Lil' Mo

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve the article or discuss these issues on the talk page. It needs additional references or sources for verification. Tagged since January 2008. It may need reorganization to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. It may violate Wikipedia's policy on biographies of living persons. Tagged since June 2008. It reads like a personal reflection or essay. Tagged since June 2008.

Cynthia Loving (born July 3, 1978), also known by her stage name Lil' Mo, is an American R&B singer and songwriter. She is best known for collaborating with artists such as Ja Rule, Missy Elliott, Ol' Dirty Bastard and Fabolous, and for her hit single "Superwoman Pt. II."

Personal life

Born into a military family, Loving was raised primarily on Long Island, but moved about regularly as her family followed her father's military assignments. Along with her parents, Bishop Jacob and First-Lady Cynthia Loving Sr., she lived in Texas, Atlanta, Georgia, and Fayetteville, North Carolina before settling in Baltimore, Maryland. Dreams of becoming a famous singer began early and she always remained focused on this goal, performing in talent competitions wherever her family would settle.

In 2001, she met her first husband, Al Stone, Washington, D.C. gas station; she initiated a conversation and asked for his number. He proposed to her in May, and they wed on August 29, 2001, after dating for only 5 months.

Just two months later, Loving became pregnant, and on August 19, 2002, she gave birth to a daughter, Heaven Love'on Stone. Her second daughter, God'Iss Love Stone, was born on February 24, 2005. In December 2005, she filed for divorce from Al Stone. On March 18, 2007, she announced that she had reconciled with Stone,^[2] but by August the couple divorced.

She is currently married to Gospel recording artist Phillip Bryant; the couple welcomed a son, Justin McKenzie Phillip, on January 16, 2009.^[3] She currently lives in Odenton, Maryland.

Recording career

Beginnings

Signed with Elektra Records Loving entered the music industry as a protégé of then-labelmate Missy Elliott. Her debut single was entitled "5 Minutes" from the Why Do Fools Fall In Love soundtrack, co-written by Keli Nicole Price. She appeared on tracks for Elliott's Da Real World in 1999. "Hot Boyz" became Loving's breakout appearance. She was featured in the music video for the song's remix alongside guest rappers Nas and Eve, and Elliott subsequently became a trusted adviser and friend. She was featured on rapper Jay-Z's song "Parking Lot Pimpin'" from the 2000 The Dynasty: Roc La Familia album. Not very well known, she was the female voice on the 2001 hit "Wifey" by Next. She has performed with and written songs for many artists including Blackstreet, Next, Bow Wow, Keith Sweat, 3LW, Nicole Wray, Mocha and ODB.

Loving's next big exposure came in early 2001, when she was featured on Ja Rule's single "Put It On Me" alongside Ja Rule's Murder Inc. Records labelmate Vita. The single was a hit on both urban and pop radio, and reached number eight on the US pop charts, and more collaborations by Ja Rule and Lil' Mo followed, including "I Cry", which repurposed The O'Jays' 1978 hit "Cry Together".

Based On A True Story (2001)

Unfortunately, not everyone was as thrilled with Lil' Mo's success as she, her friends, and collaborators were. Just before her debut was set to hit record store shelves in the summer of 2001, a man attacked the singer in San Francisco just outside the Warfield, a theater where she had just finished a performance. He used a champagne bottle to club the singer's head. At the time Loving was unaware of the extent of her injury. Reportedly, she seemed more concerned about her broken designer shoe. She ended up with almost two dozen stitches. A majority of the publicity appearances scheduled for the following month, which had been specially timed to coincide with the release of her debut, had to be canceled until she regained her health.

Later that year, Mo released her debut album, Based On A True Story, on Elektra Records, and had a successful single of her own, "Superwoman (Part II)." The "Part II" remix, featuring hip-hop newcomer Fabolous, was an up-tempo, hip-hop flavored record, using an instrumental track producer DJ Clue had originally intended for M.O.P.. The video was also a huge hit on MTV2 and BET. The album's second single, "Gangsta", contained a sample of Snoop Dogg's "Gin And Juice", but failed to find an audience.

Despite the after effects she suffered, the singer persevered and continued to sing and write. Months later, she started working on air at Baltimore's radio station WXYV, where she hosted a highly-rated drive time music program. She remained as a radio DJ until leaving in June 2002 to await her first daughter's birth and devote more time to her singing career.

After a falling out with Ja Rule and Irv Gotti, caused by Loving's accusations that they now favored using new Murder Inc. artist Ashanti for collaborations instead of her, she ended all associations with Murder Inc. in 2002. Since, Ja Rule has taken some shots at former friend, Loving, calling her a "bitch", and crediting himself as the reason why she had any hits. She refused to fire back, calling the whole thing "juvenile."

Meet the Girl Next Door (2003)

During the mid-2003, Mo appeared on two important singles with Fabolous, who partially had Mo to thank for his own break into the industry, and who has since been more successful on both urban and mainstream charts than Mo herself. Their first duet was "Can't Let You Go", the first single from Fabolous' Street Dreams LP, was one of 2003's biggest rap and mainstream pop hits. The other duet, "4 Ever", the first official single from Lil' Mo's own second album, Meet The Girl Next Door, was a major urban and R&B hit, but did not achieve pop success.

Syndicated: The Lil' Mo Hour (2005)

In the summer of 2003, she had better luck with "21 Answers," a response to 50 Cent's popular "21 Questions." The single was successful on urban radio and a minor hit with pop audiences. After her contract with Elektra expired at the end of 2004, she moved over to the Cash Money Records label, where she released four minor singles. However, her third album Syndicated: The Lil' Mo Hour never saw the light of the day and her contract with Cash Money was broken in 2006

Pain & Paper (2007)

Under her independent label "Honeychild Entertainment" she has finally released a new album. Pain & Paper was released on August 28, 2007 with production from Joey Cutless, Bryan-Michael Cox, Jules "Judah," Mike Moore, Troy Taylor, Adam "Streets" Arwine, Daniel "D-Up" Allen, Wesley "Mister Wes" Toone, among others. Along with recording her new album, Lil' Mo, together with Faith Evans, Fantasia, and R&B-turned-gospel singer Coko (of SWV fame), appeared on the remake of The Clark Sisters' "Endow Me" from Coko's gospel album Grateful, released October 31, 2006. Loving's Pain & Paper was released on August 28, 2007 distributed by Koch Entertainment. The first single off the album is "Sometimes I" featuring rapper Jim Jones). The video was directed by Gabriel E. Hart of Drew Barrymore's "VH-1's Shoot to Kill." She recently announced that her second single is "Lucky Her." She stated that "Lucky Her" is the final single from "Pain & Paper". She is currently working on a new album tentatively titled "Tattoos & Roses: The Rebellion Against My Pain" (confirmed by Lil' Mo herself in an interview), a mixtape, and a reality show for 2008.

2009-Present

With "Pain & Paper" sales at barely below one-hundred thousand, Lil' Mo signed to Global Music Group for a two-album contract and her new cd will be released in 2009. She has said in a recent interview that the album will be a double disc; half of it being a live production. The album is currently titled "Tattoos & Roses: The Rebellion Against My Pain" .

Discography

Albums

Singles

Guest singles

Other Tracks

• "More Than You Know"
• "What About The Children"
• "Right & Wrong"
• "If You Wanna Dance"
• "Where's My Nigga's (Feat. Adam F)"
• "Starstruck (Feat. Missy)"
• "Finally Ova You"
• "Why"

References

External links

• Lil' Mo at MySpace
• Sister2Sister Interview