Lil' Mo

Infobox musical artist
Name = Lil' Mo
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Cynthia Loving
Born = birthdate and age|1978|7|3
Died =
Origin = Long Island, New York,
United States
Genre = R&B, Soul, Rap
Occupation = Singer, Songwriter
Years_active = 1998–present
Label = Elektra (2001-2004)
UTH Records (2006-2007) Cash Money (2004-2006)
Ice Age (2006-present)
URL =

Lil' Mo (born Cynthia Loving on July 3, 1978) 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. 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.

Two years ago she met her husband at a D.C. gas station, initiated a conversation and asked for his number. He proposed to her in May, and on August 29, 2001 after only 5 months of knowing one another they married.

Just two months later in December, Loving became pregnant, and on August 19, 2002, 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.

She currently lives in Odenton, Maryland, with her parents Jacob and Cynthia Loving Sr., and daughters Heaven Love'on Stone and God'Iss Love Stone.

On March 18, 2007, she announced her reconciliation to Stone,(March 16, 2007). [http://www.v100.com/cc-common/mainheadlines3.html?feed=104655&article=1846762 Lil' Mo Reconciles With Husband] "V100.7". Accessed January 15, 2008.] but by August the couple divorced. She is currently engaged to Gospel Recording Artist Philip Bryant.fact|date=January 2008

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. 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 "" 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)

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. She recently signed to Mike Jones' Ice Age Entertainment label.

"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.

Discography

Albums

References

External links

* [http://www.myspace.com/lilmomusic Lil' Mo] at MySpace
* [http://www.s2smagazine.com/content/content.asp?issueid=200309&listid=03 "Sister2Sister" Interview]