Monica

Monica Arnold was 14 years old and a protégée of producer Dallas Austin when she released her debut in 1995. An assured, streetwise amalgam of soul, pop, hip-hop, and blues, Miss Thang established Monica, with her gospel-choir voice and attitude to spare, as the antidote to emerging good-girl teen stars like Brandy. The hit single "Don't Take It Personal" and "Let's Straighten It Out," a duet with Usher, demonstrate Monica's considerable gift for vinegary, uptempo R&B, though the record's many soppy MOR ballads ("Before You Walk out of My Life") don't play to her strengths.

Monica's debut was a modest success, but it wasn't until the release of "The Boy Is Mine" -- her musical cage match with Brandy -- that she became a star in her own right. Coproduced by Clive Davis, The Boy Is Mine contains, among other things, dance pop, groove-happy R&B ("Cross the Room"), orchestral flourishes, a convincing collaboration with OutKast ("Gone Be Fine"), and a cover of Richard Marx's "Right Here Waiting," a song beyond even Monica's redemptive powers.

Although wildly uneven, Boy was good enough to suggest that Monica was on her way to the sort of success enjoyed by Aaliyah or Toni Braxton, but the long gap between records didn't bode well. Coproduced by Missy Elliott, Monica's eventual followup, 2003's After the Storm, was originally released in a much-altered form as the 2002 import All Eyez on Me. Although the disc made reference to Monica's almost Dickensian troubles -- one boyfriend in prison, another a suicide, and that's not the half of it -- After the Storm was a disappointingly tepid mix of slushy ballads and preachy, believe-in-yourself R&B tracks that didn't live up to the promise of its predecessors. (ALLISON STEWART)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide