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The Rise and Fall of Danity Kane, Keri Hilson, Ciara, Lil Mama, and Kelis
March 11th, 2021, marked the one-year anniversary of restrictions on basically anything from hugging friends to closed international borders as a result of COVID-19. This gave society an opportunity to slow down and reflect on happier times, which has bolstered nostalgia marketing. "There’s some apparent phenomenon wherein every generation waxes nostalgic over the generation that preceded it two decades prior, and as this natural succession has it, we are in a new wave of ’00s nostalgia," said Garrett Graveley in the Dallas Observer. After watching The New York Times Presents: Framing Britney Spears documentary, nostalgic thoughts led me to think about those problematic early '00s female R&B/Rap artists and consider how their careers came to abrupt stops?
Critics continuously argue that the dot-com boom ruined good music in the revolutionary era, but fail to acknowledge how that period influenced the integration of R&B, pop, and rap crossovers. It was also apparent that male pop/R&B stars (cough, cough Justin Timberlake) felt threatened by female teen independent artists and prosperous girl groups. When male artists lose control of a situation, their toxic masculinity spills into female artists' successes and leaves them to become one-hit-wonder statistics. In order for a music artist to have a successful career, they must remain relevant to the era and be relatable to the audience. Popular '00s icons such as Danity Kane, Kelis, Ciara, Keri Hilson, and Lil Mama are prime examples of mainstream artists that could have successful careers during this present time. However, due to poor marketing and an unclear career trajectory for these women, their chances of living out their wildest dreams quickly came to an end.
In retrospect, I wonder if the record labels genuinely had the artists’ best interests and believed that they would have a chance for an everlasting career. When researching Danity Kane's background, it's interesting to see how many groups P. Diddy had created from the hit television show Making the Band. Diddy created five musical groups for the reality MTV show that focused on ambitious young artists interested in a music career. P. Diddy's goal was to put together a supergroup that would change the music industry. However, none of the artists have thrived, and rumor has it that P. Diddy ruined all five of the music groups’ careers. Danity Kane is the only group to have success, but was shortened as a result of P. Diddy’s record label Bad Boy Entertainment's failed attempts to meet the demands of the audience.
Danity Kane consisted of five women from different ethnic backgrounds: Wanita "D. Woods" Woodgett, Aundrea Fimbres, Dawn Richard, Aubrey O'Day, and Shannon Bex. The girl group formed on the third season of MTV's Making the Band reality television series. In 2005, the group signed to Bad Boy Entertainment and released their self-titled album a year later. The album sold over 90,000 copies on the first day of release and 234,000 within the first week. Danity Kane member Dawn stated on a podcast called Wild Wayne that the album could have performed better, but P. Diddy's team only produced 100,000 copies. His team wrongly forecasted that the group would not reach the same success as their competitor, Cassie. The management team lacked the agility to quickly find a solution to meet consumers’ needs and affected overall record sales from reaching full potential. Nonetheless, Danity Kane debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 Albums chart and eventually sold a million copies. Danity Kane's hit single, “Show Stopper” featuring Yung Joc, peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 -- knocking sensational veterans Christina Aguilera and Outkast off the chart.
Danity Kane never received any royalties from their album sales nor live performances. Even though the group grossed over a million dollars opening for Christina Aguilera's Back-to-Basics tour, somehow after the tour the group ended up $15,000 in debt. Around this time, the members of Danity Kane grew frustrated with P. Diddy's management team, and rumors about solo careers became omnipresent. Danity Kane took a short-term hiatus and regrouped for their second album, Welcome to The Dollhouse. Their sophomore album sold over 200,000 copies in the first week and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 Albums chart. Danity Kane became the first female band in history to have their freshman and sophomore album debut at number one on Billboard's 200 Albums chart. Shortly after Danity Kane hit this milestone, the group members gradually drifted apart because the media placed them in categories, e.g., the pretty one, the one who sings, and the best dancer. The tension in the group amplified when Aubrey and D. Woods received solo photoshoot opportunities. It was also speculated that P. Diddy had plans to commence Dawn's solo career when she joined him on stage at a performance. On Wild Wayne, Dawn confirmed that the rumor was false, and a solo career was never in the works.
During an interview with The Breakfast Club, Aubrey revealed the truth about the feud with Dawn and D. Woods. Aubrey noted that Dawn posted fallacies about the other group members on fan pages. Eventually, P. Diddy heard about the turmoil in the group and held an emergency meeting on national television. He was not pleased with Aubrey's cocky attitude and D. Woods’ inability to be resilient during hardships, which led him to fire them on the spot. Dawn, Aundrea, and Shannon were the remaining members of the group, but they knew that the absence of Aubrey and D. Woods was the beginning of the end. Shannon was discontent about the abrupt dismissal of her former group members and left Danity Kane in 2009. Aundrea was the next member to be expelled from Danity Kane because P. Diddy felt like she too did not have the courage to advocate for the group when challenges appeared. After Aundrea was let go from her contract, Dawn became the last woman standing with no other offers from P. Diddy or money to start a new chapter.
90's and 00's singer Kelis had a very similar experience with Pharell. Kelis's debut album Kaleidoscope was produced by The Neptunes in 1999, but stalled at number 144 on Billboard's 200 Albums chart. Her other singles, “Good Stuff” and “Get Along With You,” also underperformed in the US. During this period, Kelis was in her late teens with no aspiration to be a recording artist. She even stated in an interview that her desire was never to put out albums; it was to do musical theatre. When Kelis was 19-years-old, she met Pharrell and Chad Hugo,aka The Neptunes, through a mutual friend at a performing arts school. Since Kelis was new to the industry, she entrusted The Neptunes to guide her career in the right direction. “I thought it was a beautiful and pure, creative safe space… But it ended up not being that at all," Kelis said to The Guardian.
Kelis's friendship with The Neptunes landed her a record deal with Virgin Records. Despite Kelis not meeting US metrics, she took the UK market by storm. In February 2000, Kaleidoscope reached number 43 on the UK album chart, which led her to receive the Brit Award for International Breakthrough Act and the NME Award for Best R&B Soul Act. This did not resonate well with the young artist because she did not want her music to be strictly identified with a specific genre. Kelis pulled inspiration from several genres and made a seamless integration of pop, alternative rock, and R&B. Her creative inspirations ignited her punk alternative style, which separated her from other Black female singers in her era. Record labels and radio stations complained that they did not know how to sell her because she was a versatile artist who did not fit the common Black stereotypes. However, Kelis's various music genres attracted producers such as Calvin Harris, David Guetta, and will.i.am.
In 2003, the song “Milkshake” was released and easily carried the '00's. “Milkshake” is commonly identified with the hit teen comedy film, Mean Girls. The global popularity of the song earned Kelis a Grammy nomination for Best Urban Alternative performance in 2004. After Kelis album Tasty, she noticed that she did not receive any royalties from her first two albums: Kaleidoscope and Wanderland. Allegedly, Pharell and Chad Hugo kept all of the profits from her previous albums despite an agreement made to split the royalties three ways with each person receiving 33 percent. There was also a sense of jealousy from Pharell and Chad Hugo when Kelis would work with other producers on Tasty. In a 2020 interview with The Guardian, Kelis was asked if she would ever work with Pharell again. Her response was, “Ummm, at that point there’s having faith, and there is also just stupidity." In other words, no.
The lead single “Bossy” on Kelis’ fourth album Kelis Was Here, became her second-biggest global hit. Kelis Was Here, received a Grammy nomination for best contemporary R&B album in 2007. Unfortunately, Jive Records dropped Kelis from the label that same year. After this incident, Kelis took a hiatus and leveraged her talents into the culinary arts. She has made a few appearances on cooking reality tv shows which influenced her to publish, My Life on a Plate. The book goes in-depth about her personal story through food and briefly explained her hiatus from the music industry. In her book, she stated what led her to make an abnormal exit from the industry. "After Kelis Was Here, I was done...I was like, I will never put out another record again, I hate this business, I hate all these people. I was in this race that I didn't even realize that I was in. I woke up and ten years had passed. That was never my plan. My desire was never to put out albums, it was to do musical theatre!" Kelis’s culinary journey led her to release her 2014 album, Food.
Like Kelis and Danity Kane, R&B singer Ciara’s music career was left on the wayside due to an unsupportive team. Ciara's career started in 2004 with the release of her album Goodies, which is a crossover of crunk and R&B music. Ciara's soft vocals combined with crunk were favored by fans, and she was crowned the Princess of Crunk&B by music producer Jazze Pha. Unlike Danity Kane’s and Kelis’ producers, Jazze Pha was supportive of Ciara's career. Jazze Pha was aware that Ciara had a different energy from competitors like Rihanna and Beyoncé that inevitably set her apart. Ciara's brand capitalized on her body movements and the way she utilized her space. Her androgynous dance moves made her an incredible entertainer that contrasted her less than powerful voice. Ciara transferred the same energy and sound to her sophomore album, The Evolution. After the release of The Evolution, Ciara gradually became less ambitious, which reflected in her sales. However, in her defense, low first-week sales could have been avoided if LaFace Records had been swift with their responses when leaks of her songs prematurely surfaced on the internet.
Jazze Pha's management team became disappointed in Ciara's work ethic, and Ciara was no longer interested in a partnership with LaFace Records. Shortly after, Ciara moved to Epic Records in 2011. Her fifth studio album, Ciara, reached gold from collaborations with Future, Mike-Will-Made-It, and Rock City. The next album, Jackie, was also a success with 300,000 copies sold in the US. During this time, Ciara's focus on music dwindled. She shifted her interest to acting with lead roles in the MTV original movie, All You've Got, and straight-to-DVD film, Mama, I want to Sing!. Ciara also had a recurring role as herself on BET's hit series, The Game. In 2016, Ciara signed a contract with the elite modeling agency IMG Models. That same year, Ciara quietly composed new music undertaking an upbeat pop musical direction. In 2019, Beauty Marks debuted at number 17 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart with 19,900 in sales and had the lowest first-week sales amongst her first six albums (Ciara, 2015, para.1). Beauty Marks single “Level Up” gained global popularity from a dance challenge on the social media app TikTok, which made it the only successful song on the album. Ciara has been successful with her ad hoc projects, but reaching the same amount of stardom she once had in the music industry is unlikely.
Also, Ciara's R&B competitor, Keri Hilson’s club hit, “Turnin' Me On” featuring Lil Wayne made a robust breakthrough in 2008. Keri's rapid success converted her into becoming the next Beyoncé and Ciara's successor. However, Keri had to climb the ladder in the music industry before her solo career took off. Keri started as a profound songwriter who wrote numerous top-chatter songs for renowned artists such as Ludacris, Mary J. Blige, Ciara, Omarion, The Pussycat Dolls, and Britney Spears while enrolled at Emory University in Atlanta. Keri's talent was quickly recognized by the rapper Timbaland, who signed her to his label Mosley Music in 2006. A year later, Timbaland released his album, Shock Value, and the song, “The Way I Are” featuring Keri Hilson, was charted as number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 after remaining on the chart for ten weeks. Keri's monumental success with Timbaland transferred to her groundbreaking 2009 album, In A Perfect World... featuring Grammy-nominated hits “Knock You Down,” “Turnin Me On,” and “I Like.”
Even though Keri's solo career was at an all-time high, she continued to write music for potential collaborations with artists including Usher's popular hit, “Love in This Club, Pt.II.” Originally, Keri was supposed to be featured on the song, but was replaced with her competitor, Beyoncé. Beyoncé sang Keri's verses and allegedly took credit for writing her lyrics. As a response to the situation, Keri's producer convinced her to leak a diss-track, which was a remix to her song, “Turnin Me On.” “Your vision cloudy if you think that you da best, You can dance, she can sing, but need to move it to the left. She need to go have some babies, she need to sit down, she fake, them other chicks ain’t even worth talkin’ bot,” she sang. It is unclear if Keri was directly targeting Beyoncé, but the "To the Left'' reference is a passive-aggressive indicator that she was. The diss-track also included her feud with Ciara. "Go 'head and tell them folks how long I been writing your songs. I been puttin' you on, just check the credits, ho." Allegedly, Ciara responded to the diss-track in her song, “You Got Me.” However, the direct problem between Ciara and Keri was never addressed in interviews nor songs. Keri's feud with Beyoncé and Ciara made music labels skeptical to work with her. She failed to realize that Beyoncé and Jay-Z dominate the music industry and typically have the final say when approving projects. Beyoncé also has a strong fan-base known as the Beyhive that cyberbullied Keri via social media.
In 2010, Keri released her sophomore album, No Boys Allowed including Platinum Single, “Pretty Girl Rock.” Although, in comparison to her first album, In A Perfect World..., No Boys Allowed was less of a success. After Keri's second album, she also took a hiatus from the music industry and pursued a career in acting. Keri made her debut in the 2012 romantic comedy, Think Like A Man, and received several awards for her role as Heather. In 2016, Keri announced that she would be releasing new music on her upcoming album, L.I.A.R., that has yet to be released. Since Keri's announcement, she has not made any statements about the progress of her album.
Like Ciara and Keri, Hip-Hop and R&B artist Niatia Jessica Kirkland, aka Lil Mama, made a transition into acting as well. Lil Mama instantly rose to fame after her 2007 debut single “Lip Gloss” peaked at number ten on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. “Lipgloss” earned Lil Mama two Teen Choice Awards and Monster Single of the Year nominations at the MTV VMA's. Since Lil Mama became a teen sensation at the tender age of 17, her platform became known as the Voice of the Young People. “Lip Gloss”quickly developed into a mainstream dance anthem for young girls to enjoy aside from its rival song, “Crank That.” Amid her rise to fame, Lil Mama was also dealing with her mother battling breast cancer. Before stardom, Lil Mama had to take care of her seven siblings in addition to her mother. When she was a young child, her parents separated, but Lil Mama kept in close contact with her father, Allen Brunner, a musician and DJ. Allen Brunner acted as a consultant on her music team and helped her create a demo for DJ Enuff, who became essentially responsible for the launch of Lil Mama's career. In 2007, Lil Mama signed to Jive Records and released “Lipgloss.” Shortly after she signed to Jive Records, Lil Mama's mother lost her four-year battle with breast cancer. Unfortunately, Lil Mama did not have much time to grieve because she was in such high demand.
In early 2008, Lil Mama released her hit song,“Shawty Get Loose” featuring Chris Brown and T-Pain. AllMusic critic Ross Hoffman reviewed “Shawty Get Loose”, As a lite-R&B/dance banger which saved her from one-hit-wonder status." Despite Ross Hoffman's review, Lil Mama's song debuted at number ten on BET's show 106 & Park and reached number one on the chart in eight days.“Shawty Get Loose,” helped her gain a Teen Choice Award for Best Rap and Hip-Hop track. However, her success with “Shawty Get Loose” did not transfer to her album VYP-Voice of the Young People because Jive Records failed to deliver Lil Mama's work during a relevant time. The album only sold 19,000 copies in the first week, which was a disappointment in consideration of her renowned status.
Lil Mama did have a contingency plan in place as a judge on MTV’s reality show, America's Best Dance Crew, that upheld her relevance in the music industry. However, during Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ “Empire State of Mind'' performance at the 2009 MTV VMA's, Lil Mama unexpectedly jumped on stage to praise New York City. Jay-Z and Alicia Keys wanted the performance to be a commemorative tribute to New York City, but with Lil Mama's stunt, the show became a cringe-comedy. Similar to Keri Hilson, Lil Mama underestimated the Carters’ royal status in the music industry, and as a result, music labels to this day have been reluctant to work with her. Kanye West also contributed to the commotion that night when he interrupted Taylor Swift's speech for Best Female Video winner and stated that Beyoncé deserved the award. However, between Kanye and Lil Mama, she received the worst backlash on social media and the music industry.
Although record labels were not interested in working with Lil Mama, she did not let that halt her career. In 2012, Lil Mama left Jive Records to become an independent artist after RCA Records announced that the division would be shut down. During this intermittent time, a new competitor from her hometown, Nicki Minaj, rose to fame and took the music industry by storm. Nicki Minaj's colorful wigs, rapid distinct flow, and New York accent attracted Lil Mama's fans and instantly replaced her on the Hip-Hop scene. Nicki's success discouraged Lil Mama from competing, and she decided to take a break from music. Instead, she channeled her energy into acting in her breakout role as Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes in the VH1 biographical film CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story. The film was an overnight success with 4.5 million views. Lil Mama also had the opportunity to join TLC (the group) tour for their Greatest Hits album. However, when she performed a tribute to the late rapper in the 2013 American Music Awards, TLC fans were not thrilled with the results. TLC was also not pleased with the feedback they received from the audience and asked Lil Mama to resign. In 2017, Lil Mama starred in TV One's original movie, When Love Kills: The Falicia Blakely Story as the main character, Falicia Blakely. When Love Kills: The Falicia Blakely Story had 1.6 million viewers on the first night and ranked as TV One's number one original movie premiere of all time. In 2019, she starred in the movie, All In and released two singles-“Woo” and “Rollin” that evidently failed to climb Billboard charts.
While researching Lil Mama, it is unfortunate to see the number of times she openly spoke about her mental health and family struggles during interviews. Yet, no one from the Black community extended Lil Mama an olive branch to help her navigate those difficult moments. Instead, iconic celebrities like Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Tyra Banks, and Charlamagne tha God ridiculed her actions and permitted grotesque behavior from other communities to harm Lil Mama. The celebrities listed above claim to uphold respectful values when acknowledging Black women, but failed to make the conscious effort to protect Lil Mama's wellbeing. The same thing can be said about Danity Kane, Kelis, Ciara, and Keri. The male aggressors associated with these artists devalued, minimized, and shunned these Black women's experiences with sexism, which encouraged negative connotations to be made about Black women in the entertainment industry.
Unfortunately, record labels used these female artists' vulnerabilities as entertainment, and the lack of support discouraged them to seek refuge on an intimate or societal level. Record labels continue to exploit female artists by weaponizing contracts. In this case, record contracts restrict Black women from speaking about microaggressions in the industry. Many Black female artists have similar experiences to Danity Kane, Kelis, Ciara, Keri, and Lil Mama and are fearful of speaking about misogyny without breaching their contracts. Therefore, they take the easy way out by leaving the business. In order to protect Black female artists, they should be offered employment contracts that provide them benefits and yearly salaries in addition to their royalties. This way Black female artists would have some support from human resources and be subject to labor laws. It can transform exploitation and give artists a clear career trajectory.
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Sources:
Caulfield, Keith. “Ask Billboard: Mariah Carey, Danity Kane, Mindless Self Indulgence.” Billboard, 4 Jan. 2013, www.billboard.com/articles/news/1044499/ask-billboard-mariah-carey-danity-kane-mindless-self-indulgence.
Chelsea Stewart Twitter More Articles August 30, 2020. “Keri Hilson Opens Up About Rumored Beef With Beyoncè and How It Affected Her Career.” Showbiz Cheat Sheet, 30 Aug. 2020, www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/keri-hilson-opens-up-about-rumored-beef-with-beyonce-and-how-it-affected-her-career.html/.
“Ciara Debuts at No. 17 with 'Jackie'.” Rap, www.rap-up.com/2015/05/13/ciara-debuts-at-no-17-with-jackie/.
Desk, TV News. “WHEN LOVE KILLS: THE FALICIA BLAKELY STORY Ranks as TV One's No. 1 Original Premiere of All Time.” BroadwayWorld.com, BroadwayWorld.com, 31 Aug. 2017, www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/WHEN-LOVE-KILLS-THE-FALICIA-BLAKELY-STORY-Ranks-as-TV-Ones-No-1-Original-Premiere-of-All-Time-20170831.
Freeman, Hadley. “Unmasked Singer: Kelis on Music, Men and Her Missing Money.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 30 Jan. 2020, www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jan/30/unmasked-singer-kelis-on-music-men-and-her-missing-money.
Gravley, Garrett. “The 2000s Are Due for a Comeback, and We Can't Let It Happen.” Dallas Observer, 4, 6 Feb. 2020, www.dallasobserver.com/music/stop-trying-to-make-the-2000s-happen-again-history-shouldnt-repeat-its-shitty-music-11863040.
“Jazze Pha : ‘Ciara & I Need Each Other.’” ..::That Grape Juice.net::.. - Thirsty?, 12 July 2012, thatgrapejuice.net/2012/07/jazze-pha-shares-thoughts-ciara-career-advice/.
Rodriguez, Jayson. “Keri Hilson Calls Her Feud With Ciara 'Unfortunate'.” MTV News, 15 Nov. 2010, www.mtv.com/news/1652312/keri-hilson-calls-her-feud-with-ciara-unforhtunate/.
Vena, Jocelyn. “Danity Kane's Aundrea Fimbres Fired By Diddy.” MTV News, 17 Apr. 2009, www.mtv.com/news/1609473/danity-kanes-aundrea-fimbres-fired-by-diddy/.
Vena, Jocelyn. “Danity Kane's Shannon Bex Says She Was 'Shell-Shocked' By Bandmates' Dismissals.” MTV News, 16 Oct. 2008, www.mtv.com/news/1597228/danity-kanes-shannon-bex-says-she-was-shell-shocked-by-bandmates-dismissals/.
“VYP: Voice of the Young People - Lil Mama: Songs, Reviews, Credits.” AllMusic, 23 Oct. 2007, www.allmusic.com/album/vyp-voice-of-the-young-people-mw0000780748.
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