This Day In 2003: Jaheim, “Put That Woman First”

15 years ago today, Jaheim released the second single from his sophomore album, a track which to date remains his highest-charting hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

Following on the heels of “Fabulous,” his collaboration with Tha’ Rayne, Jaheim’s “Put That Woman Down” featured a well-utilized sample from William Bell’s 1968 hit, “I Forgot to Be Your Lover.” While we’ll never know for sure if the success of the song was the result of a groundswell of support from Bell’s fanbase, we can confirm that Jaheim was able to build on the momentum built by “Fabulous,” beating the #28 chart placing of that song on the Hot 100 by climbing all the way to #20.

Sure, it’s only 8 spots, but be honest: we think it’s way cooler to be able to say, “That’s right: I had a top-20 hit,” and we suspect that Jaheim would agree with us.

While Jaheim’s next album, GHETTO CLASSICS, failed to capture the same mainstream audience as its predecessor, he has since found his way back into the Hot 100 on a couple of occasions, including the hits “Never,” “Ain’t Leavin Without You,” and “Finding My Way Back,” and he’s still putting out new music, releasing his seventh album, STRUGGLE LOVE, in 2016.