Naturi Naughton

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Naturi Naughton
Naughton in December 2010
Background information
Birth name	Naturi Cora Maria Naughton
Born	(1984-05-20) May 20, 1984 (age 28)
Origin	East Orange, New Jersey, U.S.
Genres	R&B, hip hop
Occupations	Singer, actress, rapper
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1999–2002 (3LW) 2009–present (solo)
Labels	Epic Records (1999-2002) Universal Republic (2008-Present)
Associated acts	3LW

Naturi Cora Maria Naughton (born May 20, 1984)^[1] is an American singer, rapper, and actress best known for formerly being one-third of the R&B trio 3LW, and the starring role of Denise in the remake of Fame. Naughton now stars on the hit Lifetime TV series The Client List as Kendra.

Early life

Naughton was born and raised in East Orange, New Jersey,^[1] the daughter of Brenda, a part-time paralegal, and Ezra Naughton, a retired accountant.^[2][3] Her musical talent first emerged at the age of five years old, when she joined her church choir at New Hope Baptist Church in East Orange, NJ. She attended St. Joseph's Catholic school, and later attended Immaculate Conception high school in Montclair, NJ. It was soon after that time Naturi was discovered. She has sung the national anthem at various events in New Jersey and attended Seton Hall University.^[4]

3LW

In 1999, at age 15, Naughton joined Adrienne Bailon and Kiely Williams to form the group 3LW. Their first single, "No More (Baby I'ma Do Right)", was released in the fall of 2000. "No More" was a success and was followed by the second single, "Playas Gon' Play" in early 2001. The group's debut album, 3LW, was released on December 5, 2000. The album went platinum, selling 1.3 million copies in the US. In the summer of 2001, the group went on the MTV TRL tour along with Destiny's Child, Dream, Nelly, Eve, and Jessica Simpson.

3LW spent the first half of 2002 in the studio, recording an album tentatively titled Same Game, Different Rules. The album and its intended lead single "Uh Oh" were presented to the label, who felt it did not have enough urban radio appeal. The tracks from Same Game, Different Rules were leaked to the Internet in MP3 format, and Epic considered dropping the band. A fan support campaign for 3LW named 'Never Let Go of 3LW' followed, and the act was retained. Recording a new set of tracks, 3LW returned in the summer of 2002 with the P. Diddy-produced single "I Do (Wanna Get Close To You)", featuring Loon.

By August, the group was set to release its newest LP, A Girl Can Mack, when Naughton announced that she was no longer a member of the group. Naughton says that the other two girls and their management had forced her out of the group.^[5] The problems reached a breaking point after a heated argument with Williams, Bailon, and their manager, which allegedly ended with Williams throwing a hot plate full of KFC food at Naughton. Epic Records then ended their relationship with both 3LW and Naughton.

After Naughton's departure, Bailon and Williams resumed as a group and released the single "Neva Get Enuf", which did not feature Naughton's vocals. The single failed to make a dent on radio or the Billboard Hot 100. 3LW replaced Naughton with Jessica Benson, but have since disbanded. In 2005, Bailon and Williams continued on as members of Disney's The Cheetah Girls, until January 2009, when that group also disbanded.

Solo career

Naughton at H-E-B Holiday Parade 2009

Naughton was collaborating with producers Full Force on a solo debut album. Some of the tracks she recorded for the album are as follows: "Real Chicks" (featuring Lil' Kim),^[6] "Stand Up", "What You Do" and "Your Girlfriend." However, in a recent interview with Naturi, she says that she is not currently working on an album right now, but instead focusing on her other passion, acting. With the right team and producers, she says she would definitely like to do her solo album some day.^{[citation needed]}

In September 2009, Naturi scored her first solo chart entry as her version of "Fame" (from the 2009 movie Fame) entered the UK chart at #74 and rose to #43 in its second week. In its third week, the song jumped ten spots to #33, becoming Naughton's first solo top 40 UK hit. The single also peaked at #48 on HOT dance play/songs, #3 in Finland, #4 in Portugal, #14 in Norway, #24 in Switzerland, #26 in Belgium and #37 in Ireland.^[7]

During an interview on The Monique Show in February 2010, Naturi stated that she will be releasing a solo debut album, but no more information was discussed. A soundtrack album, The Fame Presents Naturi Naughton as Denise' was released on February 2, 2010.^[8][9]

Acting

Naughton starred in the Tony Award winning Broadway musical Hairspray as Little Inez from 2005-2008.

Naturi played rapper Lil' Kim in Notorious, a big screen biopic about the late Notorious B.I.G. Notorious opened at #4 at the box office with over $21 million made opening weekend. Naughton garnered rave reviews for her performance as "Lil Kim" in the film. The film also was Naughton's first (and to date, only) role where she appears nude which led to a large male fanbase for the actress.

Naturi has also done a commercial for Truth.com, titled "It Must've Been a Typo".

More recently, Naughton played a pianist named Denise in the remake of the 1980 movie and TV show musical Fame. Fame was released in theaters on September 25, 2009 and opened up at #3 at the box office.^[10]

She was a main supporting actress in the 2010 movie Lottery Ticket, playing Stacie, a loyal friend of the lead character Kevin Carson (played by Bow Wow).

She also starred in a the September 26, 2010 episode of Mad Men, "Hands and Knees" as Lane's Playboy Bunny mistress Toni Charles.

Naturi most recently scored one of the lead roles in NBC's 2011 series The Playboy Club. She plays a Playboy Bunny named "Brenda" who has dreams of being the first Black centerfold. The pilot aired on September 19, 2011. The series was cancelled after three episodes aired.^[11]

On October 13, 2011, Naturi Naughton brought her talents to It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia^[12] to play 1970s Jazz Club Singer Sha-Dynasty, the romantic interest of Frank (Danny DeVito) and his brother Geno (Jon Polito).

Recently, Deadline.com reported that she had been added to the cast of Lifetime's upcoming 2012 drama series The Client List with Jennifer Love Hewitt.^[13]

Filmography

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Naturi Naughton

• Naturi Naughton on Myspace
• Naturi Naughton at the Internet Movie Database
• Naturi Naughton at the Internet Broadway Database
• Naturi Naughton: The Notorious Interview with Kam Williams