Hot [Album]

"Hot" is the debut album by Melanie B; As a way of dealing with the problems of her marriage, Brown continued working on her debut solo album. She worked with producers such as Sisqo, Teddy Riley, and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (Janet Jackson, Prince), with whom she was also working on the Spice Girls' third album, "Forever". The album was released on October 9, 2000, less than a month before the release of "Forever", the third studio album by the Spice Girls; this is cited as the main reason that "Hot" was not successful: fans were more interested in the Spice Girls comeback album rather than Melanie B's debut. Despite being released only two weeks after the top 5 hit "Tell Me" and including the #1 single "I Want You Back", Hot entered the U.K. albums chart at a disappointing #28 before quickly dropping from the chart completely. Although the album underperformed in the U.K., the album reached the #1 position in Israel. Hot was digitally released in the United States via the iTunes Store on October 30, 2007.

Four months after the album's release, the single "Feels So Good" was released, becoming a top 5 hit. This single helped the album re-enter the U.K. albums chart. The last single, "Lullaby" was released in June 2001, but was unable to make a great impact on album sales, therefore "Hot" re-entered the Top 200 for only one week. Altogether the album went on to sell around 53,000 copies. The track "Hotter" was set to be the album's fourth single, fifth overall; however, this was decided against because of the low charting of "Lullaby".

Following the release of "Feels So Good", rumours began that if her next single flopped she would be dropped by her record company, Virgin Records. In May, Brown performed a small set at the London G-A-Y Astoria club, her only solo gig until 2004. A third single was released in June 2001, "Lullaby", a pop number dedicated to her daughter. It was accompanied by a very simple video shot in Morocco and featured Brown with Phoenix Chi. The media criticised Brown for using her child in the music video and single artwork, labelling her Desperate Spice and insinuating that she was exploiting her child as a marketing tool. The single entered and peaked at a disappointing #13, and Virgin duly dumped Brown from their label.

1. Feels So Good 5:07
   
2. Tell Me 4:35
   
3. Hell No 4:17
   
4. Lullaby 3:26
   
5. Hotter 3:16
   
6. Step Inside 4:01
   
7. ABC 123 3:15
   
8. I Believe 4:02
   
9. I Want You Back feat. Missy Elliott 3:28
   
10. Pack Ya Shit 4:22
    
11. Feel Me Now 5:00
    
12. Word Up 3:40 From Japanese CD
    

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