"He Wasn't Man Enough" | ||||
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Single by Toni Braxton | ||||
from the album The Heat | ||||
Released | February 29, 2000 | |||
Recorded | January–February 2000 | |||
Studio | Larrabee North (Universal City, California) | |||
Genre | R&B | |||
Length | 4:21 | |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins | |||
Toni Braxton singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"He Wasn't Man Enough" on YouTube |
"He Wasn't Man Enough" is a song by American singer Toni Braxton. It was written by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, Fred Jerkins III, LaShawn Daniels, and Harvey Mason, Jr. for her third studio album, The Heat (2000), while production was helmed by the former. "He Wasn't Man Enough" is an uptempo R&B song that differs from Braxton's previous ballads. The song was released by LaFace Records on February 29, 2000, as the lead single from the album.
The song received generally positive reviews from music critics, many of whom praised it as one of Braxton's best works. [1] "He Wasn't Man Enough" had international success and became one of Braxton's signature songs, peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, where the single stood for several weeks, and number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart for four weeks. As of 2024, this song is her last solo top 10 appearance on the Billboard Hot 100. An accompanying music video was released for the single. The song earned Braxton her fourth Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and was nominated for Best R&B Song in 2001. In 2022, Nigerian singer Burna Boy sampled the song's instrumental introduction for his hit song "Last Last". [2]
"He Wasn't Man Enough" was released as the lead single from Toni Braxton's third studio album, The Heat . The song was written by Rodney Jerkins, Fred Jerkins III, LaShawn Daniels, and Harvey Mason, Jr., while it was produced by Jerkins. The song was recorded in the United States during the production of Braxton's third studio album, between January and February 2000. [3] [4] During its production, L.A. Reid said "It's very strong, and very personal to her". [5]
All instruments on "He Wasn't Man Enough" are played by Jerkins and the background vocals are sung by Braxton, Nora Payne, Sharlotte Gibson, and Jerkins. [6] The song was recorded in a key signature of E minor. Popmatters praised Braxton, saying "the track seems to be an attempt to make some headway within the lucrative urban R&B market." [7]
The song earned Braxton her sixth Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance in 2001. [8] According to Billboard.com , this song is her last Top 10 appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 to date.
"He Wasn't Man Enough" was widely acclaimed by contemporary music critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic highlighted the track along with "Gimme Some" as having a "skimmering beat". [1] David Browne from Entertainment Weekly gave it a positive review, certificating it with a B rating. He said "From producer Rodney Jerkins' cushiony pulse to its premise (one woman warning another about her ex-beau), the amenable single "He Wasn't Man Enough" sounds mightily familiar. But it's still no "Scrubs", largely thanks to Braxton's husky, mumbly delivery." [9] NME gave it a positive review, saying that for the track, "Braxton can probably claim the best set of tonsils in soul-pop". [10]
"He Wasn't Man Enough" peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of May 6, 2000, becoming Braxton's sixth and last top-10 single. The song spent 37 weeks on the chart. The song also peaked at number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart for four weeks. The song debuted at number five on the UK Singles Chart on its issue date of April 29, 2000. The song debuted at number six on the Australian Singles Chart and peaked at number five in that country. The song debuted at number 36 on the New Zealand Singles Chart and later rose to number five after seven weeks on the charts. The song received platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ), selling over 15,000 copies there. [11] The song debuted at number 99 on the French Singles Chart before falling out, then re-entering at number 74 on the charts and eventually peaked at number fifteen, becoming the biggest jump of the issue date of July 1, 2000. The song debuted at number 21 on the Single Top 100, peaked at number five and stayed on the charts for seventeen weeks. [12]
The music video, directed by Bille Woodruff from February 25–26, 2000, [13] begins with Braxton as an animated superhero who unzips her shirt to ward off villains. Next, she is shown dancing in a red cylinder-like hallway. The shot turns to a club where her ex (portrayed by Braxton's former husband Keri Lewis of R&B group Mint Condition) and his current wife (portrayed by Robin Givens) walk in. Givens looks Braxton up and down and flashes her wedding ring at her. Braxton scoffs as she knows of his infidelity.
The video flashes between Braxton dancing in the hallway and the club scene. At one point, the two women are in the club's bathroom, and Braxton informs the new wife why she dumped her husband. They set up an act, wherein Braxton goes into a private room with him and gets him to drop his pants; all the while he is on camera, and everyone at the club, including his current wife, is watching. At the end, Givens busts in and throws the ring at him, and the two women give each other a high five.
The video also features cameo appearances by Rodney Chester and Braxton's sister Tamar. Originally cast to play the husband, actor Michael Jai White ended up dropping out before the video shoot because Givens allegedly took issue with White resembling her former husband Mike Tyson, whom White played in the HBO film Tyson five years earlier. [13] [14] He would appear in the video for Braxton's "Hands Tied" a decade later.
US CD and cassette single [15] [16]
US and Japanese DVD single [17] [18]
European CD single [19]
| UK and Australian CD single [20] [21]
UK cassette single [22]
|
Credits are lifted from The Heat album booklet. [6]
Studios
Personnel
Weekly charts | Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [73] | Gold | 35,000^ |
Belgium (BEA) [74] | Gold | 25,000* |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [75] | Platinum | 10,000* |
United Kingdom (BPI) [76] | Gold | 400,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [77] | Gold | 600,000 [78] |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref(s). |
---|---|---|---|---|
United States | February 29, 2000 | [79] [80] | ||
April 4, 2000 | Contemporary hit radio | [81] | ||
Sweden | April 10, 2000 | CD |
| [82] |
United Kingdom | April 17, 2000 |
| [83] | |
Japan | April 24, 2000 | CD | [84] |
The Heat is the third studio album by American singer Toni Braxton, released on April 25, 2000, by LaFace Records. The album marked Braxton's departure from her ballads in favor of a more urban sound. Most of the songs were written and produced by Braxton and her husband Keri Lewis ; two ballads were penned by Diane Warren, and collaborations featured rappers Dr. Dre and Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes.
"Un-Break My Heart" is a song by American singer Toni Braxton for her second studio album, Secrets (1996). The song was written by Diane Warren and produced by David Foster. It was released as the second single from the album on October 7, 1996, through LaFace Records. The song is a ballad about a "blistering heartbreak" in which the singer begs a former lover to return and undo the pain he has caused. It won Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 39th Annual Grammy Awards in 1997. It has sold over 10 million copies worldwide and nearly 3 million in the United States alone, making it one of the best selling singles of all time.
"Ms. Jackson" is a song by the American hip hop duo Outkast, consisting of André 3000 and Big Boi. It was released on October 24, 2000, as the second single from Outkast's fourth album, Stankonia. It topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week on February 17, 2001, and reached number one in Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. Rolling Stone ranked it 55th on its "100 Best Songs of the 2000s" list in June 2011 and at number 145 on its "Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list in 2021. In October 2011, NME placed it at number 81 on its list of the "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".
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Ultimate Toni Braxton, released in 2003, is the first greatest hits collection by R&B singer Toni Braxton. It features many of her greatest hits, and includes all the singles from her debut Toni Braxton and all but one of the singles from her second album Secrets. Her albums The Heat and More Than a Woman are fairly underrepresented, as only two and one songs are included from each album, respectively. The songs on Ultimate are not the actual album versions but radio edits, and the version of "Seven Whole Days" is live.
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