Naturi Naughton

Naughton was cast as Denise, an aspiring singer, in the Lionsgate remake of the 1980 film of the same name Fame.

Naturi Cora Maria Naughton-Lewis (born May 20, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress.

Naughton is best known as one-third of the R&B group 3LW and for her acting roles in the films Fame and Notorious, playing rapper Lil' Kim in the latter film.

Naughton was a series regular on the NBC series The Playboy Club as Bunny Brenda, starred in the first season of the Lifetime drama series The Client List as Kendra and starred in the Starz drama Power as Tasha St. Patrick, a role she reprised in the spin-off series Power Book II: Ghost.

In 2022, she starred as Jill “Da Thrill” in the ABC series Queens.

Naughton was born and raised in East Orange, New Jersey, the daughter of Brenda, a part-time paralegal, and Ezra Naughton, a retired accountant.

Her father is originally from St. Croix U.S. Virgin Islands and her mother is from Raleigh, North Carolina.

Her musical talent emerged at the age of five years, when she joined her church choir at New Hope Baptist Church (the same church where Whitney Houston performed in her youth) in Newark, New Jersey.

She continued her musical studies at the Newark School of the Arts.

She attended St. Joseph's Catholic school and Immaculate Conception High School in Montclair, New Jersey.

She has sung the national anthem at various events in New Jersey and attended Seton Hall University.

In 1999, at age 15, Naughton joined Adrienne Bailon and Kiely Williams to form the group 3LW.

Their first single, "No More (Baby I'ma Do Right)", was released in the fall of 2000.

The group's debut album, 3LW, was released on December 5, 2000.

"No More" was a success and was followed by the second single, "Playas Gon' Play" in early 2001.

The album went platinum, selling 1.3 million copies in the U.S. In the summer of 2001, the group went on the MTV TRL tour along with Destiny's Child, Dream, Nelly, Eve, and Jessica Simpson.

3LW spent the first half of 2002 in the studio, recording an album tentatively titled Same Game, Different Rules.

The album and its intended lead single "Uh Oh" were presented to the label, who felt it did not have enough urban radio appeal.

The tracks from Same Game, Different Rules were leaked to the Internet in MP3 format, and Epic considered dropping the band.

A fan support campaign for 3LW named 'Never Let Go of 3LW' followed, and the act was retained.

Recording a new set of tracks, 3LW returned in the summer of 2002 with the P. Diddy-produced single "I Do (Wanna Get Close To You)", featuring Loon.

By August 2002, the group was set to release its newest LP, A Girl Can Mack, when Naughton announced that she was no longer a member of the group.

Naughton says that the other two girls and their management had forced her out.

The problems reached a breaking point after a heated argument with Williams, Bailon, and their manager, which allegedly ended with Williams throwing a hot plate full of KFC food at Naughton.

Epic Records then ended their relationship with both 3LW and Naughton.

Despite Naughton's departure both Bailon and Williams resumed as a duo for a short amount of time and later Jessica Benson became Naughton's replacement.

The group has since disbanded.

In March 2008 Naughton was cast to portray Grammy Award-winning rap artist Lil' Kim in Notorious, a biopic film about The Notorious B.I.G. The film was released in January 2009 to mixed reviews and went on to make over $43 million worldwide.

Lil' Kim has stated that she wasn't mad at Naughton who portrayed her and that she was mad at how they portrayed her.

Naughton recorded five tracks for the Fame soundtrack which was released on August 25, 2009.

The following month Naughton scored her first solo chart entry ever with her cover of Fame peaking at No. 33 on the UK Singles Chart.

The single also reached the Top 20 in Finland, Portugal and Norway.

In 2010 an extended play was released titled Fame Presents Naturi Naughton as Denise: Didn't I Tell You.

The EP included tracks already heard before as well as previously unreleased tracks.

In February 2010, when appearing on the BET talk show The Mo'Nique Show, Naughton expressed interest in recording a solo-debut album.

However, Naughton has revealed she is instead focusing on her acting career but has not ruled out an album.

An ensemble of demos have leaked to the internet, including a duet with Lil' Kim.

However, it is unknown whether or not they will be released on her debut album.

She was believed to be working with music producer Full Force at the time.

In May 2017, she reunited with former groupmate Bailon on the daytime talk show The Real, who promoted the season premiere of Power.