Lil' Mo

R&B diva with a soulful voice, Lil' Mo had big success in the early 2000s and collaborated with some of the major hip-hop stars of the era.

Born in Long Island, New York, her father's military career saw the family frequently move around the country, but Lil' Mo (real name Cynthia Loving) knew from a young age that she wanted to be famous and while she was still in high school she started touring with her uncle John P. Kee, an acclaimed gospel crooner. Giving up touring to be a hairdresser, she later became a backing singer for MC Guru of hip-hop duo Gang Starr on his international tour in the mid-'90s, before Missy Elliott heard her demo tapes and recruited her to perform on Nicole Wray's album 'Make It Hot' (1998). Elliott became an important mentor and featured Lil' Mo on her hit single 'Hot Boyz'; her reputation grew further when she appeared on Ja Rule's top ten single 'Put It On Me' in 2000.

Her debut album 'Based On a True Story' reached number 14 in the US Charts the following year, and her single 'Superwoman Pt. II' featuring Fabolous became a hit as she established herself as a modern soul singer bridging the gap between the street attitude of hip-hop and urban R&B. She went on to host a radio show in her adopted home of Baltimore and wrote for Lil Bow Wow, Keith Sweat and Blackstreet, before her second album 'Meet the Girl Next Door' also made the US top 20 in 2003 and featured Lil' Kim on the track 'Ten Commandments'. After an unsuccessful spell with Cash Money Records, she returned on her own independent label HoneyChild with albums 'Pain & Paper' (2007) and 'P.S. I Love Me' (2011), but they failed to make an impact despite being regarded as her most heartfelt and reflective work. Her career was boosted when she featured in the reality television show 'R&B: Divas Los Angeles', and she returned to music with the album 'The Scarlett Letter' and mixtape 'No S**t Sherlock' in 2014. In 2018 Lil' Mo announced that she was retiring from the music industry in order to pursue a career in law.