In 1991, at the age of eleven, Monica was discovered by music producer Dallas Austin at the Center Stage auditorium in Atlanta performing Whitney Houston 1986's Greatest Love of All. Amazed by her voice, Dallas offered her a record deal with his Arista Records-distributed label Rowdy Records and consulted rapper Queen Latifah to work as Monica's first manager. Shortly afterwards Dallas and then staff producers Tim & Bob entered the studio with Monica to start writing and producing her debut Miss Thang which was eventually released in July 1995 and scored number thirty-six on the U.S. Billboard 200 and number seven on the Top R&B Albums chart. It was certified triple platinum by the RIAA for more than three million store-shipped copies and produced three top ten singles, including debut single Don't Take It Personal (Just One of Dem Days) and Before You Walk out of My Life both of which made Monica the youngest artist ever to have two consecutive chart-topping hits on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart. Miss Thang subsequently won Monica a Billboard Music Award and garnered her an American Music Award nomination in the Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist category.
After a label change to Clive Davis's Arista Records, Monica mainstream success was boosted, when Diane Warren-written For You I Will, from the Space Jam soundtrack, became her next top ten pop hit. The following year she was asked to team up with singer Brandy and producer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins to record The Boy Is Mine, the first single from both of their second albums. Released in May 1998, surrounding highly publicized rumors about a real-life catfight between both singers, the duet became both the biggest hit of the summer and the biggest hit of 1998 in general in America, spending record-breaking thirteen weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It earned the pair a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and garnered multi-platinum sales (to date, it remains as one of the top twenty most successful American singles in history based on Billboard chart success).
Jermaine Dupri, David Foster and Austin consulted on the album The Boy Is Mine, which was released later that year and eventually became Monica’s biggest-selling album, becoming certified triple platinum by the RIAA for more than three million store-shipped copies. It yielded another two U.S. number-one hits with The First Night and Angel of Mine, a cover of Eternal's 1997 single, as well as a remake of Richard Marx' Right Here Waiting. Rolling Stone Magazine proclaimed it as "closer to soul's source... hearking back past hip-hop songbirds like Mary J. Blige and adult-contemporary sirens like Toni Braxton," while Allmusic called the album an "irresistible sounding [and] immaculately crafted musical backdrop [...] as good as mainstream urban R&B gets in 1998."
In 2000, Monica contributed chorus vocals for I've Got to Have It, a collaboration with Jermaine Dupri and rapper Nas. Released as the Big Momma's House theme song, the song saw minor success in the United States only. The following year, she released the Ric Wake production track Just Another Girl, recorded for the Down to Earth soundtrack, as a single.
A year later, Arnold channeled much of her heavily media-discussed experiences into the production of her third studio album, All Eyez on Me, her first release on mentor Clive Davis newly-founded J Records label. "I just wanted to give the people back something that had personal passion, instead of just, 'Oh, let's dance to this record'," she said about the issues worked into the tracks. The first single All Eyez on Me a Rodney Jerkins-produced R&B-dance track, saw minor to moderate success on the international charts but failed to enter the higher half of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. A follow-up song, Too Hood, also got a lukewarm response and as a result, the album's tentative release was pushed back several times. "I don't think people wanted to hear a big fun record from me, after knowing all the things that I had personally experienced," Monica second-guessed her new material which saw both early and heavy bootlegging via internet at that time.
After the Japan-wide release of All Eyez on Me Monica was asked to substantially reconstruct the record with a host of new producers, and as a result the singer re-entered recording studios to start work with songwriters Kanye West, Jazze Pha, Andre "mrDEYO" Deyo, Bam & Ryan and Dupri-replacing executive producer Missy Elliott. Finally released in June 2003, After the Storm debuted at number one on Billboard`s Top R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart, and on top of the official Billboard 200, with sales of 186,000 copies emerging as Monica's first and only number-one album to date. It eventually received a gold certification, and has sold over one million copies domestically. Media reception of the CD was generally enthusiastic, with the Allmusic saying the album "has all the assuredness and smart developments that should keep Monica's younger longtime followers behind her — all the while holding the ability to appeal to a wider spectrum of R&B and hip-hop fans." The album's lead single, Elliott-penned So Gone, was one of Monica's biggest commercial successes in years, becoming her first top ten single since 1999's Angel of Mine. In addition, it reached the top position of the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Tracks and Hot Dance Club Play charts. Subsequently, After the Storm spawned another three singles, with final single U Should've Known Better reaching number nineteen on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
In 2005, Monica appeared on the Tyler Perry's Diary of a Mad Black Woman soundtrack. The track was one of Monica's last production by Dallas Austin.
Returning from yet another musical hiatus, Arnold's fourth studio album The Makings of Me was released in October 2006. Titled after Curtis Mayfield's 1970 recording The Makings of You, the album saw her particularly reuniting with producers Elliott, Dupri, and Bryan Michael Cox, all of whom had previously contributed to After the Storm (2003). The Makings of Me received a positive reception from most professional music critics, with Allmusic calling it a "concise and mostly sweet set of songs," and Entertainment Weekly declaring it "a solid addition" to Monica's discography. While it debuted at number one on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart, and at number eight on the official Billboard 200, it received a domestic sales total of 328,000 copies, it widely failed to revive the success of its predecessors and became the singer's lowest-selling effort to date. Singles such as snap-influenced Everytime Tha Beat Drop featuring Atlanta hip hop group Dem Franchize Boyz and Elliott-produced A Dozen Roses (You Remind Me) failed to reach the top forty of the regular pop charts.
In 2009, Arnold lent her voice to the ballad Trust a duet with Keyshia Cole, that peaked in the top five on Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The recording of Arnold's sixth studio album Still Standing was chronicled by her BET reality series of the same name. Featuring production by Stargate, Ne-Yo, and Polow da Don, it was released in March 2010 and garnered a generally positive response by critics, who perceived its sound as "a return to the mid-'1990s heyday" of contemporary R&B, The album debuted atop on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart, and number two on the U.S. Billboard 200 with opening week sales of 184,000 copies, becoming the singer's second highest-charting debut since 2003's After the Storm. The leading single Everything to Me scored Monica her biggest chart success since 2003's So Gone, reaching the top position of the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Tracks charts for seven weeks. The album was certified gold by the RIAA with domestic shipments of 500,000 copies within a single month. With it success, the album and Everything to Me was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, presented at the 53rd Grammy Awards in 2011. In August 2010, Arnold joined Trey Songz on his Passion, Pain & Pleasure Tour, her first North American concert tour in ten years.
The New Life (Intro) Songfacts reports that New Life was Monica's debut release with RCA, following the disbandment of her former label, J Records in October 2011. The album was dropped on April 10, 2012 in the US. She explained the meaning of its title on Twitter: "A good word goes a long way. Life is hard enough. Me and my followers believe in God, love, strength, family, unity and growth [...] Don't be afraid of new things, new people, new opportunities or new love. It just may give you a New Life."
Code Red
Monica Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Your hustle the same to me, here's something new
We tired of that junk that you sing in the booth
You know we the truth, let me give you this proof
Call 911, better ring the alarm
When this come on they be droppin' them bombs
We tired of hearin' them same old five songs
Man I've just been wanting to turn that ish off
I swear the game might be over
Somebody give them some Folger's
'Cause you can't be sleepin' on Mono
And you can't see me with no photo
I'm tryna change up the world
I'm focused on my baby girl
And even though she only one
She know you ain't talkin' about nothin'
It's like we've gotten away late, oh (oh)
It's like we're scared to take the chance oh oh
'Cause I'mma let you know
You diggin' that shit really hard
And I don't got feelin's for that
When that shit dropped I forgot
My mind is way over there
The code red right here (code red right here)
Right here, right here
Code red right here (code red right here)
Right here, right here
Turn off the radio, damn right
We don't hear real shit no mo'
Turn off the radio, damn right
We don't hear real shit no mo'
Shit no mo', shit no mo'
Shit no mo', shit no mo'
Turn off the radio
I really wanna hear real shit
You're trying so hard to cross over
And just end up gettin' looked over
The label ain't reachin' they quotas
And we are the money's the motive
Don't like that, don't be that
Don't sound like
A state of emergency hold up
It's like we've gotten away late, oh (oh)
It's like we're scared to take the chance oh oh
'Cause I'mma let you know
You diggin' that shit really hard
And I don't got feelin's for that
When that shit dropped I forgot
This is code red
We takin' risks, we ain't scared
We makin' hits after hits, better play it
Yeah, we got hits stackin' over your head
We so creative (creative) we versatile (tile)
This shit go hard, 808 drum hit that ground
M-O-N-I-To-The-C-O
Tell the DJ hit replay
Rewind two times, DJ
Turn it up like it's your birthday
You dip? We dip!
You dip? We dip!
You dip? We dip oh!
Go head get lit
Dip, dip, dip
Dip, dip, dip
Dip, dip, dip
Code red in this bitch
It's like we've gotten away late, oh (oh)
It's like we're scared to take the chance oh oh
'Cause I'mma let you know
You diggin' that shit really hard
And I don't got feelin's for that
When that shit dropped I forgot
My mind is way over there
The code red right here (code red right here)
Right here, right here
Code red right here (code red right here)
Right here, right here
Turn off the radio, damn right
We don't hear real shit no mo'
Turn off the radio, damn right
We don't hear real shit no mo'
Shit no mo', shit no mo'
Shit no mo', shit no mo'
Turn off the radio
I really wanna hear real shit
You dip? We dip!
You dip? We dip!
You dip? We dip oh!
Go head get lit
Ay, ay, ay
Huh, huh, huh, huh
Huh, huh, huh, huh
Huh, huh, huh, huh
Huh, huh
In "Code Red," Monica expresses her frustrations with the state of contemporary music. She suggests that the music industry is producing bland and repetitive music and that people should turn off their radios and instead seek out music with more depth and substance. Monica suggests that the music industry rewards conformity and discourages innovation.
Monica expresses her determination to push boundaries and make meaningful music that will have a positive impact on her audience. She encourages her listeners to join her on this journey and refuse to be satisfied with the status quo. She argues that real art comes from risk-taking and experimentation rather than simply following trends.
Ultimately, "Code Red" is a call-to-action for both artists and listeners alike to demand authenticity and integrity in music. It is a reminder that art has the power to inspire, challenge, and transform lives when it is created with passion and sincerity.
Line by Line Meaning
I does what I does, do what I do
I do my thing and don't apologize for it.
Your hustle the same to me, here's something new
I'm unimpressed by your work ethic and want something fresh.
We tired of that junk that you sing in the booth
We're sick of your mediocre music.
You know we the truth, let me give you this proof
We're the real deal and I'm about to show you why.
Call 911, better ring the alarm
This track is about to shake things up and cause a commotion.
When this come on they be droppin' them bombs
People are going to lose their minds when this song plays.
We tired of hearin' them same old five songs
We're fed up with hearing the same few songs over and over.
Man I've just been wanting to turn that ish off
I'm so sick of the music on the radio that I just want to turn it off.
I swear the game might be over
The music industry is in dire need of change.
Somebody give them some Folger's
Wake up and start making better music.
'Cause you can't be sleepin' on Mono
Don't overlook me or underestimate my talent.
And you can't see me with no photo
My music speaks for itself, I don't need to rely on my image.
I'm tryna change up the world
I'm using my art to make a positive impact on society.
I'm focused on my baby girl
I'm motivated to be a role model for my daughter.
And even though she only one
She may be young but she's already learning from what she hears.
She know you ain't talkin' about nothin'
My daughter knows that a lot of popular music has little substance.
It's like we've gotten away late, oh (oh)
It feels like we missed our opportunity to make real changes earlier.
It's like we're scared to take the chance oh oh
We're hesitant to take risks and try new things.
You diggin' that shit really hard
You really like that mediocre music.
And I don't got feelin's for that
I have no respect for those who settle for less.
When that shit dropped I forgot
I was so unimpressed by that song that I forgot it even existed.
This is code red
This is an urgent call to action.
We takin' risks, we ain't scared
We're boldly taking chances and trying new things.
We makin' hits after hits, better play it
We're consistently making great music that deserves to be heard.
Yeah, we got hits stackin' over your head
We have a ton of amazing music that you haven't even had the chance to hear yet.
Turn off the radio, damn right
The radio is playing too much uninspired music.
We don't hear real shit no mo'
Popular music lacks substance these days.
You dip? We dip!
If you're ready to take a musical journey with us, let's go!
Go head get lit
Let loose and have some fun with our music.
The label ain't reachin' they quotas
Record companies are struggling to meet their sales targets.
Don't like that, don't be that
If you don't like our music, don't listen to it.
Don't sound like
We don't want to be copied or imitated by other artists.
A state of emergency hold up
Our music is a wake-up call and a call to action.
Turn off the radio
Stop listening to the same boring music on repeat.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Jamal Jones, Jocelyn Donald, Melissa A. Elliott, Monica Arnold, Timothy Clayton
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind