One thing I never expected heading into my 30’s was to still be hearing about 3LW breaking up.
The chatter around 3LW’s KFC beef and breakup back in the day has lasted much longer than their career as a ground, mostly in part to Naturi Naughton still bringing it up every time there’s something to promote 18 years later. If you were to ask Naturi about her days in the hit girl group 3LW, she would tell you that they were her formative years, but it was also a time wrought with anxiety and sadness. The group had singles featuring Diddy, Young Joc, Jermaine Dupri, Lil Romeo, Lil Wayne, Nick Cannon, and more, and many believed that they would be together for much longer than just a few years.
In 2002, the Power actress left the group following rumors that her band members Adrienne Bailon and Kiely Williams wanted her out, and years ago she detailed that last nail-in-the-coffin encounter that solidified her decision to leave on her own was a food fight incident in a Kentucky Fried Chicken that surely the Colonel would not approve of. During a recent interview with People mag, the actress opens up about her return to music. The 36-year-old tells the entertainment outlet she will sing once again remind us of the “broken promithes” of 3LW as she’ll sing about “some of the feelings I had after being ousted” from the girl group.
Despite the challenging times in the music industry, the Power star went on to other things and the rest of 3LW did as well. Bailon is now a co-host of The Real and she apologized to Naughton when she was a guest on the show. Naughton tells People that she is not currently in contact with her former groupmates but does share some good memories with them.
“It was a tumultuous breakup. However, I do look back and remember, ‘Oh, I was on the TRL tour, opening up for Destiny’s Child,” Naughton remarked.
“I think a lot of people that know me now, who even watch Power, don’t realize how long my journey has been. This has been since I was 15 and I’ve been in the business for 20 years. I look back at that experience of being in a girl group, although it had some learning experiences that were growing pains, it just showed me what it takes to make it in this industry.”
Naughton is still holding it down as Tasha St. Patrick on the first of the Power spinoffs, Power Book II: Ghost, but she is ready to get back to music. She says her upcoming album will explore different musical styles, describing “R&B fused with a little bit of that hip hop.”
She will also channel the feelings from the 3LW fallout through her art.
“I want to bring back that ’90s era vibe with people really singing. I’m excited to just tell my story through song because a lot the songs I do talk about feelings I had after being ousted from 3LW,” Naughton said.
Are you here for this new Naturi music? Naturi’s former group mate Kiely apparently caught wind of Naughton’s plans with her music posting a bit of shade to her instagram. Take a look at what she posted below:
