R&B Diva Monifah was once on top of the world with chart-topping hits such as Touch It, You, and I Miss You (Come Back Home). But as the saying goes, what goes up must come down. Unfortunately, the phrase proved true for the singer in the worst way. Monifah Carter suffered from issues with the label that led to other problems in her personal life. But the R&B singer has found a career revival and is speaking about what it took to get there.
New York City’s Monifah Carter got her start when she was discovered in her early 20s by the late rapper Heavy D. Before debuting as a solo artist, the singer was in a group signed to MCA Records in the early 90s. Monifah ended up doing demo work for the “Now That We Found Love” rapper, who eventually turned that into creating her debut album.
Moods…Moments, the debut release from Monifah, was released in 1996 on Uptown Records. It was produced in majority by Heavy D. The album housed her first single, “I Miss You (Come Back Home), “You,” and “You Don’t Have To Love Me.” Shortly after the album’s release, Monifah got back into the studio to work on the follow-up album. Little did she know, her sophomore effort would eclipse her impressive debut.
Monifah’s second album, Mo’hogany, was released in 1998. The album included the smash single, “Touch It,” which was released on July 21 of the same year and charted worldwide to massive success. In the United States, Monifah saw the single reach the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100, resting at #9.
The singer told the website RatedRnB.com that she had no idea the song would achieve the crossover success it did, ultimately exposing her to a brand new audience. “We just made music because we loved it,” said Monifah, who later admitted in the conversation that she “wasn’t in love” with the song. “To be honest, it’s not one of my favorite songs,” she shared. Monifah also confessed that it’s not one of her favorite songs to perform live either.
Regardless of whether or not she liked the song, the singer is undoubtedly grateful to have “Touch It” in her arsenal. “That [song] had me eating for like, four or five years after it hit,” Monifah said in an interview with This Is 50. In addition, the singer recalled being able to travel extensively due to the success that the Jack Knight-produced record garnered.
However, the album’s subsequent singles, “Bad Girl” and “Suga Suga,” were nowhere near as successful as “Touch It.” Soon, Monifah suffered from label shake-ups when Uptown Records began to suffer a decline in prominence and success. It was then bought out and dissolved into Universal Music Group, with Monifah being one of the artists headed there. At the time, Heavy D had also resigned as Uptown Records’ CEO.
But her time at Universal Music Group was not as successful as her previous efforts. Her third album, Home, was produced mainly by Teddy Riley and was the only release on the label. It was Monifah’s lowest debut on the Billboard charts, entering at #151 on the Top 200 and #39 on the R&B charts. Soon, Universal Records dropped her, but according to Monifah, it was brutal.
Monifah appeared on The Wendy Williams Show, where she recalled the moment she found out that she would no longer be signed to the label. The singer shared that a box was delivered to her residence that included all she had done until that point. According to Monifah, no phone call was made to herself or her lawyer. “I was like, ‘Damn!'” she said.
Monifah explained the situation further in an interview with Just The Fab, saying that the label just “threw it against the wall to see if it would stick.” With no one at the record label to look out for her or her best interests, she was tossed to the side.
Universal’s decision to drop Monifah caused her to fall out of love with the business. Soon after, she struggled with years of alcohol and substance abuse. However, she has since remained clean and released a few singles. Monifah was also one of the cast members of R&B Divas: Atlanta. Monifah recently revealed yesterday that she will be releasing new music. The singer has partnered with a company called EQ Exchange who will be helping her release the new project.
