Black Twitter is finally giving Amerie her flowers. The 42-year-old singer-songwriter trended after one Twitter user posted the video for her Top #10 2005 hit single “1 Thing.”
Twitter user Partna* shared the go-go-infused banger with the fitting caption, “A LOT of people were scared when this dropped.”
A LOT of people were scared when this dropped pic.twitter.com/NSCq4uTFKr
— partna ˣ (@onIychloexhalle) February 25, 2022
Of course, Black Twitter went up for the catchy tune that gave a nod to Amerie’s D.C. roots and gave the singer her propers.
An R&B classic by Amerie. The beat, her vocals, the musicianship, everything was great about this song. 🙌🙌
— FLYBOY 😎 (@malikbeyard) February 26, 2022
Amerie disrespect is wild as hell. She didn’t give us that perfect ‘All I Have’ album for y’all to be acting like this.
— Ronald Isley (@yoyotrav) February 28, 2022
It just kills me how Amerie never fully blew up. Great singles and long plays too. “Because I Love It” is one of my favorite albums. Columbia screwed her so bad on that release. It was Grammy worthy.
— Mark Anthony ❄️ (@markstatic) February 28, 2022
The Queen of Summer
Why Don’t We Fall In Love x Amerie ☀️ https://t.co/VcDqADfuLZ pic.twitter.com/yMd2u78POR
— Ave (@SebastianAvenue) February 28, 2022
I was 26 when this song dropped & years before & after that time you couldn’t tell me nothing! I was the dopest most adorable, cutest, sexiest around the way girl. #Amerie became my soft Ruff Ryder’s anthem side from 2002 thru 2008. I miss me. https://t.co/NbfEYgCCjq
— Volatile🖤Unicorn (@SlayDaMundane) February 28, 2022
Amerie Is A DC Native So She Wanted To Pay Homage With This Song , She Said The Inspo From This Song Came From “GOGO Music.” https://t.co/2lvapSVs8e
— 𝗡𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝐶𝗮. (@HisLilBADDBitch) February 26, 2022
Rich Harrison produced “1 Thing” and co-wrote the track with Amerie. The singer-songwriter has five studio albums from 2002-2009.
There’s a sordid history behind the release of “1 Thing.”
On Instagram, the details were shared how Amerie’s single came to be and the ramifications that followed afterward.
“Never forget that time when @amerie dropped “One Thing” because at @jlo tried to hijack it for herself!🤣🤣”
“So backstory…Amerie had this song for her second album but @sony didn’t want to mess with it, and J. Lo got wind of it and wanted it for her own album. The label was basically trying to bully Amerie into giving up the song… She knew better. She co-wrote it and her and her partner LEAKED the joint to various radio stations…IT WAS AN INSTANT HIT! She was genius, but I do think that got her blackballed in the industry. It’s a damn shame! But, I’m elated that she held on to her power!”
“Sony had NO CHOICE but to release it!! 🤣🤣🤣🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾 Black women for the win!! And it’s still a bop!💙✊🏿”
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Amerie talked to Okayplayer 2020 and elaborated on how Sony got behind her after the single became a hit.
“People did put the effort into it afterwards but it was kind of too late. I definitely felt like ‘1 Thing’ did well in spite of the label, instead of because of the label.”
The same year Amerie started an online book club that discusses literary works that “capture our struggles, resilience and eternal hopes.”
Amerie blew minds when she stepped on the scene with the summer anthem “Why Don’t We Fall In Love” in 2002. The single stayed in heavy rotation on urban radio, and the video also had a cameo from former BadBoy Records singer Carl Thomas.
The singer-songwriter is also married to former Columbia record exec Lenny Nicholson. The couple wed in 2011 and share an adorable three-year-old son named River.
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Although Amerie’s musical footprint on R&B and Hip-Hop in the 2000s is largely ignored, we appreciate the classic bops we still rock to today.
