Monica (entertainer)

Name	Monica
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Monica Denise Arnold
Born	October 24, 1980
Origin	Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Genre	R&B;, hip hop soul, pop
Occupation	Singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, entertainer, television personality, fashion designer
Years active	1991-present
Label	J, Worldwide
Associated acts	Dallas Austin, Brandy, Ciara, Petey Pablo, Jermaine Dupri, Missy Elliott, Ludacris, Mia X, Polow Da Don, Rocko, Tim & Bob, Travis Porter (group)
Url	www.monica.com

Monica Denise Brown (born October 24, 1980), born Monica Denise Arnold and professionally known as Monica, is an American R&B; recording artist and entertainer. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, Monica began performing as a child and became part of a traveling gospel choir, by the time she was ten. Guided by producers Dallas Austin and Tim & Bob, she signed with Arista Records at age thirteen and released her debut album Miss Thang in 1995. Its first two singles "Don't Take It Personal" and "Before You Walk out of My Life" made her the youngest recording act to ever have two consecutive chart-topping hits on the US Billboard Top R&B; Singles chart.

In 1998, Arnold's second album The Boy Is Mine earned her major international chart success. Pushed by its same-titled number-one hit, a duet with singer Brandy, it spawned two further chart-toppers, "The First Night" and "Angel of Mine", and established her position as one of the most successful of the urban R&B; female vocalists to emerge in the mid to late-1990s.

Arnold has sold more than 20 million albums worldwide, including over five million units in the United States alone. With a career lasting over 15 years, she became the first artist to top the US Billboard Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart in the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s. In 2010, Billboard listed Arnold at number 24 on its list of the Top 50 R&B; and Hip Hop Artists of the past 25 years. The same year, Arnold married NBA player Shannon Brown. Currently living in Los Angeles, California, the singer has two sons with her former partner, rapper Rocko.

Early life

Monica was born in College Park. She is the only daughter of Marilyn Best, a former church singer and Delta Air Lines customer service representative, and M.C. "Billy" Arnold Jr., a mechanic working for an Atlanta freight company. She has a younger brother named Montez, who was born in 1983 on her fathers side, and two maternal half-brothers, Tron and Cypress. Monica also is a cousin of record producer Polow da Don, and relative-in-law to rapper Ludacris through her mother's second marriage to Reverend Edward Best, a Methodist minister.

At the age of two, Monica followed in her mother's footsteps with regular performances at the Jones Hill Chapel United Methodist Church in Marilyn's hometown Newnan, Georgia. Shortly afterwards Dallas and then staff producers Tim & Bob entered the studio with Monica to start writing and producing her debut Miss Thang which was eventually released in July 1995 and scored number thirty-six on the U.S. Billboard 200 and number seven on the Top R&B; Albums chart. and produced three top ten singles, including debut single "Don't Take It Personal (Just One of Dem Days)" and "Before You Walk out of My Life", both of which made Monica the youngest artist ever to have two consecutive chart-topping hits on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B; Singles chart. Miss Thang subsequently won Monica a Billboard Music Award and garnered her an American Music Award nomination in the Favorite Soul/R&B; New Artist category. The following year she was asked to team up with singer Brandy and producer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins to record "The Boy Is Mine", the first single from both of their second albums. Released in May 1998, surrounding highly publicized rumors about a real-life catfight between both singers, the duet became both the biggest hit of the summer and the biggest hit of 1998 in general in America, spending record-breaking thirteen weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It earned the pair a Grammy Award for Best R&B; Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal" and garnered multi-platinum sales (to date, it remains as one of the top twenty most successful American singles in history based on Billboard chart success). while Allmusic called the album an "irresistible sounding [and] immaculately crafted musical backdrop [...] as good as mainstream urban R&B; gets in 1998."

2000–2005: All Eyez on Me and After the Storm

In 2000, Monica contributed chorus vocals for "I've Got to Have It", a collaboration with Jermaine Dupri and rapper Nas. Released as the Big Momma's House theme song, the song saw minor success in the United States only. The following year, she released the Ric Wake production track "Just Another Girl", recorded for the Down to Earth soundtrack, as a single.

A year later, Arnold channeled much of her heavily media-discussed experiences into the production of her third studio album, All Eyez on Me, her first release on mentor Clive Davis newly-founded J Records label. "I just wanted to give the people back something that had personal passion, instead of just, 'Oh, let's dance to this record'," she said about the issues worked into the tracks. Finally released in June 2003, After the Storm debuted at number one on Billboard`s Top R&B;/Hip-Hop albums chart, and on top of the official Billboard 200, with sales of 186,000 copies emerging as Monica's first and only number-one album to date. It eventually received a gold certification, and has sold over one million copies domestically. The album's lead single, Elliott-penned "So Gone", was one of Monica's biggest commercial successes in years, becoming her first top ten single since 1999's "Angel of Mine". In addition, it reached the top position of the Billboard R&B;/Hip-Hop Tracks and Hot Dance Club Play charts. Subsequently, After the Storm spawned another three singles, with final single "U Should've Known Better" reaching number nineteen on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

In 2005, Monica appeared on the Tyler Perry's "Diary of a Mad Black Woman soundtrack. The track was one of Monica's last production by Dallas Austin.

2006–2010: The Makings of Me and Still Standing

Returning from yet another musical hiatus, Arnold's fourth studio album The Makings of Me was released in October 2006. Titled after Curtis Mayfield's 1970 recording "The Makings of You", the album saw her particularly reuniting with producers Elliott, Dupri, and Bryan Michael Cox, all of whom had previously contributed to After the Storm (2003). The Makings of Me received a positive reception from most professional music critics, with Allmusic calling it a "concise and mostly sweet set of songs," and Entertainment Weekly declaring it "a solid addition" to Monica's discography. While it debuted at number one on Billboard's Top R&B;/Hip-Hop albums chart, and at number eight on the official Billboard 200, it received a domestic sales total of 328,000 copies, it widely failed to revive the success of its predecessors and became the singer's lowest-selling effort to date. Singles such as snap-influenced "Everytime Tha Beat Drop" featuring Atlanta hip hop group Dem Franchize Boyz and Elliott-produced "A Dozen Roses (You Remind Me)" failed to reach the top forty of the regular pop charts. In 2009, Arnold lent her voice to the ballad "Trust," a duet with Keyshia Cole, that peaked in the top five on Billboard Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The recording of Arnold's sixth studio album Still Standing was chronicled by . Featuring production by Stargate, Ne-Yo, and Polow da Don, it was released in March 2010 and garnered a generally response by critics, who perceived its sound as "a return to the mid-'1990s heyday" of contemporary R&B;, The album debuted atop on Billboard's Top R&B;/Hip-Hop albums chart, and number two on the U.S. Billboard 200 with opening week sales of 184,000 copies, becoming the singer's second highest-charting debut since 2003's After the Storm. The leading single "Everything to Me" scored Monica her biggest chart success since 2003's "So Gone", reaching the top position of the Billboard R&B;/Hip-Hop Tracks charts for seven weeks. The album was certified gold by the RIAA with domestic shipments of 500,000 copies within a single month. With it success, the album and "Everything to Me" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B; Album and Best Female R&B; Vocal Performance, presented at the 53rd Grammy Awards in 2011. In August 2010, Arnold joined Trey Songz on his Passion, Pain & Pleasure Tour, her first North American concert tour in ten years.

2011-present: New Life

As of January 2011, the singer has started work on her seventh studio album, tentatively titled New Life. According to reports, the project will be executive produced by Polow Da Don. Other producers include Oak, and Missy Elliott. In addition, Arnold is in the planning stages of a holiday album for the 2011 season. The show was a single episode, tracked by the single recording for her sixth studio album. While "Still Standing, which featured cousin Ludacris, was originally intended to be released as the album's lead single, the label and the singer were not in agreement with the album's title track becoming the first single no track has been for more than a year.

With the success of the one-hour reality special, Monica joined the production of the BET network for her own series , producing a spin-off to the Peachtree TV Monica: The Single, containing the same concept. It focused on searching for a hit single for her fifth studio album release and balancing her personal life of being a full-time mother and troubled past. The premiere and encore episode garnered 3.2 million total viewers, while the show itself was made the second highest series debut in BET history behind the debut of Tiny & Toya. The show was given a "B" rating by Entertainment Weekly.

Personal life

Monica's career saw troubles in 1999, during which time she dealt with more personal tribulations including an up-and-down relationship with former fiancé Corey "C-Murder" Miller and the suicide of her boyfriend Jarvis "Knot" Weems, a local drug dealer and her childhood friend. On July 18, 2000, the couple was together at the graveside of Weems's brother, who had died in an automobile accident at age 25 in 1998, when Weems, without warning, put a gun to his head and shot himself to death. While the couple soon got engaged in fall of the same year, they ended their relationship in 2004 and Monica subsequently started dating G-Unit rapper Young Buck following his guest stint in her music video for "U Should've Known Better." In March 2010, it was announced that Arnold and Hill had split in October 2009, surrounding rumors that he cheated.

Since 2010, Arnold has been in a relationship with NBA player Shannon Brown. The pair met in June 2010 when Brown was consulted to star as her love interest in the music video for the single "Love All Over Me." In October 2010, Arnold confirmed her engagement to Brown via Twitter, posting a photo of her massive, rose-cut diamond ring. On November 22, 2010, Arnold and Brown were married in a secret ceremony at their Los Angeles home. The marriage did however not become a matter of public record until January 21, 2011, when Brown told the Hip-Hop Non-Stop TV-Show. As reported, the couple are planning a second wedding ceremony and reception for family to attend in June.

Discography

Studio albums

1995: Miss Thang

1998: The Boy Is Mine

2002: All Eyez on Me

2003: After the Storm

2006: The Makings of Me

2010: Still Standing

2011: New Life

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Monica.com Official website

BET Shows - Monica: Still Standing

Monica at Billboard.com

[ Monica] at Allmusic

Category:1980 births Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:American female singers Category:African American female singers Category:African American actors Category:American film actors Category:American pop singers Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:American television actors Category:Arista Records artists Category:Actors from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Musicians from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Grammy Award winners Category:J Records artists Category:Living people Category:People from Atlanta, Georgia Category:People from College Park, Georgia Category:American people of Native American descent