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Who is Lil’ Mo? Lil’ Mo is a singer and songwriter who scored a series of hit singles in the late ‘90s and early to mid-‘00s and now stars on “R&B Divas: LA,” a reality series that premiered on TV One in July 2013. Lil’ Mo, whose real name is Cynthia Loving, is also a producer and radio personality, and she refers to herself as “The Godmother of Hip-Hop and R&B.” She joined the cast of “R&B Divas: LA” after turning down an offer to appear on its predecessor, “R&B Divas: Atlanta.” “I’m more hip-hop and R&B and that ATL scene just was a different vibe,” Lil’ Mo told S2S Magazine.

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Who is Lil’ Mo? Hip-hop and R&B fans likely know her for the 2001 single “Superwoman Pt. II,” which featured rapper Fabolous and hit No. 11 on the Billboard pop charts. Over the course of her career, she’s worked with numerous hip-hop stars, and while many come from rough-and-tumble backgrounds, Lil Mo, or Cynthia Loving, rather, grew up in relative comfort.

She was born Nov. 19, 1978, and grew up in a family she describes as the “fake Cosbys,” according to a TV One bio. She first earned attention as a songwriter, singing a deal with Flavahood Entertainment and landing a track on Missy Elliott’s “Da Real World” album.

“Who is Lil’ Mo?” is something you won’t catch hardcore fans of Fabolous, Jay-Z, Keith Sweat or Blackstreet asking. Lil Mo has worked with all of them, though she’s perhaps best known for appearing on Ja Rule’s smash “Put It On Me” and “Hot Boyz,” a team-up with Missy Elliott.

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In recent years, the question, “Who is Lil’ Mo?” might have yielded the answer “a responsible mother,” as she took time away from the music business to focus on raising her four children. Now that she’s on “R&B Divas: LA,” though, she’s looking to stage a comeback, and that could mean more time with the kiddies for husband and manager Phillip Bryant.

“I have a lot of things coming up—new album, new TV show, just a whole new life,” she told S2S. “It’s like I have been born again and the only one who could orchestrate this rebirth this way is God.”

For 2024’s iteration of MadameNoire and HelloBeautiful’s annual series Women to Know, we knew we wanted to celebrate the people who help make the joys of film and television possible. To create art is to create magic. This year, we spotlight Hollywood Executive’s changing the face of cinema.