"Lately" is a song by American R&B

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...

Divine Divinity (from Latin ) refers to the quality, presence, or nature of that which is divine—a term that, before the rise of monotheism, evoked a broad and dynamic field of sacred power. In the ancient world, divinity was not limited to a singl ...

, released as the group's debut single on August 25, 1998, from their only studio album, ''

Fairy Tales A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the Folklore, folklore genre. Such stories typically feature Magic (supernatural), magic, Incantation, e ...

''. Written by Christopher Kelly and Will Baker, the

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

-driven R&B song is a pensive reflection on lost love produced by John Howcott and Donald Parks. "Lately" peaked at number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for one week in November 1998.

Music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

responded favorably to the track, praising the group's vocal performance. "Lately" was eventually released to international markets, but it failed to make as big of an impact as it did in the US. In 2001, a cover version by Irish singer

Samantha Mumba Samantha Tamania Anne Cecilia Mumba (born 18 January 1983) is an Irish R&B singer-songwriter, dancer, actress, fashion model and TV presenter. In 2000, at the age of 17, she shot to fame with the release of her debut single " Gotta Tell You", w ...

found chart success in Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Background and composition

Before "Lately" was written, producers John Howcott and Donald Parks, who had previously worked with American singer-songwriter

Keith Sweat Keith Sweat (born July 22, 1961) is an American singer, producer and songwriter. An early figure in the new jack swing musical movement, he is known for his collection of hits including "I Want Her," "Make It Last Forever (song), Make It Last For ...

, formed a company called Urban Vibe. Afterwards, they recruited Indianapolis natives Pete Woodruff and Will Baker, who had a connection with

Babyface Babyface or Baby Face can refer to: Nicknames * Lester Joseph Gillis a.k.a. Baby Face Nelson, an infamous 1930s bank robber * Roosevelt "Baby Face" Willette (1933–1971), an American hard bop and soul-jazz musician * "Baby Face", Jimmy McLarnin ...

, and began working on "Lately". Alongside his longtime friend, Christopher Kelly, Baker wrote the track about his days in high school, when he and his girlfriend, whom he eventually married, explored the dynamic extremes of their relationship. When Red Ant Entertainment founder Ruben Rodriguez heard the song's demo tape, he expressed interest in the composition and took it to

, a female music trio he had recently signed to the label. The group, consisting of Nikki Bratcher, Tonia Tash, and Kia Thornton, recorded the song across three locations, including Indianapolis. "Lately" is an R&B love song with

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

influences, driven by a guitar and

Hammond B3 Hammond may refer to: People * Hammond Innes (1913–1998), English novelist * Hammond (surname) * Justice Hammond (disambiguation) Places Antarctica * Hammond Glacier, Antarctica Australia *Hammond, South Australia, a small settlement in Sout ...

organ played by Woodruff. Chuck Taylor of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' noted that the song stands out from most

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

tracks and female-sung

ballads A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

of the time, and Red Ant's president, Randy Phillips, compared it to a 1999 incarnation of

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

's " (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay". The track's lyrics discuss an ended relation that the narrator reflects upon wistfully. Woodruff, Baker, and Howcott provide addition keyboards while Marcus Williams and Baker collaborated on the drums and

drum programming Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices and computer software, such as sequencers and workstations or hardware synthesizers, sampler and sequencers, to generate sounds of musical instruments. These mu ...

, respectively. Alongside Mark South, Baker also

arranged In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestratio ...

the vocals and co-produced the track with Woodruff. Divine sing all lead and background vocals on the track, and additional vocals are provided by Talonda Fields. Other personnel who worked on the song include four

audio engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduc ...

s, mixer Jonnie Most, and Lynn Goldsmith, who photographed the song's American cover artwork.

Release and promotion

A month before "Lately" was added to radio, its music video was added to the playlists of

BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

and The Box. Pendulum Records and Red Ant Entertainment first released "Lately" to US

rhythmic contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 20, Rhythmic Top 30, Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip-hop and upbeat R&B hit ...

radio on August 25, 1998. A two-format physical release soon followed. On both releases, a

CD single A CD single is a single (music), music single in the form of a compact disc (CD). Originally the ''CD single'' standard (as defined in the Rainbow Books, Red Book) was an 8 cm (3-inch) "mini CD" (''CD3''); later on the term referred to any si ...

and a

cassette single A cassette single (CS), also known by the trademark cassingle, or capitalised as the trademark Cassette Single, is a music single (music), single supplied in the form of a Compact Cassette. The cassette single was introduced in 1980 in music, 1 ...

, the album version of "Lately" is accompanied by an instrumental version, an alternative mix of album track "My Love", and various snippets from ''

''. On October 6, 1998, the song was added to

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

. Almost a year later, on October 4, 1999, the single was issued in the United Kingdom across two CDs and a cassette. These releases contain assorted remixes of "Lately", as does the Australian CD, which was distributed through

Mushroom Records Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival ...

in Pendulum's stead. To promote the song and album, Divine embarked on a US tour in late 1998 and appeared on several television programs.

Reception

Critical reception

Tom Breihan of ''

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'' reviewed the song in his "The Number Ones" column, calling the track "good" and praising its vocals and sound. He went on to write that some of the lyrics are "banal", particularly the line "If loving you is right, then I don't wanna go wrong," but stated that the overall mood is the more crucial focal point of a track like "Lately", rating it 7 out of 10. In ''

Radio & Records ''Radio & Records'' (''R&R'') was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It started as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006 and became a relaunched sister ...

'' magazine, Stan Branson wrote that the track is a "deserved" number-one hit, complimenting Divine's vocals and comparing them to those of

the Emotions The Emotions are an American soul/ R&B vocal group from Chicago. The group started out in gospel music but transitioned into R&B and disco music. The Emotions were named by VH1 as one of the 18 most influential girl groups of all time. Hist ...

and

the Jones Girls The Jones Girls were an American R&B vocal trio of sisters from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Consisting of Brenda, Shirley and Valorie Jones, the Jones Girls first signed and recorded for GM Records in 1970. The trio were best known for t ...

. Melisa Stefas of Las Vegas radio station

KLUC-FM KLUC-FM (98.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Las Vegas, Nevada, airing a Top 40/CHR format. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station's studios are on South Tenaya Way at West Warm Springs Road in Spring Valley, using a Las Vegas address. KL ...

said that the song provides mass appeal to women, noting its emotional impact, while Bobby Nichols of WIIZ in

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

praised the group's harmonies, calling the song "legitimate". In October 2020, ''

Cleveland.com ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio; it is a major national newspaper. In the fall of 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily an ...

'' placed the song at number 115 (out of 140) on their "Every No. 1 Song of the 1990s Ranked from Worst to Best" list, calling the track a "

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

song masquerading as an R&B jam".

Chart performance

Following its commercial release, "Lately" debuted at number 36 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on September 12, 1998. Over the next few weeks, it rose up the chart, entering the top 20 in early October and the top 10 later that month. On November 28, the song ascended to the number-one spot for that week only with sales of 82,000, becoming the first number-one single for Divine, the songwriters, the producers, and the record labels. The single spent 27 weeks on the Hot 100 and appeared on the year-end charts for both 1998 and 1999, at numbers 61 and 31, respectively. On December 7, 1998, the song was certified

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) for shipping over one million units domestically, selling about 100,000 more copies by the end of January 1999. On other ''Billboard'' listings, "Lately" reached number two on the

Hot R&B Singles 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 po ...

chart, number four on the

Rhythmic Rhythmic may refer to: * Related to rhythm * Rhythmic contemporary, a radio format * Rhythmic adult contemporary, a radio format * Rhythmic gymnastics Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform individually or in groups on a floor ...

chart, and number 11 on the

Mainstream Top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...

. The track also found popularity in dance clubs, allowing it to peak at number 46 on the

Dance Club Songs The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

ranking. In Canada, the single reached number 47 on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' 100 Hit Tracks chart and number 25 on the ''RPM''

Dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

ranking. Outside North America, the song first charted in Germany in December 1998, peaking at number 75 the following month. In late 1999, the song reached the top 50 in Australia and New Zealand while also appearing on the singles charts of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Divine would release only one more single, a cover of

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling rec ...

's " One More Try", before their record label dissolved in 1999.

Track listings

US CD and cassette single # "Lately" (album version) – 4:18 # "Lately" (instrumental) – 5:16 # "My Love" (master mix) – 4:51 # Snippets taken from the album ''Fairy Tales'' – 4:41 UK CD1 # "Lately" (

Stargate ''Stargate'' is a military science fiction media franchise owned by Amazon MGM Studios. It is based on Stargate (film), the film directed by Roland Emmerich, which he co-wrote with producer Dean Devlin; production company StudioCanal owns the ...

radio mix) # "Lately" (original mix) # "Lately" (rap club mix) UK CD2 # "Lately" (rap club mix) # "Lately" (

Raphael Saadiq Raphael Saadiq (; born Charles Ray Wiggins; May 14, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He rose to prominence as a vocalist and bassist for the R&B band Tony! Toni! Toné!, which he formed with h ...

remix) # "Lately" (Stargate radio mix) Australian CD single # "Lately" (radio edit) # "Lately" (Stargate mix) # "Lately" (main edit) # "Lately" (instrumental)

Personnel

Personnel are lifted from the US CD single liner notes and the ''Fairy Tales'' album booklet. * Christopher Kelly – writing * Will and Pete – co-production ** Will Baker – writing, keyboards,

, drum programming, vocal arrangement ** Pete Woodruff – keyboards, drum programming * Divine – vocals, background vocals * Talonda Fields – additional vocals * John Howcott – keyboards, production, engineering * Marcus Williams – drums * Donald Parks – production, engineering * Jonnie Most – mixing * Mark South – vocal arrangement * Alex Nesmith – engineering * Jim Zumpano – engineering * Mike Simmons – engineering * Daniel Boom – assistant engineering * Lynn Goldsmith – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Samantha Mumba version

Irish singer

released her version of "Lately" on her debut album, ''

Gotta Tell You ''Gotta Tell You'' is the only studio album by Irish singer Samantha Mumba. It was released on 31 October 2000 by Polydor Records, Interscope Records, Wildcard Records and A&M Records. Album covers The original album cover featured a darkly lit ...

'' (2000). "Lately" was the fifth and final single released from ''Gotta Tell You'' internationally on December 10, 2001. Mumba's version peaked at number three in Ireland and number six on the UK Singles Chart.

Music video

In the music video, the scenes flash between Mumba singing and a wall calendar flipping down the days. After Mumba's initial close-ups, she turns her head, and the video pans to an Asian man's photo hanging on a wall, which continues to show up throughout the clip. Later in the video, Mumba is shown in front of a dancing choir. At the end of the video, the camera zooms out from Mumba's face.

Track listings

UK CD single # "Lately" (radio edit) – 3:54 # "Lately" ( Ralphi's Vox 12-inch vocal club mix) – 7:03 # "Lately" (

Junior Jack Vito Lucente (; born 31 August 1971), known by his stage name Junior Jack, is an Italian house music record producer, producer and DJ based in Belgium. Biography In the early years, Vito Lucente produced several acid house and Eurodance project ...

club mix) – 7:04 # "Lately" (CD-ROM) UK cassette single # "Lately" (radio edit) – 3:54 # "Lately" (Ralphi's Vox 12-inch) – 7:03 # "Lately" (

Stuntmasterz Stuntmasterz were a British music group featuring Steve Harris, Rob Davis and Pete Cook. They are best known for their hit single "The Ladyboy Is Mine", a mash-up of the songs " The Boy Is Mine" by Brandy and Monica, and Modjo's "Lady (Hear Me To ...

vocal mix) – 7:03

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 1998 debut singles 1998 songs 2001 singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Divine (group) songs Pendulum Records singles Polydor Records singles Samantha Mumba songs Songs about heartache Songs about loneliness