Album: No Doubt (Biv 10/ Motown; 1996)
Songwriters: Chad Elliot, Missy Elliott, George R. Pearson and Sting
R&B Peak Position: #12
"You stay on my mind/ Think about you all the time/ Got to get to know you well/ If you kiss then I won't tell"
Before there was Blaque and Destiny's Child, we had 702, a teen-aged R&B girl group from Las Vegas who had suffered through a couple cast changes in between the years of their first chart appearance (the Top 5 Subway duet "This Lil' Game We Play") and their official jump-off joint. After losing two original members and gaining a new hire-on, the former-quartet-turned-trio (now consisting of sisters Irish and Lemisha Grinstead and brand new addition Kameelah Williams) returned in the fall of '96, introducing the masses to some new street lingo on a record that featured an exciting industry up-and-comer named Missy Elliott.
Based around a sample of The Police's funky Zenyatta Mondatta instrumental "Voices In My Head", jeep jam "Steelo" revamped the classic pop scenario of youthful infatuation with a little '90's hip hop swing. "I dig the way you move and the way you do your thang," Williams compliments to a certain attention-catcher who laces her insides with butterflies every time he's within eyesight. Her friends don't get his appeal, but she could care less what they think, working up the nerve to confront him and ask for his "name and number" cause his fly 'steelo' (translation: style) is just too damn hypnotizing.
"Steelo" was your typical, post-New Jack brand of R&B; but it had a secret weapon in Missy, whose appearance gave the track some much-needed zest. Sounding unlike anyone else in the urban music world, Elliott blesses the cut (which she deems "nasty like pornography") with quirky babbles that randomly reference the King of Pop and Shaquille O'Neal, while daring us to follow her "many, many, many miles". The crazy thing is we were so willing to comply, as Missy held a wacky "steelo" that felt like she had come from an entirely different galaxy.
702's alignment with Ms. "Misdemeanor" would prove even more fruitful a few years later when the girls' tapped Elliott to executive-produce their self-titled second album. That collection would yield the biggest hit of their career with the cutthroat, Missy-produced female anthem, "Where My Girls At?".
Best Moment: Missy's entire cameo.
DL: "Steelo" (YFH)
3 comments:
Let's not forget about this.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=zqpzB51zgk0
Or perhaps we WANT to forget about that.
"Cousin Skeeter" WAS the ish-nay!!
Forgot about that one!!
Wait...many, many, many miles? I've been thinking it was in n, in n, in n out for 10 years. This site is so educational!
Seriously, itunes should give you a cut because I have downloaded so many songs based on the stuff you have shown on here. Awesome site!
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