had its biggest showing on dance radio, topping Billboard's Dance Airplay chart for five weeks. Internationally, the single went to #1 in Croatia, and reached the top ten in Switzerland (#2), Canada (#3 Airplay), the Netherlands (#5), Belgium (#5 Wallonia/#11 Flanders), the United Kingdom (#6), New Zealand (#6), Germany (#7), and Denmark (#7). It also made the top-40 in Norway (#15), Italy (#16), Austria (#20), France (#21), Ireland (#22), Australia (#25), Sweden (#31), and Romania (#37). The Nina Sky album, released in June of that year, came in at #44 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, and #21 on the R&B Albums list, not as strong as what the single's success would predict.

A second single from their debut, "Turnin' Me On" featuring a future superstar in the field, Pitbull, as well as dancehall artist Cham, stalled at #74 on the R&B Singles chart. They did better when they were featured on rapper N.O.R.E.'s "Oye Mi Canto", which will be in this series.

In 2007, Nicole and Natalie were preparing their second album, but after delays from the label left it for Polo Grounds Records imprint on J Records. However after lead single "Curtain Call" with Rick Ross (who also will be in this series) stiffed on the R&B chart at #79, they eventually litigated themselves out of that company without the release of an album. 

Since then, the pair appeared on Major Lazer's single "Keep It Goin' Louder", which peaked at #4 on Billboard's Dance Club Play chart in 2009. A year later, Nicole came out as a lesbian, and the duo continue to release music independently. 

(5/10)

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Here's Nina Sky performing on Top of the Pops...

and lastly, the pair from this year at their home in New York...

Up tomorrow: This Canadian doesn't want to hear it.