Blu Cantrell burst onto the music scene in 2001 with the release of her debut album,
So Blu, featuring the Grammy nominated single, "Hit 'Em Up Style."
The R&B star would then release a second album, Bittersweet, which also earned a Grammy nomination,
but flopped with fans.
Then, from a failed reality show attempt, to her suffering from a minor mental breakdown,
the press on the singer went from bad to worse.
What's she up to now?
Here's the real reason you never hear from Blu Cantrell anymore.
Hitting up the new class
Much of R&B is about collaboration, and Cantrell has indicated that she's unwilling to jump
in the booth with today's stars.
Specifically, she's not into singers who use digital assistance to stay on key.
She told Australia's The Music in 2016,
"Everything is a little more filtered today.
I try to be nice when I say it's more filtered.
[…] Everyone's lip-syncing and they're using Auto-Tune and it's something that I will never
do, it's just not my style.
I refuse to do that."
Cantrell says she still enjoys the "old stuff" and has resigned herself to working with the
old guard.
The singer told The Music she was collaborating with '90s R&B icons, Angie Stone and Chanté
Moore, although as far as we can tell, that project was never released.
But music might not be her primary focus.
The bigger picture
Things haven't gone so smoothly for Cantrell in recent years.
According to TMZ, in 2014, she was reportedly picked up by police in Santa Monica, California,
after, quote,
"Running through the streets, ranting about people trying to kill her."
The tab said Cantrell was taken into custody around 2 a.m. after witnesses claim she was
shouting about someone giving her "poisonous gas."
She was reportedly later evaluated at a local hospital.
One and done
Perhaps the most obvious reason why fans haven't heard from Cantrell, is because she's a one-hit
wonder who failed to follow-up on her initial success.
"Isn't that...isn't that wonderful?"
In 2001, Cantrell's hit single "Hit 'Em Up Style" skyrocketed to the top of the charts
peaking at Number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and staying a whopping 34 weeks on the countdown.
The RIAA reported that Cantrell earned a gold record in August of that year, selling at
least 500,000 copies of So Blu.
Two years later, Cantrell followed that up with her sophomore album, Bittersweet, led
by the single "Breathe."
According to Billboard, the song peaked at Number 41.
The single was, however, a much bigger hit in other parts of the world, but marked the
end of Cantrell's hot streak in the U.S., and she hasn't released an album since.
Power play
Cantrell posed for an adult magazine called Black Tail at age 18.
She told Wendy Williams,
"I did it,ya know, to pay my bills.
A friend of mine who worked for the magazine convinced me to do it."
But that doesn't mean she's all about using her body to sell her music.
She told The Telegraph in 2003,
"I'm not a porn star.
I'm not ashamed of what I've done, 'cuz it was a tough time and it paid some bills, but
it's not like I made a career out of it.
I think my talent definitely overrides one nude shoot."
While she's against the broad abuse of power in the music industry, she added,
"But I'm not kidding myself.
I wouldn't have got a record deal if I didn't look cute.
[…] You shouldn't have to take off all your clothes to get attention, but that seems to
be what the public wants."
It's possible that her outspoken critique ruffled some industry feathers at the time.
She quipped,
"At least with the sex business they're gonna give you your money in your hand after you're
done.
The music business, you get screwed and you don't even get your money!"
"There ain't too many girls that are like me.
I don't just sleep with anybody."
Reality TV flop
After several years out of the spotlight, Cantrell jumped on the reality TV bandwagon.
In 2008, she was a contestant on the short-lived NBC series Celebrity Circus.
Hosted by former NSYNC boybander Joey Fatone, the premise of the show was to train artists
to do circus acts, then compete for a panel of judges.
MTV dubbed the series a "death-defying disappointment," and Cantrell was eliminated after just two
weeks.
To make matters worse, an NBC promo showed Cantrell seemingly refusing to train.
"Mm-mm … I don't wanna do it"
While it might have been a diva moment, Cantrell admitted in an NBC press junket,
"I went through the nausea, to the trembles, to the freaking out...it was just so much
just to get up there."
Broadening her fanbase
Cantrell occasionally takes the stage in order to keep her name in circulation.
"Hey this is Blu Cantrell I'm super excited to perform at Player's Club in Bucharest on
Wednesday December 14th.
I hope to see everyone there."
According to The Music, she teamed up with fellow R&B nostalgia acts for an Australian
tour in December 2017.
The previous year, she promoted a club show in Romania, posting on Facebook: "Make sure
you get your tickets and reservations before it sells out.
It's going to be an insane party."
Although she's mostly remembered for just two songs here in the States, it seems Cantrell
still has a pretty loyal fan base overseas.
But only time will tell if she'll break the curse of being a stateside one-hit wonder,
and maybe even climb the charts again with some fresh hits.