Seriously, though: The former 3LW member has already overcome plenty of adversity, from an unceremonious group breakup to harsh words from Lil Kim about her Notorious portrayal. With a starring role in the upcoming Fame remake (out in September), Naturi is ready to leave all the controversy behind. Still, when the lovely Ms. Naughton showed up at Complex last week (entourage-free, mind you), we had to get our Dr. Phil on and allow her to vent a little on the ups and downs of her career thus far. In this edition of YouTubin’ with the Stars, Naturi discusses her breakup with 3LW, her new movie role and why she’s not mad at Lil’ Kim…

Interview by Maurice Slade

CLIP #1: “BABY REMEMBER MY NAME,” COCO FROM FAME TV SHOW (1982)

Naturi says: This video is incredible. It’s kind of funny to look at an old Fame video like this and think that I’m doing a modernized version of this great film from the ’80s. Watching this video helped me realize how fortunate I am because this is a film that a lot of people are familiar with and have had a connection with for a long time. When people hear the theme song from Fame it brings them back to when they were growing up and to be a part of something like that is pretty cool.

CLIP #2: “PARENTS JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND,” LIL’ ROMEO FEAT. 3LW & NICK CANNON (2001)

Naturi says: Oh no! This is a throwback. I cannot believe you guys found this. I haven’t seen this in like forever. Look at Lil’ Romeo. Oh my gosh! This was forever ago. I was like 16 years old. This is from when Nickelodeon just launched Jimmy Neutron. This was the single and theme song for the movie. It’s funny because I just saw Nick Cannon the other day and it’s like, wow, look how much history I’ve had with people in the business. You always end up crossing a person’s path again. That’s why you have to always do right and treat people right. Jessy Terrero shot this actual video. This is actually his directorial debut and now he’s shooting a lot of 50 Cent videos. We had so much fun shooting this video in L.A.

#3: 3LW ON MTV CRIBS (2000)

Naturi says: Oh my gosh! Why are you doing this to me? This is even further back around the time “Playas Gon’ Play” came out. This is in L.A. We lived in L.A. during the process of recording our second album. It’s weird looking at myself that long ago. Look at my clothes and my hair. I would have definitely done a lot of things differently.

CLIP #4: THE 3LW BREAKUP ON MTV TRL

Naturi says: Wow. I remember this. I remember everything. Especially when I see the images. I remember being at home watching this. I watched this live. I really don’t like looking at videos like this and it’s one of those things that’s petty. I look back at moments like those and I just remember that I am so much better and stronger because of all of those moments. So when I look at old videos like this I think, wow, Naturi you are strong, you are blessed, and you are so much bigger then drama. It’s a reminder of where I’ve come from and where I’m at now.

CLIP #5: LIL’ KIM SPEAKS ON HER PORTRAYAL IN NOTORIOUS MOVIE (2009)

Naturi says: Oh. I never saw this… All I have to say is, I didn’t write the script, I didn’t cast, produce or direct. I’m just an actress who put in her work. And as far as her saying that I never reached out to her; that is totally untrue. I would never want to play a real-life person without trying to contact them. The acting that I did is because I had a great director, a great acting coach and great co-stars. We did some great work and I’m not going to water down anything because someone feels like they should have had their way. Who knows it could have worked both ways. Talking to someone and listening to what they have to say could make you nervous—you stop focusing, you start doubting your own work, and you start trying to please them instead of focusing on the acting. I’m an actress and I’m going to do me at the end of the day. It’s no disrespect to anybody but I’m here to do me in this world and I definitely tried my best to have the input of Lil’ Kim and it did not happen. And I have so much respect for Kim. When I got the role I was like, I have to speak to Kim, so I reached out to [Lance] Un [Rivera] and there was conversation after conversation with Un but I never got any feedback from Kim.

Believe it or not, life wasn’t always money, menages and movie reviews for Ayo! Scott. Growing up in Brooklyn, Ayo! felt ugly (on the inside). He was a dick but didn’t know how to make the assholes around him like that about him. Then one day he heard Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace rap about being “black and ugly as ever,” and still making girls piss themselves ’cause they were so excited to see him. From that day on, Ayo! resolved to love himself and let people come around whenever they realized the inherent value of a big prick. And here you are reading his review of the Biggie biopic Notorious, absolutely loving him for being such a cock! [Ayo! nods knowingly.]

Like the rest of BK, Ayo! will always love Big Poppa, so when rumors of Notorious surfaced, he feared it would dishonor the legendary homegrown rapper on some Get Rich Or Die Trying dog shit. When he finally saw the film, he exhaled. (Then he put down his blunt and breathed a little easier, too.) Produced by Big’s mom, Voletta Wallace, and Puff Daddy, with input from many other people who were there with Brooklyn’s finest, the movie gives some insider perspective on his rise from ashy drug dealer to classy rap phenom and fallen star. Along the way, it hits all the right notes for heads like Ayo! who remember NYC and its 1992-1997 rap soundtrack fondly while fondling themselves late at night.

Jamal “Gravy” Woolard, a Brooklyn rapper whose biggest achievement prior to landing this movie was allegedly having his man shoot him in the ass before a Hot 97 radio interview to thug out some headlines, plays Biggie. Though he had no acting pedigree, Woolard took his opportunity and waddled with it. Other than Big’s lazy eye, which couldn’t be achieved without prosthetics that would have damaged dude’s eyesight, everything else from head cock (…) to the husky voice and cadence is spot on. Looks aside, he pulls off the emotion of a man who pulls himself up out of the struggle only to discover that mo’ money breeds mo’ problems. Although Ayo!, like most folks walking this earth, doesn’t listen to Gravy’s music, he hopes that Woolard is able to keep eating off acting (though he should probably stick to salads, unless there are a lot of other roles out there that call for actors to balloon up to 350 pounds).

As for the rest of the cast, Angela Bassett blesses the role of Voletta; Derek Luke, who portrays Puff, may actually Harlem Shake better than Diddy; Naturi Naughton reveals her tremendous talent (and her tremendously taleneted twos) playing Big’s jumpoff-turned-artist Lil’ Kim. On the flip side, Tupac Shakur “fanatic” Anthony Mackie plays himself playing Pac and Marc John Jeffries makes Big’s weed carrier Lil Cease seem like an elementary school midget (which may actually be a brilliant turn, now that Ayo! thinks about it).

Though you know the tragic ending and have listened to the music a million times, it’s ultimately quite moving to grab a 40 and a blunt and spend a couple hours with Big reminiscing on his life before death. R.I.P. B.I.G.

(BK, Ayo! will see you at the theater. Please don’t shoot him.)

Yes, Naughton’s Nickelodeon days are over. She’s all grown up and pushed up, and in honor of her twos coming out to play, Complex looks back with fond memories of her mammaries. Check her 5 breast moments below…

#5: “NOTORIOUS” NYC PREMIERE (2009)

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#4: MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS (2002)

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#3: 3LW’S “I DO” MUSIC VIDEO (2002)

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#2: MARY J BLIGE AFTERPARTY AT SPOTLIGHT LIVE (MAY 2008)

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#1: KING MAGAZINE COVER SHOOT (DEC 2008 ISSUE)

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But what makes Notorious so watchable? Let us count down the reasons why…

5. DEREK LUKE’S UTTER MASTERY OF THE DIDDY BOP.

Luke’s performance as Diddy is less about impersonation and more of an embodiment of the Puff persona. That basically means, Luke doesn’t really look, talk or act exactly like Puffy, but he still manages to deliver an effective portrayal. However, the one thing that Luke has down pat are Puffy’s exaggerated dance moves. Shit, Luke diddy bops better than Diddy! We couldn’t help but laugh every time Luke-as-Puffy jigs across the stage in the movie. You will, too.
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4. THIS DUDE IS LIL’ CEASE? REALLY???

The portrayals in Notorious range from really good (Angela Bassett as Voletta Wallace) to really bad (Anthony Mackie as 2Pac), but one stands out above them all'Marc John Jeffries as Biggie’s sidekick Lil’ Cease. We can’t imagine Cease will be too pleased to see himself played by lil’ dude from Brown Sugar with the Chiclet teeth. He smokes more blunts than a little bit and got mad guns up in the cabin? C’mon fam: He looks about as hard as a velour bathrobe. Jeffries is not a bad actor by any means, but in a film full of spot-on performances, his Lil’ Cease is comically inaccurate. You’ll still enjoy it, though, because it’s that bad.
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3. BAD BOY GOT MAD HITS. MAD HITS.

Y’all musta forgot! Notorious will definitely compel you to go back and cue up the Big library in the iPod'especially since you’ll be wanting to hear the real deal, not the Gravy-as-Big movie versions. Either way, the film is full of Biggie classics, as well as other Bad Boy hits (”You Used to Love Me,” by Faith'fire!). It will make even the staunchest backpacker a little nostalgic about Bad Boy’s reign at the top. And there’s not even a Ma$e in the movie!

CLICK NEXT to see the 2 biggest reasons!