''There's Something About Remy: Based on a True Story'' is the debut studio album by American rapper

Remy Ma Reminisce Kioni Mackie ( Smith; born May 30, 1980), known professionally as Remy Ma, is an American rapper and songwriter. Discovered by the late rapper Big Pun, she came to prominence for her work as a member of Fat Joe's group, Terror Squad ...

. It was released on February 7, 2006, by

SRC Records SRC (Street Records Corporation) was an American record label created by former Loud Records CEO Steve Rifkind. It was a subsidiary of Universal Music Group and was distributed through Motown Records and Republic Records. Company history S ...

Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

and

Terror Squad Entertainment Terror Squad Productions (later Terror Squad Entertainment) is an American hip hop and rap record company founded by Fat Joe in 1997. The label has been distributed by Atlantic, Virgin Records, and Columbia Records. The label's flagship artist ...

. The album's release date served as the sixth anniversary of her mentor

Big Pun Christopher Lee Rios (November 10, 1971 – February 7, 2000), better known by his stage name Big Pun (short for Big Punisher), was an American rapper. Emerging from the underground hip hop scene in the Bronx, he came to prominence upon discover ...

's death. The title and cover art coincides with the 1998 film ''

There's Something About Mary ''There's Something About Mary'' is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by the Farrelly brothers, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ed Decter and John J. Strauss. The film features Cameron Diaz as the title character, while Ben S ...

''.

Background

While growing up with her sister Kristin Devereaux, in Castle Hill Projects in

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, Remy Ma often saw the consequences and terrors of her family's

drug abuse Substance misuse, also known as drug misuse or, in older vernacular, substance abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods that are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder, differing definitions ...

with her own eyes. She was forced to take care of her little brothers and sisters at her young age and retreated from her home issues by writing poetry. Her reputation quickly grew around the Bronx and word eventually got to the late MC

of her and her work. After one meeting and a

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott Laboritories Media * '' FreeStyle'', ...

session, Pun became her mentor. Ma made her first appearances in the music industry on Big Pun's album ''Yeeeah Baby'' (under the name Remy Martin) on the tracks such as "Ms. Martin" and "You Was Wrong". Upon the death of Big Pun, rapper Fat Joe signed Smith to his imprint label under SRC and

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...

and made her a member of Terror Squad. Following the success of ''Lean Back'', which garnered Remy a

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

nomination, Ma released three singles from her debut album ''There's Something About Remy'', the songs "Whuteva", " Conceited" and "Feels So Good" The album moved 40,000 units in its opening week and 160,000 units within the first year. Smith decided to end her relationship with

Fat Joe Joseph Antonio Cartagena (born August 19, 1970), better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper. He began recording as a member of Hip-hop, hip hop group D.I.T.C., Diggin' in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.) in 1992, and pursued a sol ...

and the Terror Squad, breaking her deal with SRC/Universal in the process.

Commercial performance

''There's Something About Remy: Based On A True Story'' peaked at number 33 on Billboard 200, number 2 on Billboard Top Rap Albums and number 7 on Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The album sold over 35,000 copies in its first week and by 2007 had sold over 160,000 copies.

Singles

The album's lead

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, called "Whuteva" was released on August 2, 2005. The song peaked at number 1 on Billboard Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, number 18 on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

and number 79 on the Top R&B Songs. In December 2006, the music video was added to her Official

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

account. The album's second single, called " Conceited" was released on December 13, 2005. The song peaked at number 7 Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Song Recurrents chart, number 17 on the Hot Rap Tracks, number 90 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, number 71 on Billboard Radio Songs chart, number 24 on Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, number 4 on Billboard Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and number 17 on Billboard Rap Airplay chart. The music video premiered on January 7, 2006, on

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

. The album's third single, "

Feel So Good "Feel So Good" is a song by American rapper Mase, released by Arista and Bad Boy Records on October 14, 1997 as both his debut single and the lead single for his debut album, ''Harlem World'' (1997). The song also acted as lead single for the s ...

" was released on April 25, 2006. The song features a

guest appearance The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting. The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...

from American singer-songwriter

Ne-Yo Shaffer Chimere Smith (born October 18, 1979), known professionally as Ne-Yo ( ), is an American singer and songwriter. Regarded as a leading figure of Contemporary R&B#2000s, 2000s R&B music, he is the recipient of numerous accolades, includi ...

. The song peaked at number 1 on Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100, number 20 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, number 11 on Billboard Hot Rap Songs, number 11 on Billboard Rap Airplay chart and number 2 on Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Recurrents chart with no promotion. The visual was scheduled to film in

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

but never resumed due to Remy completely shutting down all disagreements and dehumanizing staff with brutal verbal confrontations that ultimately lead her to cut ties ending all business deals with both Record Labels.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 2006 debut albums Remy Ma albums Albums produced by Buckwild Albums produced by Cool & Dre Albums produced by Scott Storch Albums produced by Swizz Beatz Albums produced by the Alchemist (musician) Albums produced by Emile Haynie Albums produced by Agallah Albums produced by Scram Jones Universal Records albums