If there’s one R&B-pop girl group from the late 2000s that deserved more, it’s Electrik Red.
The quartet, consisting of Naomi Allen, Lesley Lewis, Kyndra “Binkie” Reevey, and Sarah Rosete, released their first and only album, How To Be A Lady: Volume 1, on May 26, 2009, via Radio Killa Records/Def Jam Recordings.
Way before the R&B sirens made their introduction, each member honed their crafts at performing arts school. New York natives Binkie and Lesley attended the renowned LaGuardia High School, while Sarah and Naomi went to Claude Watson School for the Arts in Toronto.
While they all had different artistic talents, including in music, they each embarked on a similar path as professional dancers. Early in their careers, they worked with some of the biggest names in music. For instance, Lesley and Binkie dance alongside Aaliyah in her “Rock The Boat” video. Sarah, who was in Jay-Z and UGK’s “Big Pimpin” video with Naomi, danced with Beyoncé in her “Green Light” visual.
All four members later appeared as backup dancers in Ciara’s “Like a Boy” video. Before that, while on Usher’s The Truth Tour, Binkie and Lesley had asked Sarah about joining the group they were forming. (Fun Fact: they’re also in Usher’s 2024 video, “Ruin.”) Sarah agreed to join but proposed that her longtime friend Naomi also be considered.
One thing led to another, and Electrik Red was born in 2005. “We started meeting with different producers and people willing to work with us,” Lesley tells Rated R&B over Zoom. It’s a spring afternoon, and all four members of Electrik Red are present on the video call, reflecting on their journey and debut album. “We acquired an amazing attorney, Kenny Meiselash,” Lesley continues. “He was like, ‘I’m going to rep you guys pro bono.’”
They ultimately secured a meeting with legendary producer Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, who “seemed really down and believed in the vision,” as Lesley notes. The group signed a production deal with Darkchild, where they recorded a collection of songs, but they didn’t stay long.
“It was a short deal,” states Lesley. “He released us after six months. He was like, ‘Okay, I’m sorry I wasn’t able to do more with this, but you guys are free to take these songs.’” They took the four songs to create a demo that they “felt was representative of the group.”
After being released from their deal with Darkchild, they continued booking gigs as professional dancers while plotting their next move. They ultimately met with Def Jam executive vice president Shakir Stewart, which led to an opportunity to audition for label, where they got signed on the spot. “They fell in love with us and didn’t let us leave the building. We signed our record deal right there,” says Sarah notes.
Electrik Red officially signed to Def Jam on Feb. 23, 2008. When it was time to start working on their album, the group was adamant about working with The-Dream and Tricky Stewart. “With Shakir being our head of A&R, he was open to who we wanted to work with,” says Sarah. “We could have picked anyone, but The-Dream and Tricky’s sound was brewing and unique; we wanted to find the musical marriage that was consistent.”
Their first recording session was at Triangle Sound Studios in Atlanta. It was Electrik Red, The-Dream and Tricky Stewart’s way of getting a feel for each other creatively. “I remember them having a lot of energy [and] being super fun,” Stewart tells Rated R&B about his initial interaction with Electrik Red. “It felt as if they were best friends that were in a group together. We tried to put the spirit of their energy into the records we made.”
Once they conducted the voltage check, they joined The-Dream and Tricky Stewart in Las Vegas, where they recorded the album in two weeks. “From my perspective, my approach was to get [Electrik Red] there, continue the camaraderie that we had built upon meeting them, and do something that we thought was great,” says Stewart.
With The-Dream and Tricky at the helm of writing and production, Electrik Red didn’t need to look far for inspiration for the album. “It stemmed from our friendship,” Sarah notes of the album’s overall influence. “It was the energy between the four of us. Everything we sang about, that’s how we spoke to each other. So it was authentic, I think, for The-Dream in writing [the songs] because he was like, ‘Oh, I can really say everything I want to say; They don’t care.”
Electrik Red decided to sarcastically title their album How To Be A Lady: Volume 1. It was their way of challenging societal expectations of women: how they should look, dress, behave, and speak. “We’re witty, and we’re funny,” says Binkie. “How To Be A Lady was exactly the right title for our project because we were some ballsy chicks. I think it was that juxtaposition of being crass and funny. How To Be A Lady was definitely a f**k you to the patriarchy (laughs).”
Forget the sugar-coated expectations; Electrik Red throws out the rulebook on How To Be A Lady: Volume 1. They fearlessly tackle the realities of womanhood through their own lens, offering an unflinching exploration devoid of judgment.
Whether they’re singing about a jump-off on the glossy “Friend Lover” (“He’s not my man all day, but all night he’s my boo”), engaging in marathon sex on the steamy “Go Shawty” (“Caught one, but I’m tryna catch two”), falling for a fling on the vulnerable “So Good” (“Now a bitch all in love”), or confronting a cheating ex on the fiery “Kill Bill” (“You messing with the wrong bitch”), Electrik Red doesn’t hold back.
“We weren’t scared as a group to speak on being women, taking control of our sexuality and challenging the industry and men in that way,” Sarah comments. “It was all aligned with who we were. There wasn’t too much inspiration outside of us, our dating lives, and the men that we see who are whack or great; it all just poured into that.”
Drink In My Cup
Released as a promotional single, “Drink In My Cup” is an intoxicating party anthem that’s equally trippy and euphoric. The buzzing synths and thunderous trap drums are powerful enough to have an entire club chanting, “Got that drink in my cup!”
SARAH: “‘Drink In My Cup’ was the song that sounded like you would hear in the club or on a mixtape. The plan was to roll that out in that direction in the club and simultaneously drop “Friend Lover.” “Drink In My Cup” was thrown out there like, “Let’s see how it does.” It didn’t climb the charts, but it definitely was our most like, “Okay, you’ll hear it in the club.”
TRICKY STEWART: The part that sticks out to me is just that whirl sound going in the track. I remember The-Dream walking over to the keyboard and messing with the modulation wheel. I remember feeling like, “We just did some sh*t that’s super crazy.” It felt really good to me.
Electrik Red released a video for “Drink In My Cup,” directed by Marc Klasfeld, which showcased their rowdy spirits. After breaking into the back of a bar, they enter the main area for a night of flirtatious mingling, shots, drinks, and a pitstop to the bathroom, where they perform an epic dance sequence in the stalls.
LESLEY: Love that bathroom scene!
SARAH: We always kind of challenged ourselves to do something that’s never been done before. Like, “We’re going to have a dance routine out of the bathroom, and we’re going to just try to think of sh*t that’s never been done to make us different and stand out.”
So Good
“So Good” was the official lead single from the album. Over a synthy backdrop, they sing about catching feelings for a fling, which turns into a love triangle. The song peaked at No. 60 on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Two videos were filmed for “So Good,” including the standard version and the Lil Wayne-assisted remix.
SARAH: The “So Good” music video was supposed to be more S&M to add the edge to it. Even though we’re cursing and talking about naughty things, it sounds so pretty, so we wanted to add that element of S&M and tying each other — there were ropes everywhere. Once it was edited down, we lost all that.
LESLEY: It was just ‘pretty’ (laughs).
Devotion
As its title suggests, “Devotion” is imbued with tender kisses and fiery passion tailored for the bedroom. It whispers of the same desire felt in The-Dream’s “Falsetto” and J. Holiday’s “Bed,” later found in Ciara’s “You Can Get It” (2010) and Beyoncé’s “Dance For You” (2011), all written by The-Dream.
NAOMI: In recording that song — just all of them — The-Dream’s voice was first as the demo. We got to put our own feel on it. It was magical to be in this dim-lit studio with all the besties and the excitement of these guys, who do great records for bigger artists, having the patience and support to be like, “Try it this way. A little bit more this. Oh, that was really good.” It was a nice experience to find our own artistry within the song.
TRICKY STEWART: I wish that “Devotion” would’ve been the first single, followed by “So Good.” But at the same time, there was a lot of stuff going on. We ended up having to shoot two videos for “So Good,” one without Lil Wayne and one with Lil Wayne. So it just got a little bit out of sync there.
SARAH: Our very good friend, director Hype Williams, when we played the record for him, he loved “Devotion.” He had the sickest video treatment to go to the Turks and do a really dark, sexy-themed music video, where we were all kind of like strippers [in] slow motion performing. It was so iconic that it never left me. It always made me a little bit sick in my heart like, “Damn, we never got to do that.”
Freaky Freaky
On the enthralling “Freaky Freaky,” Naomi flexes operatic vocals over arpeggiated synths and thumping drums. She and Binkie trade hyperbolic lines about craving the touch of someone special in the bedroom. Sarah comes in for the pre-chorus, singing, “If my body’s a club, you’re my disco ball.”
TRICKY STEWART: “Freaky Freaky” and “Drink In My Cup” were some of the early records that we got to instantly, just feeling their energy. I think those records came out really good, really fast, and kind of set the direction for how much creativity we could have making an album like this.
SARAH: “Freaky Freaky” was the first song we did when we went to Atlanta to work with them. They gave us individual moments in that particular song so that they could get a feel for us. It was an experiment gone amazing. I remember it being such a unique sound from things that we recorded or even initially what we thought our vision would be. The writing was so clever.
9 To 5
Another made-for-the-bedroom gem, “9 To 5,” simmers with pleasure as they coo about wanting to be worked in the bedroom like a full-time job.
LESLEY: “9 To 5” pulls at all the right heartstrings. The writing is impeccable. It hits exactly where it’s supposed to. That was always one of my favorites. Naomi kills the vocals on that.
SARAH: We didn’t want R&B to be one thing. Although the record is very R&B, we were trying to find a variety of sounds, and it was such a unique-sounding song. The wordplay aligned with our brand and who we are. When we heard it, we were like, “Yes, we need this!”
P Is for Power
On “P Is For Power,” Electrik Red shows off their rap skills over a knocking beat as they brush off lame guys who think they have a chance. The song is doused with quotable lyrics like “P is for Power, the U is for used to, ‘Cause my P better than that P that you used to.”
SARAH: That song came after Vegas after we did all these records. We realized we had a lot of mid-tempo songs, and being performers, we were missing something that we could really perform to. I think they went back to the drawing boards a little and came up with this beat. The-Dream wrote it, and it was more rappy for us. We recorded that in LA way later, and it ended up making the cut. It was a fun, good time.
LESLEY: So, for Sarah’s last birthday that we were celebrating, one of our dear friends, Luther Brown, choreographed a piece of [“P Is For Power”], and we had a blast! It felt so good to do new choreography to it and just reunite. It was a highlight.
W.F.Y.
On the pulsating “W.F.Y.,” they declare who really runs the bedroom. “Y’all don’t f**k us, n***a we f**k you,” they sing in the catchy chorus.
LESLEY: We have some special paddles that were made that became part of our show. That’s definitely another fave.
SARAH: That one was my favorite. The hook is so genius. [The-Dream is] such a creative genius. You don’t expect that for a man to write that record. It was my favorite record to put on, even for family, and have them just be in shock. I remember playing it for different label people that would come in, and everybody lost their sh*t. It was just such a big energy record. Binkie’s part at the end, her freestyle where she’s just talking sh*t, was just good times.
Kill Bill
Before SZA’s “Kill Bill” dominated the airwaves, there was Electrik Red’s overlooked but much more vicious anthem. In SZA’s case, she’s singing about an ex who has moved on, while Electrik Red rages about a no-good cheater. In some ways, “Kill Bill” sounds like a more ferocious version of Rihanna’s “Breakin Dishes,” also helmed by The-Dream.
LESLEY: I loved that song — the energy of it and just the outlet to say, “This is not how it’s gonna go down because we’re all a crazy bag of pecans and nuts” (laughs). I feel like that was the song representative of that side of us. Like, “Yeah, we will lose it on you…”
SARAH: It felt like our anthem for girl power. That was definitely the song that we would put front and first foremost.
NAOMI: It also reminds me a lot of — even though there’s nothing that ever can compare to anything else — it reminds me of Alanis Morrisette’s “You Oughta Know.” It’s funny, I played [“Kill Bill”] once in the morning with my children and rocked out to that. They thought I was crazy (laughs).
How to Be A Lady: 15 Years Later
How To Be A Lady: Volume 1 is a genre-bending force that opens with a playful kiss (“Muah”) and explodes into a thrilling climax (“Kill Bill”). The album captures the flirtatious spirit of Vanity 6 and Mary Jane Girls, the swagger of Total, the bluntness of TLC, and the energy of Electrik Red.
While How To Be A Lady did not receive the commercial success it deserved (it debuted and peaked at No. 100 on the Billboard 200), it received favorable reviews from critics. Guardian gave the album five stars, noting that it “stands on its own two feet as one of the most essential R&B albums of the decade.” Pitchfork gave it a whopping 8.2 out of 10. In 2017, Billboard dubbed “So Good” one of the 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.
Some may say Electrik Red’s How To Be A Lady needed a stronger marketing push from the label. And that may be true, considering Binkie, Lesley, Naomi, and Sarah proactively (and hilariously) created hand-made signs that they paraded around Sunset Boulevard.
“This is what we have to do to make sure people swipe the card and buy our album,” Lesley said in a YouTube video uploaded three days before the album was released. “We’re not waiting for anyone,” Binkie commented in the same video. “We’re taking the bull by the horns.”
What Happened to How To Be A Lady: Volume 2?
Even though Volume 1 didn’t receive the commercial acclaim it deserved, Electrik Red moved forward with working on the follow-up, How To Be A Lady: Volume 2. There were plans to expand their sonic palette with The-Dream and Tricky Stewart, as well as other producers like Midi-Mafia, who produced their unreleased track “Put Ya Money On It (Africa),” which was described as “a nod to our roots.” They were also working with Young Money’s R&B singer Shanell to pen songs for the album, as well as Keri Hilson.
Even though there was some progress made for the follow-up, and the group teased that it was in the works, it never saw the light of day. “The big thing that happened in between there is the death of Shakir Stewart,” expresses Tricky Stewart. “I mean, it was his group. He was part of the vision. When that happened, it took a lot of the wind out of the sail, if you will.”
Sarah echoes Tricky’s sentiment, “Shakir, who was our main cheerleader at the label, had passed away a few months before our album even came out. There were a lot of people that wanted to see it through, but a lot of different chefs in the kitchen making decisions doesn’t always work out that way.”
Without having the proper support from their label, there wasn’t much drive to see the next album through. “You need a couple of people at your record label who really understand who you are as an artist and get a team that makes sense for your brand,” says Naomi.
She continues, “You need to have that to the point where if something doesn’t work out or the numbers don’t hit, they are still pushing; they believe in it. [Without] Shakir being there, that was a missing piece. That meant it would be hard to get a Volume 2 going. I think Volume 2 didn’t happen because Volume 1, although the music was great and we were great, we probably needed more direction and a team that was more in tune with how to move our project along.”
That Electrik Red album was severely slept on……. Still hurts.
— THE-DREAM (@TheKingDream) February 21, 2013
Final Remarks
TRICKY STEWART: This was a very special time in my life with some girls that are family that I love to this day. We didn’t get what we came for, but we got a lot more. We had a lot of love and a lot of memories over the years and just a special place in all of our hearts for one another.
LESLEY: I’m grateful our fans are still die-hard, super fans. They show love and express how much our album impacted their lives. That makes my day if I go into my DMs and somebody shares a personal story or is riding to work and needs an extra push, so they play “Kill Bill” or something to that effect. I love that our fans are still connected to us and that we are still connected. Electrik Red will never die.
SARAH: It takes me back to one of the most exciting times in my life. It’s always good vibes and good memories. It’s shown me how much I’ve grown as well (laughs). I think about the mental spaces we were in — I was a single mom of a three-year-old — and just how chaotic life was. I’m grateful for my friendship. We all have moved on to have relationships, other careers, and kids, but it’s always nice to just have that to bring us back together, reminisce, celebrate, and be celebrated. Thank you for giving us our flowers. We appreciate that.
NAOMI: It’s nice when we can all be in the same city and the same place. We really do have a deep love and affinity for each other. Looking back, that was a really special time in all of our lives. I wish in many ways that there was something else that we could maybe do together. We have good synergy when we’re all in the same place with something creative. But you never know; the future always looks bright.
BINKIE: I’m happy that through it all, our heads stayed onto our necks, if you will. We were in an industry that was very tumultuous. There’s like one out of 10 people that get the shot and opportunity that we had — and we did it. I think that that’s amazing. I look at my sisters, and I smile. I’m like, We f**king did it! We had a dream we created. We made some cool sh*t. It’s always going to be How To Be A Lady, forever. The book is still being written. Every day, you learn something new about yourself. Every day, you learn [and] you put something else in the book. Eventually, we can maybe do a Volume 2. It may not be the Volume 2 that’s in a musical album. Maybe it’s something else, like Naomi was alluding to, a podcast or something, because I love these bitches, and I die for my bitches. You know what I’m saying?
Stream Electrik Red’s album, How To Be A Lady: Volume 1, below.
Stay connected with Electrik Red:
Binkie: @harlemhottie
Lesley: @lesleynicolelewis
Naomi: @naomileeallen
Sarah: @theremixdesignco
