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Background information | |
Origin | New Jersey, U.S. |
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Labels | Bad Boy (1994–1998) |
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Total is an American R&B girl group and one of the signature acts of the Bad Boy Records imprint during the mid-1990s. [1] The group consists of founding members Kima Raynor, Keisha Spivey, and Pamela Long. [1] Total is best known for their feature on Mase's "What You Want", as well as their hits "Kissin' You", "Can't You See" (featuring The Notorious B.I.G.), and "What About Us?" and "Trippin'", both featuring Missy Elliott. Long also sung the chorus of The Notorious B.I.G.'s hit song "Hypnotize", although she was not officially credited. [1] Total made their first appearance singing the hook on The Notorious B.I.G.'s debut single, "Juicy", widely considered one of the greatest hip-hop songs of all time. [1] [2] [3] [4]
In 2019, Pamela Long announced that she is working on her debut solo album. She released a video for her single "Why". [5]
The trio made their first appearance singing the hook on The Notorious B.I.G.'s debut single, "Juicy". [1] Garnering attention for the new group, they were also featured on the original version and "Hip Hop Remix" of his next single "One More Chance". They then immediately hit the studio with Bad Boy Records CEO Sean "Puffy" Combs and began work on their debut album. The first single "Can't You See?" first appeared on the soundtrack to 1995 motion picture, New Jersey Drive . The song featured The Notorious B.I.G. and peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as #2 on the R&B Chart. [1] Their self-titled debut album was released nearly a year after the single. Total produced two more R&B top ten singles including: "No One Else" (and its remix featuring Lil' Kim, Foxy Brown, and Da Brat) and '"Kissing You" (and its remix featuring Sean "Puffy" Combs). [1] The album was certified platinum by the RIAA.
While recording their second album, they appeared on numerous top ten singles, including LL Cool J's "Loungin'/Who Do U Love?", Foxy Brown's "I Can't", and Mase's "What You Want" featuring Keisha Epps, and Pamela Long sung the chorus on the hit "Hypnotize" by The Notorious B.I.G. The group also released another single, the Missy Elliott and Timbaland track "What About Us?" from the Soul Food soundtrack.
Their follow-up album, Kima, Keisha, and Pam , [1] debuted to strong reviews, sales, and was certified gold by the RIAA. The first single, another Missy Elliott collaboration, "Trippin'", reached the top ten of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. [1] Their next release, "Sitting Home", which made Top 10 of the Billboard R&B Singles did not garner the same attention. While in heavy rotation on video networks like BET, radio chose not to play the song. A remix of the track featured rap artist Shyne.
After the release of Kima, Keisha, and Pam, the girls sang the chorus to rap duo Gang Starr's 1999 single "Discipline" and, in 2000, they were featured on the Tony Touch single "(I Wonder Why) He's the Greatest DJ". They also contributed to the songs "Crave" to 3 Strikes and the songs "Quick Rush" to Bait movie soundtrack.
In their last official appearance together, they were thanked in the credits for their collaboration with Da Beatminerz and Talib Kweli - Anti-Love Movement in 2001 from their album Brace 4 Impak .
In 2014, Long and Dyson reunited and began performing as a duo under the "Total" name. On November 30, 2014, Total joined Lil' Kim, Da Brat, Missy Elliott, and Left Eye (posthumously via video) to sing "Not Tonight (Ladies Night)" at the 2014 Soul Train Music Awards. Angie Martinez was the only living original performer who did not perform at the event.
In May 2015, Total toured with R. Kelly, on the Funk Fest tour. In 2016, Spivey Epps rejoined the group for the nationwide Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour. [6]
Most recently, it is rumored that Kima has rejoined the group and an additional fourth member has been added and that Total are now at work on a new album.
* Keisha Spivey married actor Omar Epps in 2006 and is living in California. They have daughter K'marie and son Amir together; as well as Omar's daughter Aiyanna Yasmine with ex wife Yusra Salama.
* Pamela Long still lives in New Jersey. She is a faithful member at Agape Family Worship Center located in Rahway.
*A track by Kima featuring her sister, rapper Vita, called "What U Want", also recently leaked. As of 2008, Total have no desire or interest in pursuing to reband.
In 2024 Epps and Dyson came back together without Long and joined the Queens of R&B Tour along Xscape, SWV, 702 and Mýa.
Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott, also known as Misdemeanor, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She began on her musical career as a member of the R&B girl group Sista during the 1990s, who were part of the larger musical collective Swing Mob—led by DeVante Swing of Jodeci. The former group's debut album, 4 All the Sistas Around da World (1994) was released by Elektra Records and met with positive critical reception despite commercial failure. She collaborated with album's producer and Swing Mob cohort Timbaland to work in songwriting and production for other acts, yielding commercially successful releases for 702, Aaliyah, SWV, and Total. She then re-emerged as a solo act with numerous collaborations and guest appearances by 1996, and in July of the following year, she released her debut studio album, Supa Dupa Fly (1997).
Bad Boy Entertainment, doing business as Bad Boy Records, is an American record label founded in 1993 by Sean "Puffy" Combs. During the mid 1990s, the label signed numerous artists including Craig Mack, The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans, Mase, 112, Total, The Lox, Shyne and Carl Thomas. At its 1997 peak, Bad Boy was worth an estimated US$100 million.
"It's All About the Benjamins" is a song by American rapper and producer Puff Daddy. It was released as the third single from his debut studio album No Way Out. "Benjamins" is a slang word for money, referring to Benjamin Franklin's image on the US $100 bill. The song featured an uncredited vocal arrangement by Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, and featured a signature guitar hook played by Marc Solomon.
The discography of American rapper Missy Elliott consists of six studio albums, three compilation albums, one extended play, seventy-four singles and twenty solo music videos.
Carl Edward "Chucky" Thompson Jr. was an American hip hop and R&B record producer.
Mason Durell Betha, better known by his mononym Mase, is an American rapper. Best known for his work with Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs' Bad Boy Records, he signed with the label in 1996 and quickly found mainstream recognition as Combs' hype man. He guest appeared on Combs' 1997 single, "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down", which peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100, while his singles as a lead artist, "Feel So Good" and "What You Want" both peaked within the top ten of the chart. Released in October of that year, his debut studio album, Harlem World (1997) peaked atop the Billboard 200 chart, received quadruple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and spawned his third top ten single as a lead artist, "Lookin' at Me". Furthermore, his guest performances on labelmate the Notorious B.I.G.'s single "Mo Money Mo Problems" and Puff Daddy's "Been Around the World" peaked at numbers one and two on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively, that same year.
The following is a discography of songs with production and writing credits from American woman rapper Missy Elliott, sorted by album, date, and title.
Kima, Keisha, and Pam is the second and last to date studio album by American R&B girl group Total. It was released by Bad Boy Records and Arista Records on October 27, 1998, in the United States. The album debuted at number nine on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and peaked at number thirty-nine on the US Billboard 200. In 1999, the album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for excess of selling 500,000 copies. To date, it is their most recent album.
This is the discography of R&B/hip hop soul trio, Total.
Daven "Prestige" Vanderpool is an American rap and R&B record producer. He was once a member of Bad Boy's in-house production team, "The Hitmen", and has also produced on many Bad Boy-related projects. His usual sound is a distinctive combination of funk and more heavily, electronica influences, promoted through his use of samples from Gary Numan, Dominatrix and Duran Duran. This sound is particularly heard on his productions for Jay-Z, Puff Daddy, Sauce Money, Mase, Mic Geronimo and Shyne.
"Trippin'" is a song by American R&B girl group Total, released as the first single from their second studio album Kima, Keisha, and Pam (1998). It was also their second release working with production/writing duo Missy Elliott & Timbaland, after What About Us?, although Timbaland this time provided only co-production and instrumentation, with the pair's longtime collaborator Darryl Pearson instead handling main production with Elliott. The track was by far the group's biggest hit, peaking at number seven on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and number three on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
"No One Else" is a song by American girl group Total featuring American rapper Da Brat. It was released as the second single from Total's self-titled debut studio album on November 28, 1995, by Bad Boy and Arista Records. The song was produced by Bad Boy founder Sean "Puffy" Combs and Poke of the Trackmasters, while the songwriting was handled by the two alongside the featured Da Brat and Terri & Monica vocalist Terri Robinson. The song also contains a sample from the track "South Bronx" by Boogie Down Productions.
"Can't You See" is a 1995 song by American R&B girl group Total, released as their debut single. The track was released from the New Jersey Drive soundtrack and also later appeared on their debut album, Total. After making their recording debut on his tracks "Juicy", "One More Chance" and "One More Chance" ", The Notorious B.I.G. returned the favor with an intro rap verse to the song. The track was written and arranged by Terri & Monica's Terri Robinson, produced entirely by Sean "Puffy" Combs with instrumentation provided by associates Rashad Smith, Herb Middleton and Chucky Thompson and contains a sample from James Brown's "The Payback". The track was a success both on the mainstream US Billboard Hot 100 chart, reaching number thirteen and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, where it made number three. The song also peaked at number forty-three on the UK Singles Chart, where it charted for two weeks.
"The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" is the debut solo single by American rapper Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott. It was written and composed by Don Bryant, Bernard "Bernie" Miller, Elliott, and producer Timbaland for her debut album Supa Dupa Fly (1997) and contains a sample of Ann Peebles' 1973 single "I Can't Stand the Rain", whose lyrics serve as the chorus.
"Only You" is the debut single by R&B group 112, from their 1996 self-titled debut album. Both the original and the remix were released as singles, in May and July 1996 respectively. Q, Slim, and Mike share lead vocals on both versions of the song. The original features The Notorious B.I.G., and the remix features both B.I.G. and Mase. The original samples the riff from "I Get Lifted" by KC and the Sunshine Band.
The following list is a discography of production and co-production by Sean Combs, sometimes credited as Puffy, P. Diddy or simply Diddy. It includes a list of songs produced, co-produced and remixed by year, artist, album and title. Alongside this, Combs was a lead member of Bad Boy Records' in-house production team, The Hitmen.
"The Things That You Do" is a song performed by American R&B singer Gina Thompson from her debut album, Nobody Does It Better (1996). The single version was released as the Bad Boy Remix featuring Missy Elliott, who gained notability and mainstream attention for her unique signature, "Hee-Hee-How" punchline. Elliott's contribution managed to help the single crack the top 20 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, where it peaked at #12 and spent a total of 29 weeks. The song also appeared on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it peaked at #41.
"Flava in Ya Ear" is a song by American rapper Craig Mack. It was released as the lead single from his debut studio album Project: Funk da World on July 26, 1994, by Bad Boy Records and Arista Records. It was remixed with the addition of rappers The Notorious B.I.G., Rampage, LL Cool J and Busta Rhymes.
"Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" is the debut single by rapper Puff Daddy. It appears on Puff Daddy's debut studio album No Way Out and the song was released to Rhythmic contemporary radio in December 1996 and was physically released on January 7, 1997. The single was released through BMG Music, Arista Records and Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Records.
The following list is a discography of production by Stevie J