Hot is the debut album by English singer Melanie B, released on 9 October 2000 by Virgin. Produced during the hiatus of her band the Spice Girls, the singer began recording her solo debut album in 1999. Taking her solo work further into the contemporary R&B genre after "I Want You Back," her 1998 collaboration with rapper Missy Elliott, Melanie B consulted a range of American musicians to work with her on material, including Sisqó and Teddy Riley as well as Fred Jerkins III and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, both of whom she was also working with on the Spice Girls' third album, Forever (2000).[4]
| Hot | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 9 October 2000 | |||
| Recorded | June 1998 – April 2000 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 44:35 | |||
| Label | Virgin | |||
| Producer |
| |||
| Melanie B chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Hot | ||||
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The album received mixed reviews from critics and was not as commercially successful as her albums with the Spice Girls or that of other members' solo albums released around this time. It peaked at number twenty-eight in the United Kingdom and sold over 60,000 copies,[5] receiving a silver certification.[6] The album spawned three singles: "Tell Me", "Feels So Good" and "Lullaby" – the first two singles reached the top 5 in the United Kingdom.[7] "I Want You Back" and "Word Up," previously released for soundtracks two years earlier, were included in different versions of the album.[8]
Promotion
editThe lead single from the album, "Tell Me," produced by Fred Jerkins III, was released on 25 September 2000. It debuted and peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart, selling 109,000 copies.[9] It also topped the UK R&B Singles Charts and became a top ten hit in the Netherlands. Four months after the album's release, on 19 February 2001, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis-produced "Feels So Good" was released as Hot's second single. It helped the album to re-enter the UK Albums Chart and song peaked and debuted at number five on the UK Singles Chart, selling 142,000 copies,[9] while also becoming the 85th-best-selling single of 2001[10] The album's third and last single, "Lullaby" was released in June 2001 and peaked at number 13 on the UK Singles Chart,[9] but was unable to make a great impact on album sales, therefore Hot re-entered the Top 200 for only one week.[9]
Other songs
editApart of its singles, Hot was preceded by a number of standalone singles which were also included on the album. "I Want You Back" was released in September 1998 from the soundtrack to the American biographical drama film Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1998). The song peaked at number-one on the UK singles chart, ultimately selling 226,000 units, and consequently Missy Elliott became the first female rapper to reach number one in the Unitd Kingdom.[9] At the suggestion of her then-husband Jimmy Gulzar, Melanie B covered Cameo's 1986 hit "Word Up" for the soundtrack of the American spy comedy film Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999).[4] Included on the Japanese version of Hot,[8] it reached number 14 on the UK Singles Chart.[9]
Critical reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [11] |
| Dotmusic | [12] |
| The Guardian | [13] |
| MTV Asia | [14] |
| Sunday Herald | [15] |
In her review for The Guardian, Caroline Sullivan wrote of Hot: "The ministrations of Missy Elliott, Sisqo and other hotshot Americans make Hot a passable example of commercial soul, and under their tutelage, Ms B's girlish vocals are as funky as they're ever going to be."[13] MTV Asia critic Lennat Mak found that "working with R&B; frontiers like Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, Sisqo, and former Spice producer Fred Jerkins, Mel B bares her soul in her no-holds-barred debut [...] This album could certainly be Mel B's manifesto – spicy, loud, outrageous, honest, and very scary indeed."[14]
Rebecca Dien-Johns from Dotmusic found that Hot was "despite its daft title with its mix of R&B, soul, garage and smoochy balladry, in equal parts extremely entertaining, very boring and utterly ridiculous."[12] BBC Music's Nigel Packer wrote that "contrary to its title, the first solo album from Melanie B is a disappointingly lukewarm affair." He found that her "duet with Missy Elliott and her cover of Cameo's "Word Up" promised a sassy and streetwise alternative to her tamer work with the Spice Girls [but] she appears unable to shake off the more commercial leanings of her past, resulting in a collection poised uneasily between breezy bubblegum pop and edgy RRB.[2] In a negative review, NME remarked that it was "hard to overstate just how bad this record is. By spreading her meagre vocal range thinly across a selection of even slimmer songs, Melanie Bore is pouting proof that not even the world’s finest producers can right something so emphatically wrong."[3]
Commercial performance
editHot debuted and peaked at number 28 on the UK Albums Chart in the week of 21 October 2000,[5] selling 7,500 copies before quickly dropping from the chart completely.[16] It was the second solo debut to be released by a Spice Girl member and would remain the only project not to make it into the top ten.[5] The album also reached number six on the UK R&B Albums Chart.[17] On 20 October 2000, Hot was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for shipments figures in excess of 60,000 units.[6]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Feels So Good" | Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis | 5:06 | |
| 2. | "Tell Me" |
| 4:33 | |
| 3. | "Hell No" | Mark Andrews |
| 4:18 |
| 4. | "Lullaby" |
| 3:26 | |
| 5. | "Hotter" | Andrews |
| 3:14 |
| 6. | "Step Inside" | Max Beesley |
| 3:59 |
| 7. | "ABC 123" |
| Riley | 3:13 |
| 8. | "I Believe" |
|
| 4:01 |
| 9. | "I Want You Back" (featuring Missy Elliott) |
|
| 3:26 |
| 10. | "Pack Your Shit" |
|
| 4:21 |
| 11. | "Feel Me Now" |
|
| 4:58 |
| Total length: | 44:35 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10. | "Word Up" | Timbaland | 3:51 | |
| 11. | "Pack Your Shit" |
|
| 4:21 |
| 12. | "Feel Me Now" |
|
| 4:58 |
| Total length: | 48:26 | |||
Notes
Charts
edit| Chart (2000) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[19] | 144 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[20] | 69 |
| Polish Albums (ZPAV)[21] | 35 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC)[22] | 47 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[5] | 28 |
| UK R&B Albums (OCC)[17] | 6 |
Certifications
edit| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[6] | Silver | 60,000^ |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
References
edit- ^ a b Jon O'Brien. L.A. State of Mind at AllMusic. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
- ^ a b Nigel Packer (8 October 2000). "CD Review: Melanie B". BBC News. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
- ^ a b "Hot". NME. 12 September 2005. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
- ^ a b "Always Melanie B » Extended Biography". Always Melanie B. Archived from the original on 5 January 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
- ^ a b c d "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
- ^ a b c "British album certifications – Melanie B – Hot". British Phonographic Industry.
- ^ "UK Singles Chart: Melanie B". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
- ^ a b "Melanie B – Hot: Japan edition". Discogs. 25 October 2000. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f Copsey, Rob (29 June 2017). "The ultimate Official Spice Girls solo chart: all their singles ranked by sales". NME. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
- ^ "Melanie B official charts on www.officialcharts.com". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
- ^ "Hot – Melanie B". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
- ^ a b Dien-Johns, Rebecca (12 October 2000). "MELANIE B – 'HOT' (VIRGIN)". Dotmusic. Archived from the original on 19 October 2000. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
- ^ a b Sullivan, Caroline (6 October 2000). "Pop CD releases". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
- ^ a b Mak, Lennat. "Mel B – Hot". MTV Asia. Archived from the original on 7 December 2000. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
- ^ "To b or not to b?". Sunday Herald. 8 October 2000. ProQuest 331247060. Retrieved 30 June 2023 – via ProQuest.
- ^ "Radio 1 Artist Database". Archived from the original on 31 March 2001.
- ^ a b "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
- ^ Distributed by Toshiba EMI Japan. Barcode VJCP-68247.
- ^ "Mel B ARIA chart history complete". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 20 July 2024 – via Imgur.com. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Melanie B – Hot" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
- ^ "OLiS – sprzedaż w okresie 13.11.2000 – 26.11.2000". ZPAV. Archived from the original on 10 November 2007. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
- ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 December 2018.