That's What Little Girls Are Made Of

Album: Here's to New Dreams (1993)
Charted: 68
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This is a song from the debut album released by Raven-Symoné. The actress and singer first came to the public attention at the age of 3 when she played Denise Huxtable's precocious stepdaughter Olivia Kendall on The Cosby Show.
  • Raven-Symoné was just 7 years old when she began her singing career after signing with MCA Records. She released her debut album, Here's to New Dreams, the following year after taking singing lessons from a then unknown Missy Elliott.
  • The track was co-written and co-produced by Missy Elliott, who was credited as Melissa Elliott. It was the first song that Elliott wrote for another artist; she also contributed a verse for the recording featuring scat singing and Jamaican-style toasting.
  • Missy didn't appear in the visual, which instead featured a thinner, light-skinned actress lip-syncing her part. According to Elliott, she was not informed of the video shoot and she used this disappointment as motivation. Missy would embrace and even exaggerate her look on her own recordings, such as the oversized garbage-bag costume she wore in her 1997 clip for debut single "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)."
  • The song samples both "Funky Worm" by Ohio Players and "The Payback" by James Brown.
  • Released as the lead single from Here's to New Dreams, the song peaked at #68 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, the album sales were disappointing, and Raven-Symoné was dropped from MCA Records in 1995. She subsequently found some chart success with the soundtracks for the Disney Channel's Cheetah Girls movies.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Philip Cody

Philip CodySongwriter Interviews

A talented lyricist, Philip helped revive Neil Sedaka's career with the words to "Laughter In The Rain" and "Bad Blood."

Mark Arm of Mudhoney

Mark Arm of MudhoneySongwriter Interviews

When he was asked to write a song for the Singles soundtrack, Mark thought the Seattle grunge scene was already overblown, so that's what he wrote about.

Eric Clapton

Eric ClaptonFact or Fiction

Did Eric Clapton really write "Cocaine" while on cocaine? This question and more in the Clapton edition of Fact or Fiction.

Real or Spinal Tap

Real or Spinal TapMusic Quiz

They sang about pink torpedoes and rocking you tonight tonight, but some real lyrics are just as ridiculous. See if you can tell which lyrics are real and which are Spinal Tap in this lyrics quiz.

How "A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss" Became Rock's Top Proverb

How "A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss" Became Rock's Top ProverbSong Writing

How a country weeper and a blues number made "rolling stone" the most popular phrase in rock.

Jesus Thinks You're a Jerk: Rock vs. Televangelists

Jesus Thinks You're a Jerk: Rock vs. TelevangelistsSong Writing

When televangelists like Jimmy Swaggart took on rockers like Ozzy Osbourne and Metallica, the rockers retaliated. Bono could even be seen mocking the preachers.