702 (band)
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702 (pronounced "Seven-Oh-Two"), named after the area code of their hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada, is an American platinum-selling female R&B trio, made up of three young African-American women: lead singer Kameelah 'Meelah' Williams and sisters Irish and LeMisha 'Misha' Grinstead.
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History
702 was discovered by Michael Bivins of New Edition and made their recorded debut on Subway's hit single "This Lil' Game We Play". Missy Elliott wrote and co-produced four songs from their first album, No Doubt, including "Steelo". The remix of "Steelo" was the first major solo production credit for Elliott's main collaborator Timbaland. "Steelo" was later used, with altered lyrics, as the theme song to the Nickelodeon television show Cousin Skeeter. Also the song 'All I Want' was featured in the Nickelodeon movie Good Burger.
Elliott crafted two more songs for 702, their second album, the top 5 hit "Where My Girls At" and "You Don't Know". No Doubt won a Lady Of Soul Soul Train Award for "Best R&B/Soul or Rap Album Of The Year by A Group Band Or Duo". After "Where My Girls At?", 702 took a hiatus from the spotlight.
The lead singer, Kameelah "Meelah" Williams, had decided to part from the group and go solo. She briefly became the new protégé of the soulful first lady, Faith Evans. She signed a deal to be managed by Faith and her husband, Todd Russaw, under their Pedigree MGI Management.
Kameelah sang backup and wrote some songs for Faith Evans' album, Faithfully. She also sang backup for Missy Elliott on her Miss E...So Addictive third single 'Take Away' which in turn featured soulful melodies from Ginuwine and the then-unknown, Tweet.
Her solo efforts never took off the way she wanted them to. It was rumored she was going to replace Kima from Total. During her hiatus as a "solo" artist. The Grinstead sisters the remaining members of 702, decided to retake their place in the spotlight and enlisted in breaking in new member Cree Lamore to replace Meelah.
Under the new revamped 702, they recorded the lead single "Pootie Tangin" for the Chris Rock movie, Pootie Tang. In the video you can see Irish and Cree sharing lead vocals. The group vowed it would be different from when Meelah was apart of the group. However, it was reported that all the line-up changes they went through nobody actually gelled.
Meelah decided to reunite with her former band mates to record their third album, Star. They recorded tracks such as lead single "Star", "Blah Blah Blah Blah", "I Still Love You", and "Certified".
The group split after the poor sales of their album 'Star' and lack of promotion from Motown.
Discography
Singles
- 1995: "This Lil' Game We Play" (featuring Subway)
- 1996: "Steelo" (US #32, #13 R&B)
- 1997: "Get It Together" (US #10, #3 R&B)
- 1997: "All I Want" (US #35)
- 1999: "Where My Girls At" (US #4, #3 R&B)
- 1999: "You Don't Know" (#59 R&B)
- 2000: "Gotta Leave"
- 2003: "Let Your Hair Down"
- 2003: "Star" (featuring Clipse)
- 2003: "I Still Love You" (#48 R&B)
Albums
- Biv 10 release
- 1996: No Doubt (US cert: Platinum)
- Motown releases
- 1999: 702 (US cert: Platinum)
- 2003: Star (US: #45)
Awards & nominations
| Year | Award |
|---|---|
| 1997 | Soul Train Lady of Soul Award for Best R&B/Soul Album of the Year - Group, Band or Duo (No Doubt). Winner [1] |
| 1999 | American Music Award nomination for Favorite New Artist - Soul / Rhythm & Blues |
| 2002 | Soul Train Lady of Soul Award nomination for Best R&B/Soul Single - Group, Band or Duo ("Pootie Tangin'") |
| 2003 | Soul Train Lady of Soul Award nomination for Best R&B/Soul Album of the Year - Group, Band or Duo (Star) |
| 2003 | Soul Train Lady of Soul Award nomination for Best R&B/Soul Single - Group, Band or Duo ("I Still Love You") |