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3LW (acronym of "3 Little Women") was an American hip hop, pop and R&B girl group that enjoyed a number of modest hits during the early 2000s. Its founding members, Naturi Naughton, Adrienne Bailon, and Kiely Williams, signed with Epic Records, with Kiely's older sister and legal guardian Michele Williams serving as manager.

Musical career

"3LW"

In late-1999 the original line up for 3LW was formed. Their first single, "No More (Baby I'ma Do Right)", was released in the fall of 2000. "No More" was a success and was followed by "Playas Gon' Play" in early 2001. The group's debut album, 3LW was released on December 5, 2000. The album went platinum, selling 1.3 million copies in the US.^[1] In the summer of 2001, the group went on the MTV Total Request Live tour along with Destiny's Child, Dream, Nelly, Eve, and Jessica Simpson.

3LW spent the first half of 2002 in the studio, recording an album tentatively titled Same Game, Different Rules. The album and its intended lead single "Uh Oh" were presented to the label, who felt it didn't have enough urban radio appeal.^{citation needed} The tracks from Same Game, Different Rules were leaked to the Internet in MP3 format, and Epic considered dropping the girls. A fan support campaign for 3LW named 'Never Let Go Of 3LW' after their song "Never Let Go" spread to the radio, and the act was retained, despite the album loss.^{citation needed}

"A Girl Can Mack"

Recording a new set of tracks, the group returned in the summer of 2002 with the P. Diddy-produced single "I Do (Wanna Get Close To You)", featuring Loon. By August, the group was set to release its newest LP, A Girl Can Mack, A Girl Can Mack debuted at #15 on the Billboard 200 with a disappointing 53,000 copies sold in the first week.^[2]. After the second single released off the album, "Neva Get Enuf", underperformed, auditions were held across the country for a new third member. Jessica Benson made the cut and joined 3LW in December 2002. Jessica's first performance was in 2003 on Live with Regis & Kelly.

"Point of No Return"

In fall 2003, 3LW departed from Epic, signing with Jermaine Dupri's So So Def label. The group's third studio album was to be titled Phoenix Rising, but was renamed Point of No Return.^{[3] [4]}

The lead-off single, Feelin' You, was added on radio stations July 12, 2006. The album Point of No Return, was supposed to be released later that year but was pushed back to a 2007 release, because of Adrienne and Kiely's involvement with Disney's Cheetah Girls franchise,^{citation needed} and eventually fell off the release schedule. As a result, the album was never released.

Singing Career Turmoil and Changes

Approaching the time that the group was ready to deliver their second album, Naturi Naughton announced that she was no longer a member of the group.^[5] Naughton alleged that she suddenly had a number of conflicts and arguments with the other two girls and their management, which led to a heated argument that month involving an altercation with KFC food.^[6][7] Not long after, Naughton claimed she was forced out of the group. ^[8]

Williams and Bailon continued as a duo while using the "3LW" name, causing the press to jokingly refer to them as "2LW".^[5] The departure of Naturi greatly affected the group's popularity and album sales. According to a cover story for the October 2002 issue of Sister 2 Sister magazine, Kiely & Adrienne said they received death threats and that they had to beef up security. A Girl Can Mack's release date was pushed back a month, but sales were still disappointing. Jessica Benson joined the group shortly after, replacing Naturi.

The trio's third album, Point of No Return had it's release pushed back from Summer 2006 to an unknown date. In early 2007, Bailon stated in Girls Life magazine that 3LW was on hold because of the Cheetah Girls project. However rumors were finally put to rest in early 2008, when Benson confirmed through her myspace that 3LW had officially disbanded. She explained there was "too much drama". She also confirmed that she is now a member of a new girl group called Chocolate. Chocolate has two songs on the mixtape of D. Woods (member of another group Danity Kane) called "The Bad Girls Club". 3LW has also been taken off of Jive / Zomba's label roster, confirming the dissolution of the long awaited return of 3LW.

As a result, 3LW eventually became The Cheetah Girls, with the inclusion of Sabrina Bryan, replacing Jessica Benson.

Acting career

Besides their singing work, 3LW has appeared as guest stars on Christina Vidal's Nickelodeon show Taina.

After the birth of The Cheetah Girls, Kiely and Adrienne both starred with Raven Symone and Sabrina Bryan in the films The Cheetah Girls as well as its two sequels The Cheetah Girls 2 and The Cheetah Girls 3. Adrienne has also appeared in some episodes of the Disney Channel show That's So Raven. Adrienne had a cameo appearance in the movie Coach Carter in 2005, and in 2006 co-starred in the MTV straight to video/television movie All You've Got beside fellow R&B singer Ciara. Kiely is to play a sorority sister in the upcoming comedy, The House Bunny.

Acting Career Turmoil and Changes

Kiely and Adrienne will star in The Cheetah Girls 3 with Sabrina Bryan but Raven Symone will not be starring in it due to her own catfights and arguments with Bailon and Williams.^[9]

Other Media

The group was also featured as bonus characters in the 2001 video game NBA Street.

Discography

Further information: 3LW discography

• 2000: 3LW
• 2002: A Girl Can Mack
• 2002: Naughty or Nice
• 2007: Point Of No Return (Cancelled Release)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Official site
• Myspace
• Discogs