| Meet the Girl Next Door | ||||
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| Studio album by Lil' Mo | ||||
| Released | April 29, 2003 | |||
| Recorded | 2002–2003 | |||
| Genre | R&B | |||
| Label | Elektra / Wea | |||
| Producer | Chucky Thompson, Cynthia "Lil' Mo" Loving, Bastiany, Precision, Missy Elliott, Walter "Lil' Walt" Millsap III, Bryan Michael Cox, Craig Love, Warryn "Baby Dubb" Campbell, Antwan "Amedeus" Thompson | |||
| Lil' Mo chronology | ||||
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Meet the Girl Next Door is the second album of American R&B singer Lil' Mo. The album was her last recording under Elektra Records, as well as the last to feature a collaboration with close friend, Missy Elliott. The album is known to have been recorded during Mo's eighth-month preagnancy, as well as featuring guest appearances by Fabolous, Lil' Kim, Missy Elliott, Harold Lily, Chucky Thompson, Heavy D, & Free (who contributed to the album's buzz single, but was never included on the final cut of the album).
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Less than a year after Mo's debut was certified Gold by the RIAA, Mo began recording a follow up to the album. She decided to work with new producers on the majority of the album, rather than her former label, Elektra Records-affiliated artists.
"21 Answers" (a known response to 50 Cent's "21 Questions") was sent to radio in early 2003, as a buzz single. Because of its lack of charting performance, the song was never included on the album, thus it was dropped from being the lead single.
In February 2003, "4Ever", featuring Fabolous, was released as a lead single for the album, and received somewhat lukewarm reviews by most critics. The song peaked at number 37 on Billboard Hot 100 and at number 13 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Weeks after the single's peak, "Ten Commandments", featuring Lil' Kim, was released as the second single. However, due to limited promotion, and failed attempts for a video, the single was never properly released.
Meet the Girl Next Door was released. It debuted on Billboard 200 at number 17 and peaked at number 4 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, the highest charting-position by the singer.
The album sold an estimate of 110,000 copies within its first week, and went on to sell 250,000 more towards the end of the year (estimating around 360,000 total).
Because of lack of promotion for the album, as well as new singles to be released, Mo left Elektra Records in 2004.
Reviews for the album were mostly positive. Unlike her debut, Meet the Girl Next Door was given 4/5 stars by Andy Kellman of AllMusic, who described Mo's voice more "rangy" and "versatile". He also stated that the album had terrific highlights, as well as more better lyrics than her debut. However, he described the album being, "four songs too long." He also stated that, "... it's apparent that Lil' Mo really ought to devote the bulk of her working time — if not all of it — to making music."
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