In 1997, Mercury Records cultivated the UK girl group Essence, made up of Heavenli Abdi and Celena Cherry, with the duo being hailed as an R&B alternative to the Spice Girls, and intended as a direct rival to American girl group Destiny's Child. While Cherry admitted that Essence was "an OK name, but it wasn't really hitting it", it was changed to Honeyz after a chance remark overheard outside the Subterranea nightclub, and in 1998, Naima Belkhiati joined the line-up and the group, when they were officially named as Honeyz. Their debut single, 'Finally Found' was released in August 1998 and peaked at number four in the UK Singles Chart, and remains their biggest hit, introducing the trio to the British public and going on to sell more than 350,000 copies. The follow-up, 'End Of The Line', notched up similar sales figures, peaking at number five, and their debut album 'Wonder No.8' went gold in the UK with sales of over 200,000 copies. Aside from their success in the United Kingdom, they also found fame in the Netherlands, Italy, and Australia, while in the US they signed to Def Jam/Island. Between the video shoot for the group's third single 'Love Of A Lifetime' and their second promotional trip to Australia in March 1999, Abdi decided to quit the group for personal reasons, citing creative differences with Cherry, homesickness, unhappiness with touring internationally, and wanting to start a solo career and spend more time with her boyfriend. As a result of Abdi's sudden departure, the group lost their US deal with Def Jam, but her departure did open up an opportunity for former Solid HarmoniE vocalist Mariama Goodman to join, and the new line-up continued promotion for 'Love Of A Lifetime', which reached number 9 in the UK charts. October 1999 saw the release of their fourth single, 'Never Let You Down', a new track recorded for inclusion on a repackaged version of 'Wonder No.8', and the first single to feature Goodman's vocals, and it entered the UK Singles Chart at number 7, giving the group their fourth consecutive top 10 hit.
They picked up nominations for 'Best Newcomer' and 'Best R&B Act' categories at the 1999 MOBO awards, and performed their next single 'Won't Take It Lying Down' at the ceremony, with the February 2000 release giving them their last top 10 hit. By summer 2000, they had recorded 'Not Even Gonna Trip' as the first single to be taken from a planned forthcoming album, and it was also the chosen single from the 'Nutty Professor II: The Klumps' original soundtrack. It was during the run-up to the single release in August that Goodman announced her departure from Honeyz, due to constant clashing with Belkhiati. Cherry and Belkhiati were faced with an uncertain future, and their management took the decision to bring Abdi back into the group, against the wishes of the other two members of the group. Abdi's vocals were recorded for the new single, and her return was announced, but when 'Not Even Gonna Trip' was released it failed to reach the top 20. They continued to work on their second album, 'Harmony', and almost a year after Abdi's return, they released a new single 'I Don't Know', but with minimal exposure and promotion, it didn't even chart as high as their previous one, stalling at number 28. The 'Talk To The Hand' single came out in late 2001, but as a result of strained relations between Abdi and Cherry, Mercury decided to simply drop the group, cancelling the release of 'Harmony' as a result. Following this setback, and a departure from their management, the group decided to go their separate ways in 2003. Promo copies of the record had been sent out before its cancellation, and so we can hear the result of their hard work over those two years, and it actually contains vocals from both Goodman and Abdi, despite them having never been in the band at the same time, as Goodman left in the middle of the recording sessions and Abdi re-joined immediately afterwards.
Track listing
1 Talk To The Hand
2 I Don't Know
3 Just As I Am
4 More Than One Night
5 Avalanche
6 Best Man
7 This Is Not A Game
8 Do You Wish It Were Yesterday
9 No
10 Just A Little To The Left
11 I Need You Now
12 Senorita Bonita
13 When The Show's Over
14 Love Is Strange
15 Get Down Tonight
16 Do You Wanna Go Home With A Honey
17 Not Even Gonna Trip
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