Next to her recording career, Evans is widely known as the widow of New York rapper Christopher "The Notorious B.I.G." Wallace, whom she married in 1994 two months after meeting at a photoshoot. The turbulent marriage led to Evans' involvement in the East Coast-West Coast hip hop feud, dominating the rap scene at the time, and ended with Wallace's murder in a yet-unsolved drive-by shooting in Los Angeles in March 1997. A 1997 tribute single featuring Puff Daddy and 112, entitled "I'll Be Missing You," became Evans' biggest-selling hit to date and won her a Grammy Award in 1998.
After marrying Todd Russaw and having a third child, named Joshua, Evans released her long-awaited follow-up, Keep the Faith in 1998. Unlike the solemn approach to her first album, this album spoke of optimism, good times, and love. Among its biggest hits include the Chic-sampled track "Love Like This" (#7 US), the P. Diddy helmed "All Night Long" (#9 US), and Babyface lent her a number-one R&B hit song with "Never Gonna Let You Go". Outside of her own albums, Evans found another hit that year with Whitney Houston and Kelly Price on the song "Heartbreak Hotel".
Evans released her third album, 2001's Faithfully, which included the hit singles "You Gets No Love" (#8 R&B) and "I Love You" (#2 R&B). For the album's promotion, Evans went through a transformation in her physical appearance. Always a slightly full figured woman, Evans shed over fifty pounds and presented a sexier image that was present for the videos to "I Love You" and "Burnin' Up". Fatman Scoop also sampled her vocals on the song "Be Faithful" in 2003, which reached number one in the UK. Although the album wasn't as largely promoted as her first two, it was a moderate success. The album was certified platinum in January 2002, with over 1 million units sold.
Evans rebounded with a record that many of her fans have proclaimed as her strongest record to date, The First Lady (released on April 5, 2005) her Capitol record debut album. After finding success with her Twista collaboration, "Hope", Evans released her first song of new material in three years with "Again", a biographical account of her life struggles. Faith recorded "Say A Prayer" with gospel music star Donald Lawrence on his "I Speak Life" album in 2004. The First Lady came out commemorating her tenth anniversary in the industry and her first record on Capitol Records after leaving Bad Boy in 2003. With the help of "Again" reaching the top ten of Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart, and appearances on David Letterman, BET, Later... with Jools Holland and MTV the album entered the Billboard 200 at number two with 160,000 copies sold in its first week, marking the largest first-week total of her career. The First Lady was RIAA certified Gold selling over 600,000 copies to date. The second single, "Mesmerized", saw Faith going with a 70's retro-funk soul vibe. The track failed to crack top fifty R&B despite numerous remixes; however a dance remix by the Freemasons went on to hit number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart.
At the end of 2005, Evans released her fifth studio album, A Faithful Christmas, a Christmas collection of new material and covers of seasonal classics. She also made lots of appearances on holiday TV programming. In early 2006, Faith Evans' third single, "Tru Love" (produced by Jermaine Dupri and Bryan Michael Cox), gradually gained ground on urban/urban AC radio without any assistance from her label since they never promoted (sent to radio) or had a video for "Tru Love", becoming her twelfth solo R&B hit (Top 30). Also in 2005, Evans appeared along with Jessi Colter and Cece White as a feature vocalist on the Shooter Jennings song "Southern Comfort" from the album "Put the O Back in Country".
On October 5. 2010, Evans' sixth album, "Something About Faith." The album debuted at #4 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and #15 on the Billboard 200 with sales of 23,586 copies in its first week. The albums' lead single "Already Gone" peaked at #22 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart. The albums' second single and music video "Right Here" was released on February 14, 2011.
In 2012, Evans became a cast member of TV One reality show R&B Divas Atlanta alongside Nicci Gilbert, Syleena Johnson, Keke Wyatt and Monifah. Evans also co-executive produces the show.[25] The album R&B Divas Atlanta, led by Evans was released on October 2, 2012. Proceeds from the album will benefit the Whitney E. Houston Academy of Creative & Performing Arts in East Orange, New Jersey.
On August 6, 2013, Evans confirmed she had begun work on her 6th album, tentatively titled Incomparable. Evans also revealed guest appearances for the album are slated to include Missy Elliott, KeKe Wyatt, B.Slade and Karen Clark Sheard of The Clark Sisters. "I Deserve It", a record featuring recurring collaborator Missy Elliott and her protégée Sharaya J, was released via iTunes on August 25, 2014 as the album's lead single. Incomparable was released on November 24, 2014. On TMZ, Evans had announced that she is working on a posthumous Notorious B.I.G. album titled The King & I, which will feature duets with the two. She plans to release it sometime in 2015.
No Way
Faith Evans Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You promised that you'd be around
You said I'd never hurt again
Me believe you? There's no way
You promised that you'd hold my hand
You promised that you'd be my man
I need for you to understand
You come and go
You stay, you leave
You're full of empty promises
That never came to be
And baby you say our love was built to last
Not love like this
I need someone to count on
Not just now and then
And baby you said
You promised not to let me down
You promised that you'd be around
You said I'd never hurt again
Me believe you? There's no way
You promised not to let me down
You promised that you'd be around
You said I'd never hurt again
Me believe you? There's no way
You promised that you'd hold my hand
You promised that you'd be my man
I need for you to understand
For me to trust you, there's no way
I'm moving on, oh that's best for me
You swear to make it better, babe
But I can't believe
Cuz I've heard it all before
It's in the past, must look ahead
I thought that I'd be loving you
But I'm hurt instead, oh you
You promised not to let me down
You promised that you'd be around
You said I'd never hurt again
Me believe you? There's no way
You promised not to let me down
You promised that you'd be around
You said I'd never hurt again
Me believe you? There's no way
You promised that you'd hold my hand
You promised that you'd be my man
I need for you to understand
For me to trust you, there's no way
Every tear I've cried, every time you lied
And every time you broke my heart
Now I'm going on till the pain is gone
I'm waiting for the pain to go away
You promised not to let me down
You promised that you'd be around
You said I'd never hurt again
Me believe you? There's no way
You promised not to let me down
You promised that you'd be around
You said I'd never hurt again
Me believe you? There's no way
You promised that you'd hold my hand
You promised that you'd be my man
I need for you to understand
For me to trust you, there's no way
In the song "No Way" by Faith Evans, the lyrics capture a sense of betrayal and mistrust that is built upon the expectation of promises that were made but broken in the end. The song is a reflection of someone who has been hurt and left broken by false promises of love and trust. Evans sings of a promise given to not let her down and to always be around, but despite being reassured of never experiencing pain again, the singer knows that she cannot believe these words anymore.
The repetition of "You promised" emphasizes the disappointment of the singer's expectations and how hollow these promises feel. The line "For me to trust you, there's no way" reveals that the singer needs proof and tangible evidence that the promises being made will be kept. As the song progresses, the singer decides to move on and leave the pain behind, acknowledging it is best for her. The song ends with the resolution that she deserves better than someone full of empty promises and that it's time to move on.
Line by Line Meaning
You promised not to let me down
You made a vow to never disappoint me
You promised that you'd be around
You assured me that you would always be here for me
You said I'd never hurt again
You gave me hope that I wouldn't experience any more pain
Me believe you? There's no way
I cannot trust you anymore
You promised that you'd hold my hand
You pledged to be supportive of me
You promised that you'd be my man
You claimed to be committed to me
I need for you to understand
It is imperative that you comprehend my perspective
For me to trust you, there's no way
I cannot rely on you to be trustworthy
You come and go
Your presence in my life is inconsistent
You stay, you leave
Your actions are unpredictable
You're full of empty promises
You make commitments you cannot keep
That never came to be
You have never followed through with your assurances
And baby you say our love was built to last
You claim that our relationship was meant to endure
Not love like this
Our love cannot continue in its current state
I need someone to count on
I require a reliable partner in my life
Not just now and then
I need your support consistently
And baby you said
You made a promise that you did not keep
I'm moving on, oh that's best for me
I am leaving this relationship because it is in my best interest
You swear to make it better, babe
You vow to improve the situation
But I can't believe
I cannot have faith in your words
Cuz I've heard it all before
These are empty promises I have heard before
It's in the past, must look ahead
I need to focus on the future and move on from the past
I thought that I'd be loving you
I believed that I would continue to love you
But I'm hurt instead, oh you
But I am in pain because of you
Every tear I've cried, every time you lied
You are responsible for every tear I have shed and every falsehood you have told
And every time you broke my heart
You have caused me immense emotional pain every time you hurt me
Now I'm going on till the pain is gone
I will continue with my life until the pain subsides
I'm waiting for the pain to go away
I am patiently hoping for my pain to disappear
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Peermusic Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Faith Renee Evans, Jeffery Leon Walker Jr., Kelly Price, Sean Puffy Combs
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind