20 R&B one-hit wonders you probably forgot about

Blu Cantrell came onto the scene with her debut single “Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops!).” Produced and written by Dallas Austin, the track finds Cantrell singing about the payback she gets on her man after she caught him cheating on her. The track peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned Cantrell a couple of Grammy Award nominations such as Best R&B Song. 

Although Glenn Lewis released a few singles in the late ‘90s, his breakout single came in 2002 with his hit “Don’t You Forget It.” Produced and co-written by Andre Harris, the song finds Lewis advising a woman to stay grounded in finding herself and never letting go of the dreams she had. The song peaked at No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 and it won the Juno Award for Best R&B/Soul Recording. 

Music producer Kay Gee and Next group member RL discovered the R&B duo Koffee Brown. The duo consisted of Falonte “Fonz” Moore and Vernell “Vee” Sales. In their hit song “After Party,” the duo sings about meeting a potential lover at a party and how they’d like to spend time with them once the party ends. As Vee sings in the second verse, “After the party / Let's go somewhere and finish what we started / 'Cause right from the beginning I was on it.”

Before breaking out as a solo artist, Jimmy Cozier started his career as a background vocalist and songwriter for artists like Janet Jackson, Junior Mafia, Sinead O’Connor, and Mya. His breakout single “She’s All I Got” finds Cozier detailing how much his partner puts him through, but he still loves her through it all. The single became a top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached No. 4 on the R&B chart. 

Sunshine Anderson came onto the scene in 2001 with debut album Your Woman, led by the hit single “Heard It All Before.” Produced by Mike City, the song finds Anderson dealing with a cheating man’s excuses and how she’s ready to move on. As she sings in the second verse, “Nothing you can do and there's nothing you can say / That could persuade me to stay with you another day / You have crossed the line to the point of no return / What you do from here on out, I am no longer concerned.”

Cherish was an R&B group consisting of sisters Fallon, Farrah, Felisha, and Neosha King. Their breakout single “Do It To It” finds the group detailing the party culture around their hometown of Atlanta. The song reached No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became a top ten hit on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart. 

Truth Hurts started her career as a background vocalist for artists like D12 and Busta Rhymes. In 2000, she signed a deal with Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Entertainment label, and two years later released her debut album Truthfully Speaking. Although her lead single “Addictive” peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, the success was short-lived since the track illegally used a sample which resulted in a huge lawsuit against Aftermath and Universal Music Group. 

Although Mark Morrison released two singles from his debut album Return of the Mack, it was his eponymous track that gave fans a timeless hit. In “Return of the Mack,” Morrison details how he dealt with a lying ex-partner and now he’s ready to get his mack on by going after someone new. The song peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has been sampled several times since its release. 

In 2002, Amanda Perez released her debut Angel, which featured the hit single of the same song. On the track, Perez details her feelings about going through a breakup and asks God to send an angel to help heal her heart. “Angel” reached No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100, and became Perez’s last single to chart. 

Isyss was an R&B group consisting of Ardena Clark, La’Myia Good, LeTecia Harrison, and Quierra Davis Martin. They released their sole album The Way We Do in 2002, which featured the singles “Day & Night” and “Single for the Rest of My Life.” On the track “Single for the Rest of My Life,” the group details the feelings of dealing with a breakup and contemplating that they’ll never find a love like that again. 

British R&B singer Junior has released plenty of music throughout his career, but his biggest and most recognizable single came in 1981 with his single “Mama Used To Say.” On the track, Junior gives the perspective of a child who is anxious about growing up, but his mother tells him he should enjoy being young and shouldn’t rush to get older. It’s like the old saying goes, “Mother knows best,” and Junior’s mother knew because sometimes being an adult isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. 

Brook Valentine teamed up with producer Lil Jon and Outkast member Big Boi on her debut single “Girlfight.” With production from Lil Jon, he helped give Valentine that Atlanta crunk sound that he popularized in the early 2000s. On the track, Valentine details how she’s ready to stand up against another woman who’s been talking slickly about her. As she says on the track, “Know you really don't wanna step to this / Really don't know why you talkin' s**t / You're about to catch one right in your lip / It's about a what? Girl fight.” 

Although “All Cried Out” was originally released in 1986 by Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, R&B group Allure released their cover of it about a decade later. Allure’s version features another group 112, in which the two detail the feelings of dealing with so much pain and heartbreak from a relationship that they don’t see the point in trying to rekindle the happier times they once had. “All Cried Out” became Allure’s biggest hit song as it reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 1983, Rockwell released his debut single “Somebody’s Watching Me,” which featured background vocals from Jermaine and Michael Jackson. On the track, Rockwell details a bit of his paranoia in feeling like he is always being watched by people and he simply wants his privacy. “Somebody’s Watching Me” became a gold-selling hit that peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. 

In 2002, Yasmeen was signed to Magic Johnson's record label and she soon released her single "Blue Jeans." Produced by Jazze Pha, the song finds Yasmeen attracted to a guy's looks, particularly the way he walks in his blue jeans. 

Oran “Juice” Jones came onto the scene in 1986 with his debut single “The Rain.” On the track, Jones details how he caught his partner cheating on him with another man and now he’s ready to call it quits on their relationship. As he sings in the second verse, “Now here you are begging to me / To give our love another try / Girl, I love you and I always will / But, darling, right now I've got to say goodbye.”

R&B quartet Ideal came onto the scene in 1999 with the self-titled debut album, led by the hit single “Get Gone.” On the track, Ideal gives the perspective of a man who feels like they’ve tried all he can in a relationship, but their partner isn’t doing their part in meeting them halfway, so they’re ready to finally call it quits. As they sing very bluntly on the hook, “I think I better leave (Leave) you alone. (Alone) / So get your bags (Yeah) and get the hell on, (On) / 'Cause I don't want you no more.”

In the early 2000s, Cheri Dennis was one of the newest signees to Bad Boy Records. She released her debut album In and Out of Love, which was led by the single "I Love You." Produced by Ryan Leslie, Dennis uses the track to detail how she doesn't want to experience heartbreak again. 

In 1987, Johnny Kemp released his sophomore and final album Secrets of Flying, which featured the hit single “Just Got Paid.” Produced by Teddy Riley, the track finds Kemp detailing the feelings of a Friday payday and looking to party as a start to the weekend. As he sings on the track, “Just got paid; it's Friday night / Party hunting, feeling right / Body shaking, all around / Know one thing: I'm getting down."

R&B trio MoKenStef came onto the scene in 1995 with her debut album Azz Izz, led by the hit single “He’s Mine.” On the track, the group sings from the perspective of a woman telling another woman to get her own man and quit trying to think she has a relationship with him since they once had something in the past. As they sing on the hook, “He's mine / You may have had him once / But I got him all the time.”