Coordinates	38°53′51.61″N77°2′11.58″N
parent	Universal Music Group
founded	2001
founder	Pharrell WilliamsChad Hugo
status
distributor	Interscope Records (In the US) Polydor Records (Outside the US)
genre	Various
country	United States
location	Virginia Beach, Virginia
url	StarTrakMusic.com }}

Star Trak Entertainment is a record label, founded by record producers Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams in 2001. Today it operates as a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, and is distributed by Interscope Records.

History

Beginnings

Star Trak Entertainment was formed in 2001 by The Neptunes' duo of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo. The label was partially funded by Arista Records in a joint-venture. Pharrell would sign longtime friends, Clipse, a duo of brothers Malice and Pusha-T. Their debut album, ''Lord Willin','' was released in 2002 led by the hits, "Grindin'", and "When the Last Time." After the success of the album, the label would sign Kelis, Vanessa Marquez, Fam-Lay, N.E.R.D., and pop rock band Spymob, who provided backing instruments for N.E.R.D's debut album ''In Search Of...''. The label released a compilation album during the summer of 2003, entitled, ''The Neptunes Present... Clones.'' In late 2003, Star Trak Entertainment released the highly-successful album, ''Tasty,'' by Kelis led by the hit single "Milkshake." In early 2004, distributor Arista Records dropped their imprint Star Trak Entertainment, which then linked with EMI's Virgin Records for a new distribution deal. The first release from this deal was ''Fly or Die'' by N.E.R.D..

Addition of Snoop Dogg

In mid-2004, Star Trak signed EMI cousin label, Doggystyle Records to a distribution deal and soared to new heights behind veteran Doggystyle Records rapper, Snoop Dogg. A few months later, Star Trak Entertainment left EMI's Virgin Records before completing a year with the label. They ended up moving operations over to Geffen Records and Interscope Records. Here, they would release Snoop Dogg's album, ''R&G; (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece.'' The album was led by "Drop It Like Its Hot", which would be yet another hit single for the fledgling label. This album would go Platinum like all other Star Trak Entertainment releases. It also had many other hit singles. After the album's release, the label was in a surplus and could afford to spend money on new things, so they signed underground Houston, Texas rapper Slim Thug and in 2005, he released his debut album, ''Already Platinum.'' This album would give Star Trak Entertainment yet another monster hit, "Like A Boss", and "I Ain't Heard of That."

Decline

After the release of Slim Thug's album, Geffen Records was partially absorbed into Interscope Records, which moved Star Trak Entertainment into an exclusive distribution deal with Interscope Records and ended all association with Geffen Records as Snoop Dogg decided to stay with them and took his Doggystyle Records imprint with him. During this time, the label added Kenna and Robin Thicke to their roster. The label has been under scrutiny for poor management which inevitably led to it's decline.

Resurgence

In 2006, CEO Pharrell released his debut album, ''In My Mind.'' The album provided another two hits for the label and capitilazed what is the Neptunes sound. These singles were "Can I Have It Like That", with Gwen Stefani, and "Number One", with Kanye West. Other releases in 2006 were Robin Thicke's second album, ''The Evolution of Robin Thicke'', which featured the hit, "Lost Without U." The last 2006 release was Clipse's second album, ''Hell Hath No Fury'', the album featured another hit for the label, "Mr. Me Too." This was their first release through their Re-Up Records imprint. Because of constant delays on the album's release date, and a small amount of production, then low record sales, Clipse asked for their release from the Jive Records label with in terms released them from Star Trak Entertainment moving their Re-Up Records imprint to Columbia Records. Star Trak Entertainment has since signed Teyana Taylor to their roster, along with Chester French, Natasha Ramos, and Jack Venom. In 2007, Kenna released his album, ''Make Sure They See My Face.'' Releases for 2008 Included N*E*R*D and Robin Thicke. Releases for 2009 included Chester French, Teyana Taylor, Kenna, Clipse and Teriyaki Boyz.

Artists

Alyssa Bernal

Chester French

Clipse

Fam-Lay

Kenna

N.E.R.D

Teyana Taylor

The Neptunes

Robin Thicke

Affilliated Artists

Game

Rosco P. Coldchain

Rhea

Manami

Christian Rich

Jack Venom (Sergio Veneno)

Natasha Ramos (Tasha)

Maxine Ashley

Former artists

Kelis

Slim Thug

Vanessa Marquez

Spymob

Snoop Dogg

Teriyaki Boyz

The High Speed Scene

Discography

Year	Information
	align="left"	*Released: September 28, 2001	Lapdance (song)>Lapdance", "Rock Star (N.E.R.D song)	*RIAA certification: Gold
	*Released: August 20, 2002	*Singles: "[[Grindin'", "When the Last Time", "Ma, I Don't Love Her", "Cot Damn"	*RIAA certification: Gold
	*Released: August 19, 2003	Frontin'", "Light Your Ass On Fire", "Hot Damn (song)>Hot Damn", "It Blows My Mind"	*RIAA certification: Gold
align="left"	*Released: December 9, 2003	*Singles: "Milkshake (song)	*RIAA certification: Gold
		*Released: March 23, 2004	", "Maybe (N*E*R*D song)>Maybe"	*RIAA certification: Gold
	*Released: November 16, 2004	Drop It Like It's Hot", "Let's Get Blown", "Signs (song)>Signs", "Ups & Downs", "Step Yo Game Up"	*RIAA certification: Platinum
	align="left"	*Released: March 22, 2005
	*Released: July 12, 2005	Like A Boss", "3 Kings (song)>3 Kings", "I Ain't Heard Of That", "Diamonds (Remix)", "Incredible Feelin'"	*RIAA certification: Gold
	align="left"	*Released: July 25, 2006	Can I Have It Like That", "Angel (Pharrell song)>Angel", "Number One (Pharrell song)	*RIAA certification: Gold
	*Released: October 3, 2006	*Singles: "[[Wanna Love U Girl", "Lost Without U", "Can U Believe", "Got 2 Be Down"	*RIAA certification: Platinum
	*Released: November 28, 2006	*Singles: "Mr. Me Too", "Wamp Wamp (What It Do)"
		*Released: October 16, 2007	*Singles: "Out Of Control (State Of Emotion)", "Say Goodbye To Love"
		*Released: June 10, 2008	Everyone Nose (All the Girls Standing in the Line for the Bathroom)", "Spaz (song)>Spaz", "Sooner or Later"
align="left"	*Release: September, 2008	Magic (Robin Thicke song)>Magic, "The Sweetest Love", "Dreamworld"
		*Release: January 28, 2009 (Japan); February 3, 2009 (Worldwide).	*Singles: "I Still Love H.E.R.", "Zock On!", "Work That!", "Teriyaking"
	*Release: April 21, 2009	*Singles: "She Loves Everybody"
	*Release: June 31, 2009	Crank Dat>Crank Dat (Travis Barker Rock Remix)", "Blanco (song)
	*(This album is counted a Star Trak release because stated on the http://startrakmusic.com/artists/clipse/ website Clipse music Til The Casket Drops is listed on the website offically,therefore confirming the Star Trak imprint makes this release apart of the record label.	*Released: December 8, 2009	*Singles: "[[Kinda Like a Big Deal","I'm Good", "Popular Demand"
align="left"	*Released: December 15, 2009	Sex Therapy (song)>Sex Therapy", "Rollacoasta", "It’s in the Mornin’", "Shakin' It 4 Daddy"
	align="left"	*Release: July 6, 2010

Upcoming releases

Information
	*Scheduled: TBA	*Singles: "Google Me", "Smooches"
	*Scheduled: TBA	*Singles: "Da Beeper Record"
	*Scheduled: TBA	*Singles: TBA

References

External links

Star Trak Music

Category:Record labels established in 2001 Category:American record labels Category:Hip hop record labels Category:Rhythm and blues record labels Category:Pop record labels Category:Vivendi subsidiaries Category:Labels distributed by Universal Music Group

ca:Star Trak Entertainment es:Star Trak Entertainment fr:Star Trak Entertainment tr:Star Trak Entertainment

Coordinates	38°53′51.61″N77°2′11.58″N
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Teyana Taylor
Born	December 10, 1990
Origin	Harlem, New York, U.S.
Genre	Hip hop, contemporary R&B;
Occupation	Singer-Songwriter, rapper, dancer, actress
Years active	2006–present
Label	Star Trak/Interscope G.O.O.D. Music
Associated acts	Kanye West, Chris Brown, Teairra Mari, Ester Dean
Website	teyanatayloronline.com }}

Teyana Taylor (born December 10, 1990) is an American, Singer-songwriter, rapper, dancer, and actress. Her debut single "Google Me" was released in 2008. Peaking at No. 90 on the ''Billboard'' Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart. She is of African American and Afro-Trinidadian descent.

Life and career

Taylor was on MTV's ''My Super Sweet 16'' in 2007.

She was a member of a band called U.G.L.Y. along with band mates Mijo, Braxton and Ethan. A snippet of U.G.L.Y.'s single "Wasted" was released early 2010. No further releases from the band have since been mentioned.

Taylor ventured into acting, appearing in the sequel of ''Stomp the Yard'', titled ''Stomp the Yard 2: Homecoming'', which was released August 2010 . She made an appearance on the debut episode of ''House of Glam'' on Oxygen. She also appeared in a new movie by Tyler Perry, ''Madea's Big Happy Family'', released on April 22, 2011.

Discography

''From a Planet Called Harlem''

* "Boy You And Me" (feat. Young B)

* "Color

* "Fly Away"

* "Good Enough"

* "Leave"

* "Let's Get It Right" (feat. Cashflow)

* "Lets Go To Mars"

* "Move"

* "Really Got It Bad"

* "Something Light" (feat. Cashflow)

* "Strong Face Swagg"

* "Switch It Up"

* "Pound Puppy"

* "Welcome To Harlem"

* "U Make Me Feel"

* "Young Girl" (feat. Eve)

As featured artist

"Christmas in Harlem" by Kanye West feat Cyhi Da Prynce & Teyana Taylor

"Dark Fantasy" by Kanye West

"Favor" by Chris Brown feat. Lonnie Bereal & Teyana Taylor

"I'm Illy" by Chris Brown feat. Teyana Taylor

"I Get's Crazy (Remix)" by Nicki Minaj feat. Lil Wayne Jay-Z & Teyana Taylor

"I Need A Girl Remix" by Trey Songz feat. Fabolous & Teyana Taylor

"Turn My Swag On Remix" by Keri Hilson feat. Lil Kim & Teyana Taylor

"Put It On Ya" by Missy Elliott feat. Teyana Taylor

"Rock Wit Me" by Jadakiss feat. Teyana Taylor

Writing credits

"So Cold" by Chris Brown

"Simon Sez" by Clyde McKnight

References

External links

Teyana Taylor on MySpace Music

Teyana Taylor at Interscope Records

Category:1990 births Category:African American singers Category:American dancers Category:Living people Category:Musicians from New York City Category:People from Manhattan

Coordinates	38°53′51.61″N77°2′11.58″N
Name	Robin Thicke
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Robin Charles Thicke
Alias	Thicke
Born	March 10, 1977 Los Angeles, California, United States
Genre	R&B;, soul, hip hop
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, record producer, actor, musician
Instrument	Vocals, piano, guitar
Years active	1994–present
Label	Nu America, Star Trak, Interscope
Spouse
Acts	The Neptunes, Pharrell, Lil Wayne, Game
Website	}}

Robin Charles Thicke (; born March 10, 1977) is a multi-platinum American R&B; Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, musician, composer, and actor. Thicke's albums, which he previously released under the moniker Thicke, are noted for their feature of a predominantly R&B; sound. Robin Thicke has penned hits for popular artists such as Jennifer Hudson, Usher, Mary J. Blige and others. Thicke was also acknowledged for his work in popular albums such as Confessions and Tha Carter III.

Early life

His mother is ''Days of Our Lives'' actress and singer Gloria Loring and his father is Canadian actor Alan Thicke. They divorced when he was seven. Throughout his childhood, he would be exposed to music by Bruce Springsteen courtesy of his father, as well as Luther Vandross and Whitney Houston courtesy of his mother.

Music career

Early years

Before his days as a singer-songwriter, Thicke had written "Love Is On My Side" on Brandy's self-titled album and a number of songs for 3T's "Sexual Attention" and collaborated with Jordan Knight, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on several songs in Knight's 1999 album ''Jordan Knight.'' He also co-wrote a song for Christina Aguilera's debut album called "When You Put Your Hands On Me". As an artist, he recorded and performed solely under his surname, Thicke. He would continue to do so until 2005.

Songwriting, producing and collaborations

Thicke began his songwriting career by penning hits for popular artists. The Thicke original "When I Get You Alone" was performed by Guy Sebastian, the winner of the first Australian Idol 2003, during the competition and at the Idol Grand Final. "When I Get You Alone" was a popular song choice for Sebastian; he put the live idol performance on his four-times platinum debut single "Angels Brought Me Here"; it was the fastest selling single in Australia debuting at #1 and immediately breaking an Aria record. In 2004, Thicke co-wrote with Guy Sebastian, the #1 Hit "Out With My Baby" from Sebastian's second album, ''Beautiful Life''. Thicke also produced this single for Sebastian. Thicke was involved in three tracks on ''Beautiful Life''. Other songs Thicke contributed to on the album include "Fiend for You", co-written with Sebastian, and "How", a Robin Thicke original included on the track listing. During this same year, he wrote a song with the singer and actress Raven-Symoné for the album ''This Is My Time'', with the song "Set Me Free".

In April 2007, Thicke co-wrote a song with Mexican-American singer Angela Via called "Wrong for You", a single from Via's forthcoming album. That same year, Thicke appeared on 50 Cent's album ''Curtis'', which was released on September 11, 2007, on a song called "Follow My Lead". He worked with Ashanti on her fourth studio album, ''The Declaration'', which was released on June 3, 2008. Thicke was enlisted by producer Polow da Don to play piano on the Usher track, "Love in This Club". Also that year, Thicke reunited with Lil Wayne and was featured on his album ''Tha Carter III'' on a track entitled "Tie My Hands", which Thicke also produced.

At the 2009 Grammy Awards, Thicke was most recently recognized for his work on Lil Wayne’s sixth studio album ''Tha Carter III'', as well as Jennifer Hudson’s self titled debut album. Thicke wrote and produced the song "Tie My Hands" on ''Tha Carter III'', which went on to win Best Rap Album. Thicke wrote and produced the song "Giving Myself" for the album ''Jennifer Hudson'', which went on to win Best R&B; Album.

2002–2004: Early commercial success

In 2000, Thicke, who simply went by his last name, went to work on material for his debut album, initially entitled ''Cherry Blue Skies''. The album focused more on soul, than his pop-offerings for other artists.

In 2002, Thicke released his debut single "When I Get You Alone". The track samples Walter Murphy's "A Fifth of Beethoven", which itself is a disco rendition of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. The music video for the song features an unshaven Thicke with long, wild hair as a courier racing through the streets of Manhattan on a bicycle. It received some rotation on MTV2 and BET's ''Rated Next'' and was spun moderately on pop and urban radio, peaking at #49 on Radio & Records Pop chart. Globally, however, "When I Get You Alone" became a chart success when it peaked within the top 20 in Australia, Belgium, and Italy, and reached the top ten of the singles charts in New Zealand and the top three in the Netherlands. The tune was featured for the soundtrack of ''Agent Cody Banks''.

The moderate success was enough to signal the release of the album, with its name changed to ''A Beautiful World''. Despite the release of a second single, "Brand New Jones", the album received very little promotion, and debuted at a low number 152 on the US Billboard 200, eventually selling 63,000 copies.

Runner-up Blake Lewis performed "When I Get You Alone" during the 2007 season of ''American Idol'' when the top 3 chose a song to sing. Lewis has often put Robin Thicke in his list of musical influences in interviews and on the American Idol website. The song was also performed on Glee during the season 2 episode "Silly Love Songs".

2005–2007: ''The Evolution of Robin Thicke''

In 2005, Thicke performed as a guest on the remix of Will Smith's song, "Switch". After being signed to The Neptunes label, Star Trak, he began working on his second album entitled ''The Evolution of Robin Thicke''. The first single, "Wanna Love U Girl", featured producer Pharrell and experienced chart success on urban radio in the United Kingdom. For the video, Thicke changed his appearance, cutting off his trademark long hair. In 2006, a remix version of the song was filmed with rapper Busta Rhymes. Nearly a year after the single was released, the album was released on October 3, 2006. ''The Evolution of Robin Thicke'' includes songs with Lil' Wayne and Faith Evans (on "Got 2 Be Down"), as well as Pharrell. To promote the album Thicke toured with India.Arie, and then opened for John Legend in late 2006.

His second single, the ballad "Lost Without U", began getting a lot of radio airplay in Urban & Rhythmic stations towards the end of 2006 and early 2007. With the assistance of radio airplay the song became his breakout hit, reaching as high as number fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100, and number one on the Billboard Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs, the first Caucasian male artist to top that chart since George Michael. With album sales over 1.5 million copies sold domestically after the re-release as a Deluxe Edition (with three new bonus tracks) on February 13, 2007, ''The Evolution of Robin Thicke'' became a commercial success in the United States.

The album peaked at number five on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number one on the ''Billboard'' Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums chart, garnering Thicke his first R&B; number one album of his career. From February 24, 2007 to March 3, 2007 the single "Lost Without U" and album ''The Evolution of Robin Thicke'' simultaneously spent two consecutive weeks at number one on the R&B; singles and albums charts respectively. On the March 3, 2007 issue of Billboard magazine, Thicke simultaneously topped four Billboard charts; Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums, Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Airplay, and Hot Adult R&B; Airplay. In March 2007, ''The Evolution of Robin Thicke'' was certified Platinum by the RIAA. Thicke and his record label Interscope soon considered potential tracks to be released as the album's next and third single. Thicke's preference was the track "Can U Believe", which peaked at number fifteen on the Billboard Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs and at number ninety-nine on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. On October 2, 2007 the track "Got 2 Be Down" was released as the album's fourth official single. The single peaked at number sixty on Billboard's Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks.

Later in 2007, Thicke finished promotion for the album as the featured opening act for the North American leg of Beyoncé's US tour, The Beyoncé Experience. Thicke also performed a one off UK concert in London's Koko Arena on September 24, 2007.

As of February 10, 2009, the album was certified Double-Platinum by the RIAA.

2008–09: ''Something Else'' and other projects

Thicke released his third solo album, entitled ''Something Else'', on September 30, 2008. It debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 charts and sold nearly 140,000 records the first week. The first single from the album was "Magic" a further expansion of the R&B; sound that powered his 2006 breakthrough, ''The Evolution of Robin Thicke''. "Magic" went on to peak at number two on the Urban AC charts. "Magic" was also used in the evening gown competition of Miss Universe 2008 in Viet Nam. He followed this success with the second single, "The Sweetest Love", which also peaked at number two on the Urban AC charts and remained in the top five for twelve consecutive weeks.

Speaking in October 2008 to UK R&B; writer Pete Lewis of ''Blues & Soul'', Thicke explained his reasons for titling his third album ''Something Else'':

During another interview Thicke elaborated:

Thicke recently appeared on an episode of ABC's ''The Bachelor'' to perform “Magic” and “The Sweetest Love” for the remaining female contestants. Thicke wrote and produced a track for the movie ''Precious'', a film based on a novel by Sapphire, in which his wife Paula Patton also stars. He is currently co-headlining a U.S. tour with Jennifer Hudson, which began March 31, 2009 in Albany, New York, and wraps up 25 shows later in Biloxi, Mississippi. At the start of the tour, Thicke released "You're My Baby" as the official third single from ''Something Else'', despite filming and releasing a music video for the track "Dreamworld".

2009–present: ''Sex Therapy'' and future projects

Billboard.com announced that Thicke would release his fourth studio album in the fall of 2009, which would not be self-produced. The album, titled ''Sex Therapy'', had its release date postponed to winter, being released on December 15, 2009. Jay-Z is featured on the track "Meiple (Me I Play)". The first single from the album was the self-titled track, produced by Polow Da Don and released in October 2009. In November 2009, Thicke premiered the second single to radio, "Shakin' It For Daddy", featuring rapper Nicki Minaj. It was also produced by Polow Da Don.

Speaking of the musical background to ''Sex Therapy'', in March 2010 Thicke told Pete Lewis - Deputy Editor of ''Blues & Soul'' - "I'm always gonna have the influence of Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Al Green in my music. But with this album I also wanted to show my HIP HOP side. I grew up listening to Run DMC and NWA and Biggie and Pac and Jay-Z... So I really wanted to make a record that represented how much that music has influenced me." Earlier in 2009, on October 14, Leighton Meester's debut single "Somebody to Love", featuring Thicke, was released. Thicke told MTV he was glad to have Lil Wayne on the album. He also pointed out that he was featured on Lil Wayne's last two albums, and Lil Wayne was on his last two albums. "We're kind of good luck charms for each other", he said.

Thicke appeared on ABC's ''New Year's Rockin' Eve'' on January 1, 2010 and performed three songs in Las Vegas, in a pre-recorded segment. It is confirmed that he, along with Melanie Fiona, will be going on The Freedom Tour with Alicia Keys. Thicke will be on tour with Jennifer Hudson, with whom he toured in 2009, in 2011. The first confirmed track off of Robin Thicke's new album ''I'm An Animal'' will be "Pretty Little Heart".

Discography

''A Beautiful World'' (2003)

''The Evolution of Robin Thicke'' (2006)

''Something Else'' (2008)

''Sex Therapy'' (2009)

''I'm An Animal'' (TBA)

Filmography

According to the Robin Thicke website, Robin Thicke has signed on with Fox for a film that is to be out in 2011.

Personal life

Thicke has had only one serious relationship which later on led to marrying actress Paula Patton. It was announced at an Alicia Keys concert in Los Angeles at the Staples Center that the couple had their first child, a boy named Julian Fuego Thicke, on April 6, 2010.

Thicke has said he does not like it when his music is called "blue-eyed soul", calling the label "small-minded and stereotypical."

In the fall of 2010, Robin Thicke spent several weeks in New York City recording and living in a rented SoHo apartment which he had converted into a makeshift professional studio.

Tours

The Beyoncé Experience As an opening act for the North American leg.

Jennifer Hudson and Robin Thicke Co-Headline Tour.

The Freedom Tour As an opening act for the tour along with Melanie Fiona.

Robin Thicke with special guest Miguel in Houston, Texas.

Awards and nominations

Recording artist

!Year	!Category	!Recording	!Result
2007	Best Male R&B; Artist	N/A	Nominated
2007	Viewers' Choice Award	"Lost Without U"	Nominated
2009	Best R&B;/Soul Male	N/A	Nominated
2007	Best R&B;/Soul Album, Male	''The Evolution of Robin Thicke''	Won
2007	Male Artist of the Year	"Can U Believe", "Lost Without U", "Wanna Love U Girl"	Nominated
2007	Best Song	"Lost Without U"	Nominated
2007	Favorite Breakthrough Artist	N/A	Nominated
2007	Breakthrough Artist of the Year	N/A	Won

Songwriting and production

!Year	!Category	!Recording	!Result
2004	Best Contemporary R&B; album		Won
	Best Rap album	''Tha Carter III''; songwriter, producer	Won
Best R&B; album		Won

References

External links

Official website

Category:1977 births Category:Living people Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:American pop singers Category:Musicians from California Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:Grammy Award winners Category:American people of Canadian descent Category:Blue-eyed soul singers Category:Interscope Records artists

de:Robin Thicke fr:Robin Thicke it:Robin Thicke he:רובין ת'יק nl:Robin Thicke pl:Robin Thicke pt:Robin Thicke sr:Robin Tik fi:Robin Thicke sv:Robin Thicke th:โรบิน ธิก

Coordinates	38°53′51.61″N77°2′11.58″N
name	Musiq Soulchild
background	solo_singer
birth name	Taalib Johnson
alias	Musiq Soulchild
born	September 16, 1977Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
genre	R&B;Neo soul
occupation	Singer-songwriter
years active	2000–present
label	Def Soul (2000–2005)Atlantic (2006–present)
website	www.musiqsoulchild.com
notable instruments	}}

Musiq Soulchild or Musiq (; born Taalib Johnson on September 16, 1977) is a R&B;/soul singer-songwriter whose style blends contemporary R&B;, soul, funk, alternative, blues, jazz, some gospel influences and hip hop.

Biography

Musiq was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is the oldest of nine children. At an early age, Musiq decided he would discontinue his high school education, and left home at 17. It was during that time Musiq started to build a reputation for being musically gifted, beat boxing for MC's, free styling on the open mic circuit, scatting at a jazz club, or just performing ''a cappella'' in the streets of Philadelphia, which is where he got the name "Musiq" and later added "Soulchild", which is intended to respect and represent the legacy and traditions of past soul artists. He cites as his inspiration such icons as Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Patti LaBelle, Billie Holiday, Sly & the Family Stone and Ray Charles.

Musiq has also earned award nominations from Moard, BET, ASCAP, BMI, and Soul Train. Musiq Soulchild has had 2 platinum albums, 2 gold albums and 7 hit singles. He has received awards from BillbMTV, American Music Awards, NAACP, and 11 Grammy nominations, including 3 for his 2007 album ''Luvanmusiq''. Besides being a successful recording artist, Musiq is notable for his creative and unique way of titling his albums and songs by ignoring the rules of capitalization, punctuation and spelling .

Name origin

"There were people who knew of me but they didn't really know me; they just knew me as 'that music dude.' So after getting that so much, I was like 'Just call me Musiq.' It was so fresh to me because if I had to be called anything, I would have wanted to be called Music. That's how much I dug it; when you see me, I want you to automatically think of music." The nickname Soulchild came from two ideas. Musiq quotes it as, "Musiq Soulchild is technically two ideas. 'Musiq' is the front man and 'Soulchild' is the idea behind it. It's basically me as an artist in this generation, representing the traditions and the legacies of the past soul stars."

Career

Musiq Soulchild released his debut album, ''Aijuswanaseing'', in 2000. Its lead single was "Just Friends (Sunny)". Musiq's second single "Love" spent 22 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

Musiq’s second album, 2002's ''Juslisen'', debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Charts and went platinum. The singles were "Halfcrazy" and "Dontchange".

In 2003, Musiq released his 3rd album, ''Soulstar''. It included the singles "Forthenight" and "Whoknows".

Musiq took a four year break and changed his management to Solqi Management ; as well as his record label from Def Soul to Atlantic Records.

In March 2007, Musiq's released his fourth album ''Luvanmusiq''. Its singles were "B.U.D.D.Y.", "Teachme", and "Makeyouhappy".

His fifth album ''OnMyRadio'' was released on December 2, 2008. The lead single "Radio" was a complete contrast to the usual smooth soul and R&B; Musiq fans were accustomed to. The following singles were the duet ''IfULeave'' featuring Mary J Blige; and the ballad ''SoBeautiful''. "SoBeautiful" marked the first collaboration between Musiq and the producer JR Hutson, after Hutson had spent "about eight months" trying to get Musiq to come by his studio. According to Hutson, the two plan to work together again.

In May 2010, he changed management to Victor Grieg.

His latest album ''Musiqinthemajiq'' was released on May 3, 2011, available on CDs and also as a digital download. The first single is ''Anything'' featuring Swizz Beatz.

Guest appearances

Musiq Soulchild has featured on Nothing At All from Carlos Santana's album, ''Shaman''. He has also made guest appearances on rapper Lloyd Banks's album ''Rotten Apple'', Talib Kweli's ''Eardrum'', The Roots's ''Phrenology'', Black Ice's ''The Death of Willie Lynch'' and pays tribute to soul music legends Earth Wind and Fire on the tribute album Interpretations: Celebrating the Music of Earth, Wind & Fire. Soulchild has also appeared on the soundtrack to Tyler Perry's movie ''Daddy's Little Girls'' and Ice Cube announced that Musiq will appear on his upcoming album, Raw Footage. He also lent a song from his latest album ''Luvanmusiq'' to the soundtrack for Perry's later movie ''Why Did I Get Married?''. He then recorded a remake of Arrested Development's song "People Everyday" with British rapper/singer Estelle for the soundtrack to Tyler Perry's ''Meet the Browns'' entitled "People Everyday (Metamorphosis Mix)".

Other interests

Outside of music, he has been featured in television and print ads for McDonald's, Nike, Inc., Coca-Cola, Levi Strauss & Co. and The Gap. He made a special appearance on The CW's #1 comedy ''The Game'' on Monday, October 29, 2007, as well as the UPN sitcom All of Us.

Awards and recognition

He has received awards from ''Billboard'', BET, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, BMI, and Soul Train. Musiq has also been nominated for awards by MTV, The American Music Awards, the NAACP, and has had 11 Grammy nominations.

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Details	Peak chartpositions			! width="40"
		''[[Aijuswanaseing">Music recording sales certification
! width="40"	! width="40"
''[[Aijuswanaseing''		* Released: November 14, 2000	Def Soul>Def Soul Recordings	Compact disc>CD	24	2		Recording Industry Association of America>US: Platinum
''Juslisen''		* Released: May 7, 2002	* Label: Def Soul/Def Jam Recordings	* Formats: CD	1	1		* US: Platinum
! scope="row"		* Released: December 9, 2003	* Label: Def Jam Recordings	* Formats: CD	13	3		* US: Gold
''Luvanmusiq''		* Released: March 13, 2007	* Label: Atlantic Records	* Formats: CD, music download	1	1		* US: Gold
''OnMyRadio''		* Released: December 9, 2008	* Label: Atlantic Records	* Formats: CD, music download	11	1
''MusiqInTheMagiq''		* Released: May 3, 2011	* Label: Atlantic Records	* Formats: CD, music download	8	3

Singles

Year	Song	!align="center" valign="top" width="40"	!align="center" valign="top" width="40"	Album
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Featured singles

Year	Song	!align="center" valign="top" width="40"	!align="center" valign="top" width="40"	UK	Album
	"Break You Off" (The Roots featuring Musiq Soulchild)				''Phrenology''
		align="center" valign="top"
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''Raw Footage''
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''Testimony: Vol. 2, Love & Politics''
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''Floetic Soul''

References

External links

Official Website

Antigua Music Festival

Musiq Soulchild Black Planet page

Musiq Preps Atlantic Records Debut

Musiq at rnbkings.net

[ Musiq Soulchild's AllMusic page]

Exclusive Musiq Soulchild Interview

Luvanmusiq Album Review

Category:1977 births Category:Living people Category:African American singers Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:American soul singers Category:Neo soul singers Category:Musicians from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:American Christians Category:Atlantic Records artists

de:Musiq Soulchild fr:Musiq Soulchild it:Musiq Soulchild pt:Musiq Soulchild fi:Musiq Soulchild tr:Musiq Soulchild

Coordinates	38°53′51.61″N77°2′11.58″N
name	Chester French
landscape	yes
background	group_or_band
origin	Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
genre	Indie pop, indie rock, alternative hip hop
years active	2003–present
label	Star Trak, Interscope
website	www.chesterfrench.com
current members	David-Andrew 'D.A.' WallachMaxwell Drummey
past members	}}

Chester French is an American indie pop band consisting of lead vocalist and songwriter David-Andrew 'D.A.' Wallach and multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Maxwell Drummey. They met as college students at Harvard University, naming their band after sculptor Daniel Chester French, who designed the statue at the Lincoln Memorial, the John Harvard statue, as well as the Minuteman statue at the Lexington/Concord battlegrounds in Massachusetts. Milwaukee-raised Wallach and Boston native Drummey quickly found a lot of shared ground in musical tastes and philosophies and before long formed a band with three other classmates, playing various campus functions, eventually moving in a direction heavily influenced by classic British Northern Soul. Over the summer both stayed in Cambridge, working hard at songwriting. But when school resumed, they realized that the material went way beyond the basic guitar-bass-drums-piano format of the band, and the duo continued the work themselves, Wallach handling most of the vocals, Drummey performing much of the music on multiple instruments, supplemented with the occasional special guest – and both taking production and engineering duties for recordings.

History

2003–2004: Formation and early career

Chester French was originally a five-piece band that formed in 2003 in their freshman year in Harvard University. In addition to lead vocalist David-Andrew 'D.A.' Wallach and multi-instrumentalist Maxwell Drummey, the band's lineup also included pianist and percussionist Justin Hurwitz, bassist Michael William Judge and drummer Damien Sayre Chazelle. Wallach originally auditioned as the group's drummer, but decided to become the lead vocalist due to his rapping ability. The band released their first extended play (EP), ''First Love'', in 2004. The band described their music as "Gentlemen Rock", which combined elements of jazz and classical music.

The band played out and sold numerous copies of their independently released CD on the streets of Cambridge, Massachusetts. As Wallach tells "The Improper Bostonian" when asked if they busk in Harvard Square:

"We did. The summer after our freshman year we created a little EP, and we sold it on the street. If people were reluctant to buy it, we'd offer to play them something live, with the agreement that if they liked our performance, they'd buy the CD for five bucks."

2005–2008: Recording contract

After paring down the group, its current lineup set out to learn how to record and produce music. They took on jobs at Harvard's Quad Studios, where R&B; producer and fellow Harvard Alum Ryan Leslie also got his start.

It was at the school's studio (and through its numerous clients) where the duo's sound came together.

"The studio we had at school wasn’t actually affiliated with the music program there. That’s sort of an independent student group that Max and I were actually kind [of] running too. We were actually engineering there as commercial engineers so even when we were getting the record deal, we were still recording weird a cappella groups and viola players to pick up some cash on the side. It was good too because we were able to learn how to record all kinds of different music and instruments and all that knowledge ends up being a resource when you’re working out your own project."

Over the course of the next few years, the duo began putting together a demo. The time put in heeded a demo with varied production styles and numerous instruments, sometimes within a single song.

They put the finishing touches on their demo by their senior year at Harvard and began sending packages to everyone they could find in music. Notable early supporters include Perez Hilton, blogger Arjan Writes and, perhaps most remarkably, Kanye West.

A copy of their demo ended up in the hands of engineer Andrew Coleman, who passed it to super-producer Pharrell Williams. The demo also made it to Jermaine Dupri.

Producer/Rapper West and Williams ended up in a bidding war for the band. Chester French ended up choosing a deal with Williams' Star Trak label, an imprint of Interscope Records.

Pharrell, in an introduction of the band in front of an audience in New York, briefly mentioned the bidding war:

"There's something at Star Trak records that we have been very excited about and there's, I don't know. Of course D.A. would want me to sit here and tell you how much of a crazy bidding war there was for them, as everybody in here knows D.A. But you know what? He's right. And if you think about it, think about where they come from and... okay! It's funny. But you know what? Think about it man. Like, Harvard grads? And then on top of that, there really was a bidding war and it really was incredible and we really lost our minds and you're really about to see a great, incredible show."

After landing at Star Trak at the end of their senior year at Harvard, the group moved to Los Angeles and continued work on their debut album, "Love The Future". The move inspired the song, "Bebe Buell," which the band says, during performances, is "about LA Girls."

Soon after graduating, one of their unmastered songs, "She Loves Everybody," ended up in the premiere episode of the 4th season of "Entourage," "Welcome to the Jungle," which aired June 17, 2007.

2009-2011: ''Love the Future''

In early April 2009, Chester French and popular mixtape and club DJ Clinton Sparks recorded and released a mixtape on the internet, called ''Jacques Jams, Vol 1: Endurance''. It has since spread onto various websites and across Twitter. The mixtapes features 24 tracks and has numerous guest appearances from R&B; and hip-hop stars. The guests include Solange Knowles (on the track "Two Mans"), Kardinal Offishall & N.O.R.E. (on "No Parents Allowed"), Cassie (on "Chloe Jones"), Pusha-T of the Clipse (on "Campus Kingpin"), Bun B of UGK, Talib Kweli & Mickey Factz (on "I'm So Tall"), Janelle Monae (on "Nerd Girl"), Diddy and Jadakiss (on "Ciroc Star"), the Mad Rapper (on "Mad Rapper"), Wale (on "I'm Sorry"), and Pharrell Williams and Jermaine Dupri (on "Life in LA").

In addition to all new tracks, the band included "The Jimmy Choos," "She Loves Everybody" and "C'Mon" from their debut album, "Love The Future" as well as the unreleased track "Out At The Compound," their yet-to-be-released remix of Lady GaGa's "Love Game" and "What A World," the Common song produced by Pharrell Williams that the duo appeared on (which is off Common's album, "Universal Mind Control.")

As recording came to a close, the band's first single, "She Loves Everybody", was released. The initial run of the single was in a limited edition condom package designed by Zach Larner. The duo decided to build a live show, so they hired the brother-brother touring musician team of Omar and Manny Dominick and keyboardist Tyler Wood. Matt Oestreicher replaced Tyler Wood when he had other obligations.

The newly formed live version of Chester French debuted at the 2008 South By Southwest festival and have toured on and off since. They supported N.E.R.D. on three tours (one with rapper Common), Matisyahu and Lady GaGa's The Fame Ball Tour. The band then released the song for retail on iTunes and Amazon in October, which was quickly followed by the release of the "She Loves Everybody" EP, which features the single, the bands song "Jimmy Choos" and remixes of "She Loves Everybody" by The Neptunes and DJ Steve Aoki and a remix of "Jimmy Choos" by hip-hop producer El-P. Bronx, NY rapper Mickey Factz and J.A.M.E.S. Watts released an unofficial remix of the group's song "Jimmy Choos." After the group heard the song, they got into the studio with Factz and collaborated on a track that will appear on his debut.

The group has collaborated with Talib Kweli and singer Res for their song "Fall Back," a song released during the waning days of the Democratic primaries that was aimed at Hillary Clinton. The song appeared on the political website "The Daily Kos." Their debut album, ''Love the Future'', was released with Star Trak/Interscope Records on April 21, 2009. The duo produced and engineered the album themselves in their college dorm at Harvard College. The duo is currently in the studio working on their second album and mixtape.

2011-present

Chester French recorded a song with Warner Brothers Maybach music "Play Your Part" featuring Meek Mill, Wale & Rick Ross

Press

The band is notable for the amount of press generated about them in their short time as a signed band (which just recently released their debut). Rolling Stone Magazine listed the band as one of their "Artists To Watch" in their March 2008 issue. The magazine described "She Loves Everybody" as an "ode to safe sex [that] mixes a Euro film-soundtrack vibe with synth beats - mood music for the thinking bachelor's pad."

The duo have also been featured in ''L'uomo Vogue'', ''Fashion Rocks'', ''Vibe'', ''Vanity Fair'', ''Details'', ''Interview'', ''GQ'', ''Teen Vogue'', ''Nylon'', ''FUZE Magazine'' and ''The Improper Bostonian'' (where the duo was featured on the cover).

Many of the articles showcase Wallach and Drummey's sense of humor, as their answers to many questions in interviews resemble the oddball responses Bob Dylan gave during interviews.

For example, when asked by MTV how Chester French started, Wallach states:

"Chester French started when we were freshmen in college. Max wanted to start a group called Marilyn Manson, which is what he told me in the dining room. And I thought that was a great idea. So we realized there was a conflict, potentially, with the name, but the underlying concept was great and so that's what we've been trying to achieve ever since."

Wallach and Drummey apparently share the same delusion of grandeur by implying similarities between their band persona to significantly more popular artists such as Bob Dylan despite the obvious ire this is likely to illicit from anyone who interprets this type of behaviour as self aggrandizing and contrived.

When asked why hip-hop stars enjoy their music, Wallach satirically explains:

"They find it interesting that we're the first artists to wear whiteface all the time, publicly."

Chester French are also notable for having been one of the first bands to use Facebook for promotion and fan interaction, as they were freshman and gigging musicians at Harvard the year Mark Zuckerberg launched the website.

The band toured with Blink 182 in the summer of 2009 among other notable bands such as Taking Back Sunday, Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco and Weezer, with September 13 being their final night on the tour.

Chester French appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on April 21, 2009 where they performed "C'mon."

Musical style

Chester French's sound generally contains elements of pop and rock. The band compared their approach to their pop sound with hip hop, stating "the mentality is informed a lot by hip-hop production". The band's arrangements were inspired by The Zombies' 1968 album, ''Odessey and Oracle''.

Discography

Albums

{|class="wikitable" !rowspan="2"|Year !rowspan="2"|Title !colspan="4"|Chart positions |- !width="40"|U.S. 200 !width="40"|Top Digital Albums !width="40"|Billboard Comprehensive Albums !width="40"|Top Internet Albums |- |2009 |''Love the Future''

Release date: April 21, 2009

Label: Star Trak

|align="center"|77 |align="center"|19 |align="center"|82 |align="center"|17 |}

Mixtapes

''Jacques Jams, Vol. 1: Endurance'' (2009)

''Jacques Jams, Vol. 2: Stamina'' (TBD)

Singles

{|class="wikitable" !rowspan="2"|Year !rowspan="2"|Title !colspan="4"|Chart positions !rowspan="2"|Album |- !width="30"|Billboard Hot 100 !width="30"|Hot Singles Sales !width="30"|Hot Dance Singles Sales !width="30"|UK |- |2008 |"She Loves Everybody" |align="center"|— |align="center"|2 |align="center"|1 |align="center"|— |align="left" rowspan="1"|''Love the Future'' |- |align="center" colspan="7" style="font-size: 8pt"|"—" denotes releases that did not chart |}

Guest appearances

{|class="wikitable" !Year !Song !Album |- |rowspan="2"|2008 |"Fall Back" (Idle Warship featuring Chester French) |''Non-album single'' |- |"What a World" (Common featuring Chester French) |''Universal Mind Control'' |- |rowspan="2"|2009 |"As I Em" (Asher Roth featuring Chester French) |''Asleep in the Bread Aisle'' |- |"Dancing Like A White Girl " (Masta Ace & Edo G featuring Chester French) |''Arts & Entertainment'' |- |rowspan="1"|2010 |"Get Loose" (Reflection Eternal featuring Chester French) |''Revolutions per Minute'' |- |rowspan="1"|2010 |"Gotta Get Up" (Asher Roth & Nottz featuring DA of Chester French) |''The Rawth EP'' |- |rowspan="3"|2011 |"Play Your Part" (Maybach Music Group featuring DA of Chester French) |''Self Made Vol. 1'' |- |"Big Hype" (Patrick Stump featuring DA & Driis) |''Truant Wave'' |- |"Clouds" (Tim William featuring DA ) |''TBA'' |}

Music videos

{|class="wikitable" !Year !Song !Director |- |rowspan="1"|2009 |"She Loves Everybody" |Paul Hunter |}

Remixes

Lady Gaga - LoveGame (3:18) - 2009

References

External links

Official website

Category:American pop music groups Category:Harvard University people Category:Musical groups established in 2003

da:Chester French