Alyson Williams (born May 11, 1962 in New York City, NY) is an R&B singer.

Career[link]

The daughter of bandleader / trumpeter Bobby Booker, she began her career by singing background vocals for various artists including, Curtis Hairston, Melba Moore ("Love's Coming At Ya"), B. B. & Q. Band, Cashflow, Unlimited Touch, Bobby Brown and Barbara Mitchell before joining the group High Fashion, which also featured Meli'sa Morgan. After they disbanded, Alyson sang with the group The Affair before moving onto a solo career.

Her first single, "Yes We Can Can", was first released on Profile Records in 1986; a release on the Def Jam label followed in 1987. At the label, she established herself as an in demand vocalist, duetting with many of her label mates including Chuck Stanley ("Make You Mine Tonight") and Oran "Juice" Jones ("How To Love Again").

Her first album release and the first R&B female singer signed to Def Jam, she released the album Raw in 1989. The album produced the singles "My Love is So Raw", featuring female rapper Nikki D,and "Sleep Talk". In addition, the single "Just Call My Name" was a hit on the Billboard R&B charts reaching number #4. The song, picked up by many "Quiet storm" formats, is now considered a cult classic and is still played. The album included a duet with the Blue Magic vocalist Ted Mills on "We're Gonna Make It". Her single "I Need Your Lovin'" was also a #8 success in the UK, as well as another R&B hit for her.

Alyson also recorded with Tashan on the track "Do You Wanna Know", taken from his On The Horizon outing. She additionally toured with him in the United Kingdom. In 1991, Alyson recorded "She's Not Your Fool" for the soundtrack to the movie Livin' Large. The track was included upon her 1991 self-titled album.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Singles[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Alyson Williams at Allmusic
• Alyson Williams on Billboard
• Alyson Williams on Soul Tracks
• Alyson Williams on Soul Walking

Trevor Beresford Romeo OBE (born 26 January 1963), better known by his stage name Jazzie B, is a British DJ, music producer, and entrepreneur. He is a founding member of Soul II Soul.

Life and career[link]

He was born in Hornsey, London, the ninth of ten children, several of whom began running sound systems in the 1960s and 1970s. With friends working under the name Jah Rico, his first gig was in 1977. He changed their working name to Soul II Soul in 1982. Soul II Soul was originally an umbrella name for several of Jazzie B's operations, including sound systems as well as the group itself.^[1]

Jazzie B has also produced and remixed tracks for The Fine Young Cannibals, Incognito, Maxi Priest, James Brown, Kym Mazelle, Rose Windross, Cheryl Lynn, Public Enemy, Johnny Gill, Caron Wheeler, Isaac Hayes, Sinéad O'Connor, Teena Marie, Ziggy Marley, Yorker, The Jones Girls, Nas, and Destiny's Child.^[2]

He has produced and presented a number of various artists compilations, including Jazzie B Presents Soul II Soul at the Africa Centre (2004); Jazzie B Presents School Days: Life Changing Tracks From The Trojan Archives (2008); and Masterpiece (2008).

He is a founding director of the Featured Artists Coalition.^[3]

Jazzie B hosts a show called "Back 2 Life" on BBC Radio London which plays funk, soul, reggae and house.

He took part in the 2011 TV series Jamie's Dream School.

His daughter Jessye B is a model who is part of reality TV show Dirty Sexy Things alongside 7 other models and photographer Perou.

Awards and accolades[link]

In 2002, he was listed first in the Business category of the 100 Great Black Britons list.^[4]

He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2008 New Year Honours.^[5]

In May 2008, he was awarded the first Inspiration award at the Ivor Novello Awards, for being "a pioneer" and "the man who gave black British music a soul of its own".^[6]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Soul 2 Soul website
• Independent on Sunday, Day in the life: Jazzie B, DJ & Producer, 4 November 2008

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Nellee Hooper (born 1963, Bristol, England) is a British producer/remixer/composer best known for his work with Björk, No Doubt/Gwen Stefani, Madonna, Sinéad O'Connor, Garbage, Andrea Corr, U2, Sneaker Pimps, Soul II Soul and Massive Attack. He also debuted as a motion picture music composer with famed Scottish composer Craig Armstrong and Marius De Vries for the soundtrack for Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet in 1996.

Biography[link]

Hooper began his career as a DJ and as a member of the Wild Bunch, the Bristol-based group that would turn into Massive Attack.

Between 1989 and 1992 he produced the debut albums for Soul II Soul (Club Classics Vol. I), Massive Attack (Blue Lines) and Björk (Debut), which in 1995 Mixmag magazine ranked the 31st, 1st and 3rd best dance albums of all time.

The 1995 BRIT Awards honored Hooper as Best Producer for his work on Massive Attack's Protection, Björk's Post and Madonna's Bedtime Stories albums.

In 1998 he won a BAFTA Award (Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music) for his work arranging the score and soundtrack for Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet.

In the late 1990s Hooper set up the Meanwhile imprint, which is a subsidiary of Virgin Records.

Hooper continued to work steadily into the 2000s. He received a Grammy nomination in 2003 for his work on No Doubt's Rock Steady and Lamya's Learning From Falling albums. His other work has included producing the singles "GoldenEye" (1995) for Tina Turner, "Under the Bridge" (1998) for All Saints and "Down Boy" (2002) for Holly Valance, as well as providing remixes for artists like Janet Jackson and Sade.

Most recently he has worked with Gwen Stefani on her solo albums and on U2's 2004 release How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, for which he won a Grammy Award. He also produced the debut solo album of Andrea Corr of The Corrs, entitled Ten Feet High which was released on June 25, 2007.

Romeo + Juliet Score[link]

Nellee Hooper was responsible for the BAFTA award-winning soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet in 1996. He worked alongside Scottish composer Craig Armstrong and English composer Marius van Wyk de Vries. It was Hooper's first and only motion picture score. Hooper armed the soundtrack with sequences of bombastic choral and flamboyant orchestral forces and fusing it with his well-known hip-hop, trip-hop and electronica genres. Hooper since has not been active in the motion picture industry.

Selected production credits[link]

• "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" (The Smashing Pumpkins)
• "The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning" (The Smashing Pumpkins)
• "Perfect" (Nellee Hooper Mix) (The Smashing Pumpkins)
• "Wonderful Life" (Gwen Stefani)
• "Early Winter" (Gwen Stefani)
• "#1 Crush" (Nellee Hooper Remix) (Garbage)
• "What You Waiting For?" (Gwen Stefani)
• "Luxurious" (Gwen Stefani)
• "The Real Thing" (Gwen Stefani)
• "Danger Zone" (Gwen Stefani)
• "Hella Good" (No Doubt)
• "It's My Life" (No Doubt)
• "Running" (No Doubt)
• "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" (U2)
• "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" (U2)
• "If God Will Send His Angels" (U2)
• "GoldenEye" (Tina Turner)
• "6 Underground" (Nellee Hooper Edit) (Sneaker Pimps)
• "Gabriel" (Nellee Hooper Mix) (Lamb)
• "Keep On Movin'" (Soul II Soul)
• "Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)" (Soul II Soul)
• "Get A Life" (Soul II Soul)
• "It's Oh So Quiet" (Björk)
• "Big Time Sensuality" (Björk)
• "Ordinary Girl" (LOLENE)
• "Hyperballad" (Björk)
• "Venus as a Boy" (Björk)
• "Violently Happy" (Björk)
• "Isobel" (Björk)
• "Human Behaviour" (Björk)
• "Army of Me" (Björk)
• "Sweet Sweet Intuition" (Björk) - "It's Oh So Quiet" b-side
• "Down Boy" (Holly Valance)
• "Under the Bridge" (All saints)
• "Black Mona Lisa" (Lamya)
• "Empires" (Lamya)
• "Bedtime Story" (Madonna)
• "I Want You" (Madonna feat. Massive Attack)
• "Sanctuary" (Madonna)
• "Inside of Me" (Madonna)
• "Survival" (Madonna)
• "Forbidden Love" (Madonna)
• "Got Til It's Gone" (Nellee Hooper Master Mix) (Janet Jackson feat. Q-Tip and Joni Mitchell)
• "Where Are You Now" (Nellee Hooper Mix) (Janet Jackson)
• "Feel No Pain" (Nellee Hooper Remix) (Sade)
• "Empires" (Lamya)
• "Young Hearts Run Free" (Kym Mazelle)
• "Nothing Compares 2 U" (Sinéad O'Connor)
• "Shame On You" (Andrea Corr)
• "I Need Your Lovin'" (12" extended remix) (Alyson Williams)

External links[link]

• Nellee Hooper at the Internet Movie Database
• Biography at Allmusic
• Biography at Discogs
• Nellee Hooper on VH1
• Filmography on Yahoo! Movies

Nichelle "Nikki D" Strong is an American female rapper.^[1] Nikki D was the first female rapper signed by Def Jam Recordings.

Career[link]

She signed with Def Jam in 1989, and released her debut single "Lettin' Off Steam" the same year. It was produced by Sam Sever. The single's video featured Flavor Flav. Later Nikki D released the more commercially acceptable song, "Daddy's Little Girl" some two years later, which reached #1 on the US Billboard Hot Rap Singles chart.^[2]

Prior to releasing "Daddy's Little Girl", Nikki D was on tour in Europe for a year with fellow R&B artist Alyson Williams. Nikki D has recorded songs with Moby, Queen Latifah on the Set It Off soundtrack, with Redman for his Muddy Waters album, EPMD, Naughty By Nature, Flavor Unit and Suzanne Vega.

In 1998, Nikki D became the vice president of A&R at Flavor Unit Records, a position she held for two years. Today she is the marketing manager at "Phat Fashions", the apparel company that houses Phat Farm, Baby Phat, and Atman.

Discography[link]

Album[link]

• 1991: Daddy's Little Girl (Def Jam) - US R&B #54

Singles[link]

• 1989: "My Love Is So Raw" (Alyson Williams featuring Nikki D) - UK #34^[1]
• 1990: "Lettin' Off Steam" (Sony)
• 1991: "Daddy's Little Girl" - US Rap #1;^[2] UK #75^[1]
• 1991: "Hang on Kid"
• 1991: "Wasted"
• 1993: "Freak Out" - US Rap #20^[2]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Nikki D discography at Allmusic
• Nikki D on the Internet Movie Database