Nothing Of Me

"Nothing Of Me" is a single from urban/soul artist L.E.X. The song was released as the second single from L.E.X's debut album "The Perfect Storm". The single was released on June 28th, 2010. It entered the charts at #3, and became L.E.X's second silver hit in the UK. Moodring feature on a remix of the single, which was promoted in tandem with Moodring's own single 'Dirty Dirty', of which a remix features a guest appearance by L.E.X.

Background
There were multiple options for the follow-up single, and after Lionell and then-label Elite couldn't agree on a decision, a poll was opened to the public on what the single should be. "Nothing Of Me", a 90's-throwback urban ballad won the poll and was released as the next single. "Nothing Of Me" was one of the last songs Lionell prepared for his album, having re-tooled himself as an urban/soul artist early on in the development process; shifting gears away from being a rap artist and focusing more of his attention on singing and his vocal ability. Lionell turned to the sounds of 90's urban power ballads such as those Mariah Carey used to record, when developing the sound of the song with producer Jim Beanz. Around the time Lionell was working on the song, he was also corresponding with Moodring on a song for their album. During these sessions, Lionell recorded a remix of their single "Dirty Dirty" with producer Polow da Don. In response, Moodring recorded a new version of "Nothing Of Me" with Lionell, produced by Kwamè Holland. Due to appearing on each other's remixes, Lionell and Moodring made the agreement to cross-promote singles, a method which proved highly effective.

Reception
Following Lionell's success with his debut single and album, there was a strong positive reaction to "Nothing Of Me" when it was announced as the second single. The premiere of the Kwamè remix cemented the song with the general public, and the song went on to be a major hit on all three counts; on the digital charts where it hit the top 2, on the airplay charts where it reached the top 3, and finally on the singles chart where it also went top 3. The single further improved Lionell's status in America, where it became a bigger hit than "Sabotage, Inc." and Lionell's first US top 10.

Promo CD

 * 1) Nothing Of Me (Radio Edit)
 * 2) Nothing Of Me (Call-Out Hook)
 * 3) Nothing Of Me (Instrumental)
 * 4) Nothing Of Me (Acappella)

CD1

 * 1) Nothing Of Me (Album Version)
 * 2) Change Me (L.E.X vs. Cassie Fox)
 * 3) Nothing Dirty (L.E.X vs. Moodring)
 * 4) Nothing Strange Underwater (L.E.X vs. Aftershock)

CD2

 * 1) Nothing Of Me (Album Version)
 * 2) Nothing Of Me (DJ Double Garage's Null Worth Remix)
 * 3) Nothing Of Me (Aftershock's Murder Without A Motive Mix)
 * 4) Nothing Of Me (Foxxy Mama's Something Or Other Dub)
 * 5) Nothing Of Me (Aftershock's Missing Jigsaw Piece Dub)

Kwamé Remix CD

 * 1) Nothing Of Me (The Kwamé Remix) (ft. Moodring)
 * 2) Nothing Of Me (Foxxy Mama's "I Want It All" Remix) (ft. Moodring)
 * 3) Nothing Of Me (MC Tenty’s Fried Chicken Mix) (ft. Moodring)

Digital Bundle

 * 1) Nothing Of Me (Album Version)
 * 2) Dirty Dirty (Album Version)
 * 3) Nothing Of Me (The Kwamé Remix) (L.E.X ft. Moodring)
 * 4) Dirty Dirty (Polow Da Don Remix) (Moodring ft. L.E.X)
 * 5) Nothing Of Me (Wanna Be Startin’ Something Mix) (L.E.X ft. Moodring)
 * 6) Dirty Dirty (Loose Cannons Bump ‘N’ Grind’ Remix) (Moodring ft. L.E.X)

Original Version
As the song begins we see a car driving through heavy rain. We're not sure where it's going, or who is in there because it's dark and we don't get a real good look at the driver. We also see shots of Lionell sitting on a couch and singing the song. Another scene we get to see is some sort of flashback where Lionell and Lily are sitting together on a lunch date, chatting and laughing with each other. We see a house in the rainy scenes, and it's implied that this house is where the car from before is going. We see interior car shots that show Lionell sitting in the back seat. We still don't get to see a driver, but it is implied that this is the same car we've see from the outside driving through the rain. During the chorus and the second verse, we see a lot of the car travelling through the wet streets, and Lionell sitting on the couch belting out the song. Inside the car, we see the mysterious driver trying to make a call, but due to the storm outside, there is no signal, as displayed on the phone's screen. Lionell gets up off the couch in the performance scene and wanders toward the window. We see exterior shots of the house again, but we don't get to see any more of the scene from before with Lionell sitting in the backseat of the car.

We see more of the flashback scene with Lionell and Lily together. In the performance scene, Lionell is looking out the window while singing the song. He looks over at the TV and we find he is watching some video of a rain-soaked Lily. Lionell continues staring out the window as he reaches the rap part, and we see him acting out his frustration as he raps, banging on the glass with his fist and glaring at the camera. Meanwhile, we see Lily rushing out of the house into the rain. Lionell is still singing by the window as Lily rushes out; this is where things begin to come clear - we see Lionell looking out the window at Lily rushing outside, and we realise they were both in the same place all along. Lionell is not actually in the car we've seen throughout the video - the scene of him in a car was just a diversion to help set up the reveal at the end. The car stops outside, and we see a man climbing out. We see Lily meeting him, hugging each other and kissing in the rain while Lionell looks on, remembering earlier times when he and Lily were close like that (we see this again by the flashback scene of Lionell and Lily together). The video ends as Lionell walks away from the window, and Lily and the guy get into his car and drive away.

Remix Version
The video opens to a cloudy city landscape. It's some time at night from what we can see. We cut to a bedroom, looking at the clock which confirms that the hour is late. We see Cassie sleeping alone in a double bed, the half next to her is empty. We see other shots of busy night-time traffic outside, and some sort of party where Lionell seems to be having a good time. Noticing the hour, Lionell decides to call it a night and leaves the party while Cassie wakes up to realise he's gone. Performance shots of the two singing the song are intercut throughout the action. Cassie is a bit frantic looking through the house for Lionell, but she doesn't find him. She changes her outfit and leaves the house as we see more performance shots of her and Lionell singing their respective parts of the song. In the storyline, Lionell is suddenly nowhere near the party; we see that he isn't so happy as he pretended to be while he was at the party, as we see his silhouette sitting on a cliff while a lightning storm rages somewhere in the distance. We see flashback cut-sequences of Lionell leaving the party and making his way to his current destination on the cliff.

Performance shots of Lionell singing are morphed in and out of shots of Lionell sitting on the cliff, which we now see normally, from his vantage point overlooking the Golden Gate bridge. Meanwhile, Cassie has arrived at a club and we understand what her change of outfit was, as she now fits in among the crowd. She searches around desperately for Lionell, and we realise that this was the party he was in attendance earlier. We get the sense that maybe they just missed each other, as we see the back of someone leaving through another exit, wearing an outfit that's very similar to what Lionell was wearing in the club. We see performance shots of Cassie in another outfit and in front of a white background, and we also get to see L'mondrea in a purple room as she raps her parts. L'mondrea finishes off her segments as we cycle through more performance shots. We see Lionell singing to the camera from an undetermined vantage point where he can overlook the city in the distance. He doesn't appear to be making any attempts to be going home, but Cassie is. Having not managed to find Lionell at all, she goes home alone, and gets into bed to go back to sleep, looking upset that Lionell isn't there. The video ends with a shot of her trying to sleep, as tears leak out from behind her closed eyelids.

Chart Performance
"Nothing Of Me" was not originally projected to chart in the top 5, but as the release drew nearer critical response suggested that it was a possibility. After a clean-out on June 28th, the single was pushed back a week to the 28th to capitalise on the hype generated by the release, where indicators were suggesting a top 3. Two events cast doubt on this possibility however; first, URAPS Idol winner Genevere Johnson brought her single forward a week, the top 3 projections she'd received following along with her. Secondly, an upset saw Emily Henning's hot streak of #1 hits almost ruined when her single "Crash And Burn" only entered the chart at #2, and was then projected to rise the following week. Lionell's management was only seeking a higher chart placement than his debut effort, so when the single entered the chart at #3, it was a welcome surprise. "Nothing Of Me" entered behind Genevere and ahead of front runners DJ Double Garage and Kazimiera who until then had been projected to top the chart. "Nothing Of Me" managed to outsell its predecessor due to its higher peak, but did not enjoy the same staying power.

"Nothing Of Me" was a major hit digitally, unexpectedly reaching a #2 peak prior to its physical release. The single stayed on the digital chart for 7 weeks, with sales of 132,208 digital copies. On airplay, the song has experienced runaway success, when it quickly climbed up into the top 3 and enjoyed an extended run in the upper section of the chart. It was one of the biggest airplay hits of the year. In the US, "Nothing Of Me" benefitted greatly from Lionell's support spot on Butterscotch's debut tour; his appearances during the tour helped the song climb into the top 10 on urban and rhythmic radio formats, as well as crossing over onto pop radio. Digital sales were strong enough for the single to peak in the top 10 on the Hot 100.

Chart Run
TOTAL: 148,024
 * Week 1: #3 - 60,236
 * Week 2: #9 - 30,258
 * Week 3: #14 - 20,015
 * Week 4: #18 - 15,610
 * Week 5: #24 - 10,000
 * Week 6: #33 - 6,218
 * Week 7: #40 - 3,123
 * Week 8: #40 - 2,564