Phats & Small appeared on the scene in 1998 with "Turn Around", a track that featured sampled Toney Lee's "Reach Up" and Change's "The Glow of Love". The song debuted at number three in the UK Singles Chart, before climbing to number two, with career sales of this hit amassing them £5,000 in total due to their recording contract. Singer Ben Ofoedu appears in the video for the track miming to the vocals. Future releases featured his voice but "Turn Around" featured Lee's voice. However, Ofoedu has been known to perform the track live. In 1999, they also released their first album, Now Phats What I Small Music, a play on their name and the compilation series Now That's What I Call Music!. Ofoedu sang on two tracks, "Feel Good" and "Tonite", which were also released as singles. In 1999, Phats & Small also achieved notoriety for remixing the Earth, Wind & Fire track, "September" and Simply Red's "Ain't That a Lot of Love". Other remixes around the same time included PJ "Happy Days", Space Raiders "I Need The Disko Doktor", High Steppers "I Will Follow" and pop group A1's single "Be the First to Believe".
Ofoedu left the group to pursue a solo career as singer, songwriter and producer, and his backing vocalist Tony Thompson, was promoted to main vocalist. He sang on most tracks in Phats & Small's second album, This Time Around, released in 2001, which featured an eponymous single, as well as "Change" and "Respect The Cock" (which was supposed to feature the phrase uttered by Tom Cruise in the film Magnolia).[citation needed] The second album was co-produced by Jimmy Gomez.
After a few years away from the recording studio, Phats & Small returned in 2005 with a new vocalist, Ryan Molloy, and a new album, Soundtrack to Our Lives, featuring the single "Sun Comes Out", this track sung by a returning Ofoedu and a new female vocalist, Carrie Luer.
In 2016, a new version of "Turn Around" was made featuring new vocals from Ofoedu.
Small is also one half of the production team The Freemasons, along with James Wiltshire (Jimmy Gómez) who was a co-producer for Phats & Small.
Small is a Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. fan after being taken to games as a youngster by his uncle.
Their song "Turn Around" was on the CD of the computer game K.S.-n-Kickin.
Turn Around Feat. Toney Lee
Phats & Small Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
What's wrong with you?
You're looking kinda down to me-e
'Cause thing's ain't getting over
Listen to what i say
Got to turn around
Got to turn around
Got to turn around
The lyrics of "Turn Around" by Phats & Small vs. The Cube Guys is a motivating and encouraging approach to lift someone's spirits up that is feeling down. The first line of the song "Hey! What's wrong with you?" is a clear indication that the singer is addressing someone in distress. The second line, "You're looking kinda down to me-e," confirms that the singer can sense the sadness and moodiness around the person. The lyrics further reveal that the person is struggling to move on from something. The singer empathetically says that "things ain't getting over" and encourages the person to "turn around" while they still can. The phrase "Listen to what I say" is significant, as it implies that the person's recovery depends on their decision to turn around and take a different path to a better mental state.
The chorus, "Got to turn around" repeated four times, sums up the entire spirit of the song. Encouraging someone to focus on the good things in life and move past the sad times by looking at things positively. The song is an uplifting and inspirational message about the power of looking past tough situations and coming out stronger.
Line by Line Meaning
Hey!
Hey there!
What's wrong with you?
What's the matter?
You're looking kinda down to me-e
You seem sad to me
'Cause thing's ain't getting over
Because things aren't getting better
Listen to what i say
Pay attention to me
Got to turn around
You need to change your direction
Got to turn around
You need to change your path
Got to turn around
You need to change your mindset
Got to turn around
You need to make a change
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Peermusic Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group, BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: TONEY LEE, ERIC MATTHEW, MAURO MALAVASI, DAVIDE ROMANI, WAYNE GARFIELD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind