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."
Man Who Has Everything
Monica Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Hard hard livin'
Always jumpin', always keepin', always giving
Your jewelry and your cars
They satisfy these women
Or should I say girls
Cause they're all around like children
But that ain't what you need no no
You deserve to love someone who's gonna love you back (love you back boy)
Cause even a man who has everything still needs something money can't buy
Maybe you deserve someone who's gonna have your back
A woman who has her own and don't need nothing
Nothing but you, baby
But the question is
Can you give that, baby?
Can you share your feelings?
Keep all your money and give up your heart
Cause it's never been easy no no
I think me requires more than your credit card
But you gon' get just what you pay for
You deserve to love someone who's gonna love you back (oh oh oh yea)
Cause even a man who has everything still needs something money can't buy
Maybe you deserve someone who's gonna have your back
A woman who has her own and don't need nothing
Nothing but you, baby
Someone to push your heart to the limit yea yea
Someone who knows when you're hurting and how to make it better
Need somebody who gon' tell the truth baby
Even when your own day come steady
Stay with you forever
You deserve to love someone who's gonna love you back (oh oh oh yea)
Cause even a man who has everything still needs
Something money can't buy (you need it baby)
Maybe you deserve someone who's gonna have your back
A woman who has her own and don't need nothing
Nothing but you, baby
You deserve to love someone who's gonna love you back (you you you you)
(Uh, nothing but you baby)
Cause even a man who has everything still needs something money can't buy
Maybe you deserve someone who's gonna have your back
A woman who has her own and don't need nothing
Nothing but you, baby
Hard
Hard hard livin'
Always jumpin', always steepin', always giving
Your jewelry and your cars
They satisfy these women
Or should I say girls
Cause they're all around like children
But that ain't what you need no no
You deserve to love someone who's gonna love you back (love you back boy)
Cause even a man who has everything still needs something money can't buy
Maybe you deserve someone who's gonna have your back
A woman who has her own and don't need nothing
Nothing but you, baby
But the question is
Can you give that, baby?
Can you share your feelings?
Keep all your money and give up your heart
Cause it's never been easy no no
I think me requires more than your credit card
But you gon get just what you pay for
You deserve to love someone who's gonna love you back (oh oh oh yea)
Cause even a man who has everything still needs something money can't buy
Maybe you deserve someone who's gonna have your back
A woman who has her own and don't need nothing
Nothing but you, baby
Someone to push your heart to the limit yea yea
Someone who knows when you're hurting and how to make it better
Need somebody who gon tell the truth baby
Even when your own day come steady
Stay with you forever
You deserve to love someone who's gonna love you back (oh oh oh yea)
Cause even a man who has everything still needs
Something money can't buy (you need it baby)
Maybe you deserve someone who's gonna have your back
A woman who has her own and don't need nothing
Nothing but you, baby
You deserve to love someone who's gonna love you back (you you you you)
(Uh, nothing but you baby)
Cause even a man who has everything still needs something money can't buy
Maybe you deserve someone who's gonna have your back
A woman who has her own and don't need nothing
Nothing but you, baby
Nothing but you, baby
Monica's song "Man Who Has Everything" speaks to the idea that even those who seemingly have it all, material possessions and success, are still missing something important. The lyrics describe a character who is wealthy and generous with his money and possessions, but lacks a true, meaningful connection with someone who loves him for who he is, not what he has. The song suggests that this person deserves better, that he deserves a partner who is independent and self-sufficient, someone who loves him for who he truly is and not what he can give to them.
The lyrics are a call to action for the man in question, encouraging him to examine his own desires and to give more of himself than just his material possessions. The song's chorus repeats the idea that "even a man who has everything still needs something money can't buy," suggesting that what he needs is something deeper and more fulfilling than what money can provide.
Monica's soulful delivery of the lyrics adds a layer of emotion and depth to the song, making it clear that she believes passionately in the message she's conveying. Overall, "Man Who Has Everything" is a message to all those who feel that success and wealth are enough, showing that there is still something more that they deserve and can strive for in their lives.
Line by Line Meaning
Hard hard livin'
Living life to the fullest can be tough and exhausting
Always jumpin', always keepin', always giving
Constantly on the move, always maintaining appearances and giving to others
Your jewelry and your cars
Material possessions that seem attractive to many women
They satisfy these women
Attracting women based solely on material possessions is not fulfilling
Or should I say girls
Referring to the women who fall for these surface-level displays as immature and not yet fully realized individuals
Cause they're all around like children
Their actions and motivations resemble those of children
But that ain't what you need no no
Despite the attention and attraction these displays may bring, true fulfillment is not found in material goods
You deserve to love someone who's gonna love you back (love you back boy)
Deserving of reciprocal love rather than one-sided relationships
Cause even a man who has everything still needs something money can't buy
No amount of material possessions can fully satisfy an individual in search of true love and connection
Maybe you deserve someone who's gonna have your back
Desiring a partner who is supportive and loyal
A woman who has her own and don't need nothing
A confident and independent partner who is not swayed by material possessions or societal expectations
But the question is
Bringing up the important consideration of whether the individual can reciprocate the same level of emotional connection
Can you give that, baby?
Questioning whether the individual is capable of emotional vulnerability and mutual love
Can you share your feelings?
Asking if the individual can openly communicate and connect on an emotional level
Keep all your money and give up your heart
Being willing to give up material possessions in exchange for emotional intimacy and connection
Cause it's never been easy no no
Acknowledging that true emotional connection is difficult to find and maintain
I think me requires more than your credit card
Emphasizing the need for more than just material possessions to form a meaningful relationship
But you gon' get just what you pay for
Implying that superficial relationships based on material goods will ultimately have a shallow outcome
Someone to push your heart to the limit yea yea
Desiring a partner who can emotionally challenge and inspire growth
Someone who knows when you're hurting and how to make it better
Needing a partner who is empathetic and can support during moments of emotional pain
Need somebody who gon' tell the truth baby
Requiring honesty and open communication in a meaningful relationship
Even when your own day come steady
Reminding that honesty and commitment are necessary even during challenging times
Stay with you forever
Desiring a committed, long-term relationship with a supportive and loving partner
Nothing but you, baby
Clarifying that true love and connection is not found in superficial displays of wealth or status
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: RICHARD BUTLER, ERIC GOUDY, EARL HOOD, PIERRE MEDOR
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind