The sad tale of 3LW

The group 3LW had a lot of promise when it first came out three years ago. For a while there it even looked like the fetching female trio was going to give Destiny’s Child very stiff competition in the hit charts. Naturi Naughton, Kiely Williams and Adrienne Bailon had the face, the figure, the dancing feet and best of all the right pipes to become successful pop divas. And true enough, after the release of just one album, the girls already had a good share of awards and rave notices, plus a growing fan following.

The group’s first album, also titled 3LW, which are letters that stand for Three Little Women, instantly became a big seller and eventually made Platinum thanks to the hit tune No More. Before its first year on the spotlight was over, 3LW had won the Best New R&B or Hip Hop Artist and the Album of the Year trophies at the 2001 Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards. There was a new album in the offing titled A Girl Can Mack, where 3LW had the likes of P. Diddy and Mario Winans as collaborators. Early buzz had it that it was even better than the first one.

A Girl Can Mack made it to the market late last year but without 3LW or I should say with only 2LW. Just as the girls were getting ready for the big promo binge that will accompany the album, a big row erupted among them and Naturi dropped everything and went home. The reason for the break that went around was that Naturi was ran out of the group by the two other girls and the sister of Kiely who was also the group’s manager because they found her skin too dark. No one really knows what happened for sure but the specific incident that sent Naturi packing is now being told and retold as a good example of why female groups can never stay together for long.

It was a food fight outside a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet where Naturi got into an argument with the manager Wendy. It ended with Naturi as the target of two pieces of fried chicken, macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes. With all that splattered all over her, Naturi left the group forever. She later said that Kiely intentionally threw the KFC dinner at her. On the other hand, Kiely said it was all an accident caused by her three-year-old sister who was running around them. Again, we will never know what really happened except that 3LW had lost one member.

Which is most unfortunate. A Girl Can Mack is filled with the kind of high-energy R&B music that kids cannot seem to live without. Meet Me at the Crib and I Do Wanna Get Close to You are sure party staples you would also want to sing along with. The ballads like More Than Friends and Crazy are sweet and melodic. The girls’ vocals are sweet, sexy, soaring and filled with longing. Best of all they sound good together. When you are coming from a hit album like 3LW, it is only logical to expect something bigger out of the follow-up but you are not likely to get that in the midst of an ugly break-up where skin color was said to be the major issue.

When last heard from the remaining members were getting ready to introduce Naturi’s replacement. The new girl was the result of a massive search that 3LW conducted around America. Then it will be three little women once again. And don’t say that having a new member will not work. An excellent example is Destiny’s Child, to which the 3LW is often compared. The group also changed members in mid-stream and the remaining girls emerged even bigger stars from the crisis. On the other hand though the Spice Girls were never able to recover from Geri Halliwell’s departure.

The 3LW problem however should not be reason enough for anybody who likes R&B music to stay away from A Girl Can Mack. The album is a sleek, superbly done production that the girls should be proud of. Besides, if not having Naturi around does lead to the demise of 3LW, you will have an album by a group that died because of a KFC meal. Now, that is something you don’t get all the time.