Meet the Girl Next Door

Meet the Girl Next Door is the second album of American R&B recording artist Lil' Mo, released on April 29, 2003 by Elektra Records, it was her last album produced under the company as well as the last to feature a collaboration with close friend, rapper and producer Missy Elliott. Recorded during Mo’s eighth-month preagnancy, it features guest appearances by Fabolous, Lil' Kim, Missy Elliott, Chucky Thompson, Bryan-Michael Cox, Warryn Campbell, Precision and rapper Free.

Less than a year after Mo’s debut album was certified Gold by the RIAA, Mo began recording a follow up to the album. She decided to work with producers that “didn’t get the credit they deserved.” In 2002, Lil' Mo developed an interest in communications after her work as a part-time anchor for Baltimore urban radio station WXYV-FM. That same year, Mo began work on her second album, Meet the Girl Next Door. Mo revealed to Billboard magazine that she was going to purposely use a different sound for the effort in hopes of convincing the public to overlook her credibility for “Superwoman Pt. II”. As early as December 2002, the album generated three singles, “4Ever”, “21 Answers” and “Ten Commandments”. The former being the only successful, alongside being granted a music video release. On April 29, 2003, Meet the Girl Next Door was released to favorable reviews and mild charting on Billboard 200. Promotion for the album was limited; according to Lil' Mo, this was largely due to the fact that she was pregnant and Elektra did not give her proper support. Despite minimal promotion, Mo went on to perform the album singles on very few shows, including Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Soul Train.

Reviews for the album were mostly positive. Unlike her debut album, Meet the Girl Next Door was given 4/5 stars by Andy Kellman of AllMusic, who described Mo’s voice more “rangy” and “versatile”. He also stated that the album had terrific highlights, as well as more better lyrics than her debut. However, he described the album being, “four songs too long.” He also stated that, “… it’s apparent that Lil' Mo really ought to devote the bulk of her working time — if not all of it — to making music.”

Upon its release, Meet the Girl Next Door debuted on the Billboard 200 at number 17 and peaked at number 4 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. To date, it remained her highest-charting album on the latter chart. The album sold an estimate of 110,000 copies within its first week, and went on to sell 250,000 more towards the end of the year.

In February 2003, “4Ever”, featuring Fabolous, was released as a lead single for the album, and received somewhat lukewarm reviews by most critics. The song peaked at number 37 on Billboard Hot 100 and at number 13 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. “Ten Commandments”, featuring Lil' Kim, was slated to follow as the second single; however, due to limited promotion, and failed attempts for a video, the single was never properly released. “21 Answers” (a known response to 50 Cent’s “21 Questions”) was sent to radio in May 2003 as a promotional single. Because it did not finalize in time to meet the album’s deadline, it never appeared on the original track listing. Because of lack of promotion for the album, as well as no new singles to be released, Mo left Elektra Records in 2004.