Twostepcublog

    " Scandalous " - Mis-Teeq from the album Eye Candy (2003 UK) and Mis-Teeq (2004 US) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #35 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 3   Today's song comes from the female R&B vocal group Mis-Teeq, who came together in London at the end of the 1990s originally calling themselves Face2Face. After a couple of personnel charges and being signed by British major label Telstar, lead singer Sabrina Washington along with Alesha Dixon, Zena McNally, and Su-Elise Nash released their debut single " Why " in 2001, which climbed to #8 on the British Singles chart.  Despite that success, McNally left the group feeling put in the backdrop (the "Destiny's Child" effect). She would go on to have two minor hits in the UK, with " Been Around The World " almost making the top-40 at #44 in 2004. The remaining trio released their first album Lickin' On Both Sides which went to #3 on the British Albums chart, and spun off an incredib...

    " I Like That " - Houston featuring Chingy, Nate Dogg, and I-20 from the album It's Already Written (2004) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #11 (three weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 16   Today's song comes from R&B singer Houston (Summers IV), who grew up in Los Angeles, and went to a music-centric high school before eventually being signed by Capitol Records. In the spring of 2004, Houston (recording just under his first name) released his first single from his upcoming debut album It's Already Written . "I Like That", written by Summers with producers Alonzo Lee and Shamar Daugherty, aka the Trak Stars, as well as hired hand Mischke Butler (who co-wrote songs for the Spice Girls and Britney Spears), as well as the two featured rappers and one featured singer on the track. Chingy was red hot at the time for his trio of top ten pop hits (" Right Thurr ", " Holidae In ", and " One Call Away "), while Nate Dogg had sang on a sl...

    " Southside " - Lloyd featuring Ashanti from the album Southside (2004) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #24 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 11   Today's song comes from R&B singer Lloyd Polite Jr., who performs under just his first name (confusing I know, since at the same time rapper Lloyd Banks was on the scene). Lloyd who grew up in Georgia, had been singing from a very young age, and was initially part of a boy-band put together by a member of the R&B group Klymaxx, Joyce Irby. However that act never got much notice, and evenutally Lloyd moved to New York City and got signed as a solo singer for rapper Ja Rule and producer Irv Gotti's label Murder Inc, which had morph to just "the Inc." by the 2000s.    Lloyd released his debut album Southside in the summer of 2004, with the title track put out as a single a few months before. "Southside", written by Irby, Traci Hale, producer Wirlie Morris, and Tab Nkhereanye, had Lloyd conversing with...

    " Diary " - Alicia Keys featuring Tony! Toni! Tone'! from the album The Diary Of Alicia Keys (2003) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #8 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 25   Today's song comes from singer/songwriter/producer Alicia Keys , whose sophomore album Diary Of Alicia Keys had already spun off a pair of quality top ten hits on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 with " You Don't Know My Name " and " If I Ain't Got You ".  The third single from the record was the de facto title track "Diary". Produced by Alicia, who wrote the song with her then-partner Kerry "Krucial" Brothers Jr., the lyrics have Keys comparing herself to the titular journal, where her partner can confide in his deepest secrets. Backing her up on the choruses was the "reunion" of R&B group Tony! Toni! Tone'! , who were last seen in the series on their double-sided top-40 hit "Let's Get Down" and "Thinking Of You...

    " Live Like You Were Dying " - Tim McGraw from the album Live Like You Were Dying (2004) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #30 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 14   Today's song comes from country music artist Tim McGraw , who took control of his career and recorded an album with his tour band, eschewing the studio vets usually forced on him. That set, Tim McGraw and the Dancehall Doctors , spun off four singles that went top ten on Billboard magazine's Country Songs airplay chart and crossed over to the top 40 on the Hot 100 with " Red Rag Top ", " She's My Kind Of Rain ", " Real Good Man ", and " Watch The Wind Blow By ".  Though they didn't get a label bill on his next studio release, Live Like You Were Dying , Tim brought back the Dancehall Doctors for the record as well. The title track, written by Tim Nichols and Craig Wiseman, was released as the lead single. The lyrics have Tim having a conversation with a man who h...

    " Lean Back " - Terror Squad from the album True Story (2004) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (three weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 27   Today's song comes from the Terror Squad, a hip-hop collective put together by rappers Jose " Fat Joe " Cartagena and Christopher "Big Punisher" Rios in New York City in the mid-1990s. with a backup of rappers they released a collaborative album Terror Squad: The Album on Atlantic Records in 1995, which came out in 1999, a year after Big Pun had a top-40 hit with " Still Not A Player ". The self-titled set went to #22 on the Billboard 200 sales tally and #4 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, but it was more from the names involved - radio gave it a pass. Joe and Pun went back to their solo careers, but while Big Pun was readying his next set, he passed away in 2000. Joe, though, went on to see his own career break, with his fourth album  Jealous Ones Still Envy a year later spinning of two top-40 hits on  ...

    " Let's Be Us Again " - Lonestar from the album Let's Be Us Again (2004) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #38 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 2   Today's song comes from the country crossover band Lonestar, who had topped their greatest hits compilation with a new song, " My Front Porch Looking In ", which went to #1 on Billboard magazine's Country Songs chart and reached the top-40 on the all-genre Hot 100 in the early summer of 2003. In the spring of the following year, the group returned with their fifth studio album on BNA Records, Let's Be Us Again , with the title track as the lead single. Written by lead singer Richie McDonald along with Tommy Lee James and Maribeth Derry, the lyrics have McDonald pleading with his other half to make up after a fight. The production from Dann Huff is gentle and giving to Richie's apologies... "Let's Be Us Again" returned Lonestar to the top-40 on the Hot 100 in June of 2004, while reaching ...

    " U Should've Known Better " - Monica from the album After The Storm (2003) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #19 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 14   Today's song comes from R&B singer Monica, who had returned to the top ten on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart in the summer of 2003 with " So Gone ". That came from Monica's third album After The Storm , which came after a tumultuous time when her planned set All Eyez On Me was scuttled after leaks, and her ex-boyfriend took his life in front of her, leaving a child that wasn't hers that she took in. The second single from the record, a newer track " Knock Knock ", peaked at #24 on Billboard 's R&B Singles chart and stopped at #75 on the Hot 100.  Meanwhile, another track from the record, " Get It Off " was remixed by That Kid Chris and promoted to clubs, and rose to #13 on Billboard 's Dance Club Play chart.  The fourth and final single from the record was like...

    " Ocean Avenue " - Yellowcard from the album Ocean Avenue (2003) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #37 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 5   Today's song comes from the band Yellowcard , who originally came together as a punk band by Florida college students in the late 1990s. Lead singer Ben Dobson, guitarist Ben Harper, guitarist/vocalist Todd Clary, drummer Longineau Parsons, violinist Sean Mackin, and bass player Warren Cooke released an indie album Midget Tossing in 1997, followed by Where We Stand two years later. However, shortly thereafter Dobson and Clary were booted as the group veered towards the pop-punk radio-friendly sound that was gaining traction at the time, adding Ryan Key as his replacement for their third disc on California indie Lobster Records, One For The Kids, in 2001. After an EP on the pop-punk giant Fueled By Ramen label (who would eventually break Fall Out Boy) a year later, Cooke also departed, but with gaining fan buzz Yellowcard were signed to Ca...

    " 99 Problems " - Jay-Z from the album The Black Album (2003) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #30 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 2   Today's song comes from rapper Jay-Z , whose first purported "retirement" release The Black Album had scored a pair of top ten hits on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 with " Change Clothes " and " Dirt On Your Shoulder ", a big feat for a hip-hop artist with "street" appeal since the days of G-funk.  Between those two hits the album track "What More Can I Say" got enough airplay to make Billboard 's R&B Singles chart, and after the latter at the start of 2004 the Kanye West-assisted song " Encore " made the R&B top-40 at #30, while "bubbling under" the Hot 100 at #106. ("Encore" will be in this series by way of its revamped "mash-up" with Linkin Park).  The third and final promoted single from The Black Album was "99 Problems"....

    " Dip It Low " - Christina Milian from the album It's About Time (2004) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #5 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 20   Today's song comes from R&B singer Christina Milian , who after guesting on rapper Ja Rule's nearly top ten hit " Between Me And You " in 2000, scored her first lead top-40 hit on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 in the autumn of the following year with " AM to PM ". However in the turn of the millennium merger chaos, her label Def Soul had shifted and would eventually be put in with its "parent" imprint Def Jam. Milian was moved over to another Universal label, Island, for her sophomore effort It's About Time , which came out four years after her debut. The lead single from the set was the club track "Dip It Low". Written by the singer with producer Polli Paul along with Teedra Moses, the production casts Christina in an Southern Asian backdrop, as she coos about treating her...

    " Turn Me On " - Kevin Lyttle featuring Spragga Benz from the album Kevin Lyttle (2004) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #4 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 20   Today's song comes from Kevin Lyttle , who grew up as Lescott Coombs in the Caribbean island nation of St Vincent and The Grenadines (which became fully independent when he was three). Using his own nest egg and also using his two middle names, Kevin recorded his first music single, "Turn Me On", which became a regional hit in the islands. With that buzz, and a sound, in the reggae-adjacent genre of soca , that stood apart from the rest, he was signed to Atlantic Records, who released "Turn Me On" with a "remix" for radio featuring Jamaican dancehall DJ Carlton "Spragga Benz" Grant.  The track, newly produced by Adrian Bailey and Jeremy Wheatley, reworks the lyrics to R&B vocal group 112's 1998 album cut " All My Love ", giving its seven composers writing cr...

    " Welcome Back " - Ma$e from the album Welcome Back (2004) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #32 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 4   Today's song comes from rapper Mason Betha, who performs under the nickname Ma$e , who was one of Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs' most successful protege's on his Bad Boy Records label, topping the Billboard 200 sales tally with his debut album Harlem World , which also spun off three top ten hit singles on the Hot 100 chart with " Feel So Good ", " What You Want ", and " Lookin' At Me " in 1997 through 1998. However when he quickly returned the next year with the harder-hitting sophomore effort Double Up , Ma$e had a change of heart renouncing this path, and announcing his retirement from music to pursue college studies, tanking the promotion of the album, which started at #11 on the Billboard 200 but only sold a half million, a fraction of his first set. The lead single from the record, the Shalam...

    " If You Ever Stop Loving Me " - Montgomery Gentry from the album You Do Your Thing (2004) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #30 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 5   Today's song comes from the country-rock duo Montgomery Gentry , whose third album My Town had landed them a second hit that crossed over to the Top-40 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 with its title track in the late fall of 2002. Two years later, Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry returned with their fourth release on Columbia Nashville Records You Do Your Thing . The lead single from the record was "If You Ever Stop Loving Me", written by Bob DiPiero, Rivers Rutherford, and Tom Shapiro. The lyrics start out with some nostalgic child abuse, and goes on to have them sing about how everyone is against them except for their partner, which they proclaim is the only thing getting them through. The production from Rutherford is square in the southern rock vein, with a melodic hook that seems vaguely famil...