Marsha Ambrosius | |
|---|---|
 Ambrosius in 2016 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Marsha Ambrosius |
| Also known as | The Songstress |
| Born | 8 August 1977 |
| Origin | Liverpool, England |
| Genres | R&B |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Labels | |
| Member of | |
| Children | 1 |
Marsha Ambrosius-Billups [1] (born 8 August 1977) is an English singer and songwriter. She began her musical career as a member of the R&B duo Floetry. Ambrosius released her debut solo album Late Nights & Early Mornings in 2011.
Original Floetry members Marsha Ambrosius and Natalie Stewart met through their love of basketball. [2] [3] Both Stewart and Ambrosius attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology where Ambrosius studied Business and Finance and Stewart Performing Arts, Media and Art. For college Ambrosius planned to attend the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia, but could not due to an injury.[ citation needed ] Stewart attended Middlesex University in London and later transferred to North London University. During these years, the women kept in touch. Stewart was a founding member of the performance poetry group 3 Plus 1 which was rising to Han Solo in London, Birmingham and Manchester. In 1999, Ambrosius wrote and submitted a song to her publishers Perfect Songs called "Fantasize", inviting Stewart to lend some of her poetry to the song. This collaboration led to the creation of Floetry. [4]
In 2000, the duo travelled to the United States to perform on the poetry circuit. After frequenting spoken word/poetry spots in Atlanta such as Yin Yang Poets' Cafe (to positive reviews), they moved on to Philadelphia. [5] There they met Darren "Limitless" Henson and Keith "Keshon" Pelzer of DJ Jazzy Jeff's Touch Of Jazz studio and began recording. She also worked with Michael Jackson - she composed and sang as back-vocal the song "Butterflies" from the album "Invincible" released in 2001 and in 2002 a single version of this song was published. In the same year, they signed with DreamWorks Records and released their debut album Floetic , which featured the singles "Floetic" "Say Yes" and "Getting Late". [6] The album was also released in the UK with additional tracks, one of which features British singer/songwriter and producer Sebastian Rogers. [7] They released two more albums: 2003's live effort Floacism and 2005's studio album Flo'Ology .
Ambrosius has been featured on many songs including Styles P's "I'm Black"; The Game's "Start from Scratch" and "Why You Hate The Game." (also featuring Nas); Busta Rhymes' "Get You Some" and "Cocaina"; Nas' "Hustlers" (also featuring The Game); and Hi-Tek's "Music for Life" and Jamie Foxx's "Freak'in Me". The group has also collaborated with Earth, Wind & Fire on their album, Illumination , on the track "Elevated". She provided background vocals to the Justin Timberlake single “Cry Me a River”, notably singing the ad lib “Cry me, cry meeee” at the end of the song. [8] [9] She collaborated once again with Slum Village on a song called "Cloud 9". In 2009, she guested on Wale's "Diary".
Ambrosius was approached to sign to Dr. Dre's record label, Aftermath Entertainment, as a solo musician/songwriter/producer. [10] [11] In 2007, she released a mixtape entitled, Neo Soul is Dead. Parting ways with the offer in early 2009, Ambrosius pursued her song-writing/production career landing her placements with R&B and hip hop artists ranging from Alicia Keys, Raven-Symoné, Jamie Foxx and Mario to Fabolous, Slum Village and Wale. [12] [13]
In summer 2009, Ambrosius was approached by numerous record labels offering her a solo deal after a long-awaited performance at NYC's SOB's where a sold-out crowd gathered to a show accompanied by The Roots and DJ Aktive. In December 2009, Ambrosius signed to J Records and her solo debut Late Nights & Early Mornings was released on 1 March 2011. [14] "Hope She Cheats On You (With A Basketball Player)" produced by Canei Finch [15] [ circular reference ] [16] was released as the album's first single on 13 August 2010. [17] The song charted on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and peaked at No. 22. "Far Away" was released as the album's second single on 7 December 2010. The album would debut at No. 1 on the US Billboard R&B Albums chart and No. 2 on the US Billboard 200 behind Adele and ahead of Mumford & Sons, marking the first time in over 20 years that British acts had topped the US charts. [17] [18] [19]
Ambrosius won the Centric Award [20] at the BET Awards of 2011. She was also nominated for Best Female R&B Artist [21] at the BET Awards 2012.
Ambrosius won the Record of The Year (Ashford & Simpson Songwriters Award) at the 2011 Soul Train Awards for the song "Far Away."
In December 2011, she received two Grammy nominations (Best R&B Song / Best R&B Performance for "Far Away"), the night before she performed at the White House with the President and First Family at the National Christmas Tree lighting.
In August 2011, RCA Music Group announced it was disbanding J Records along with Arista Records and Jive Records. With the shutdown, Ambrosius (and all other artists previously signed to these three labels) will release her future material on the RCA Records brand. [22] [23]
Ambrosius released her second studio album, titled Friends & Lovers , in July 2014. [24] Ambrosius received two MOBO Award nominations for the album. [25] In 2015 Ambrosius received a nomination for Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance for "As," a collaboration she recorded with Anthony Hamilton for The Best Man Holiday . [26] [27]
In March 2017, she premiered a new song "Don't Wake the Baby" produced by Dem Jointz and called it "a song for Beyoncé." [28] Additionally, she announced a summer tour with Eric Benet titled The M.E. Tour.
In May, she released her first single "Luh Ya" off her upcoming untitled album, marking her move to an independent label. [29]
In June 2018, she released the album's second single "Old Times" and premiered the music video. [30] In September, she announced her third studio album would be titled Nyla and will be released on September 28. [31] [32] The album's third single, "Flood" was also released. [33]
In December 2021, Dr. Dre has confirmed that he’s finished recording Casablanco an album with Ambrosius, with both artists describing the finished product as some of their “best work”. [34] The Section Quartet’s founder and violinist Eric Gorfain also confirmed that he’d worked on the album. [35] In February 2023, Ambrosius and Dre held a listening session for the project in Los Angeles. [36] In December 2023, Ambrosius released the first single from the album The Greatest, under Aftermath and Interscope Records. The song was produced by Ambrosius, Dr. Dre and his production team, The ICU. [37] According to one of Dre’s fellow producers, Dem Jointz, the album is slated to be released in 2024. [38]
In November 2016, Ambrosius announced she was engaged to Dez Billups. [39] [40] In an interview in 2018, she revealed that she and Dez were married in 2017. [1] They welcomed their first child Nyla in December 2016. [41] [42] Ambrosius is a fan of Liverpool F.C. [43]
Ambrosius is an honorary member of Sigma Gamma Rho [44]
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [45] | US R&B [45] | US Indie [46] | |||
| Late Nights & Early Mornings |
| 2 | 1 | — |
|
| Friends & Lovers |
| 12 | 2 | — |
|
| Nyla |
| — | — | 18 | |
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [49] [50] [51] | US R&B [51] [52] [53] | US Adult R&B [54] | |||
| 2010 | "Hope She Cheats on You (With a Basketball Player)" | 88 | 22 | 15 | Late Nights & Early Mornings |
| "Far Away" | 74 | 3 | 1 | ||
| 2011 | "Late Nights & Early Mornings" | — | 30 | 12 | |
| 2012 | "Cold War" | — | 45 [A] | 18 | Non-album single |
| 2013 | "Without You" (with Ne-Yo) | — | — | 21 | |
| 2014 | "Run" | — | 44 [A] | 13 | Friends & Lovers |
| "Stronger" (featuring Dr. Dre) | — | — | — | ||
| 2017 | "Don't Wake the Baby" | — | — | — | Non-album single |
| "Luh Ya" | — | — | 20 | Nyla | |
| 2018 | "Old Times" | — | — | 17 | |
| 2023 | "The Greatest" [55] | — | — | — | Casablanco |
| Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Start from Scratch" [57] | 2005 | The Game | The Documentary |
| "Get You Some" [58] | 2006 | Busta Rhymes, Q-Tip | The Big Bang |
| "Cocaina" [58] | Busta Rhymes | ||
| "Music for Life" [59] | Hi-Tek, Nas, J Dilla, Busta Rhymes, Common | Hi-Teknology²: The Chip | |
| "Why You Hate the Game" [60] | The Game, Nas | Doctor's Advocate | |
| "Hustlers" [61] | Nas, The Game | Hip Hop Is Dead | |
| "I'm Black" | Styles P | Time Is Money | |
| "This Can't Be Real" [62] | 2007 | Freeway | Free at Last |
| "Reunion" [63] | Ya Boy | Optimus Rime | |
| "Wanna Go Back" [64] | 2008 | Solange, Q-Tip | Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams |
| "The Light '08 (It's Love)" | Common | — | |
| "Freak'in Me" [65] | Jamie Foxx | Intuition | |
| "If I Ruled the World '09" | 2009 | Nas | — |
| "Yacht Music" [66] | DJ Drama, Nas, Willie the Kid, Scarface | Gangsta Grillz: The Album (Vol. 2) | |
| "Stay" [67] | Fabolous | Loso's Way | |
| "Take Me Away (With You)" [68] | Queen Latifah | Persona | |
| "Diary" [69] | Wale | Attention Deficit | |
| "A's & E's" | Masta Ace, Ed O.G. | Arts & Entertainment | |
| "Welcome Back" [70] | 2010 | Stat Quo | Statlanta |
| "All I Got to Give" [71] | John Regan | Sorry I'm Late | |
| "It's Alright" [72] | 2011 | Saigon | The Greatest Story Never Told |
| "Streets Gone Love Me" | 2012 | Saint Nick | — |
| "Light Dreams" [73] | Tyga | Careless World: Rise of the Last King | |
| "Take You There" [74] | Currensy | The Stoned Immaculate | |
| "The One" [75] | Kanye West, Big Sean, 2 Chainz | Cruel Summer | |
| "The Game Changer" [76] | Saigon | The Greatest Story Never Told Chapter 2: Bread and Circuses | |
| "Right Back" [77] | Freeway | Diamond In the Ruff | |
| "It Only Gets Better" [78] | 2013 | Talib Kweli | Prisoner of Conscious |
| "Material Things" | Lee Mazin | In My Own Lane | |
| "Trust" | Robert Glasper Experiment | Black Radio 2 | |
| "Alone Together" [79] | 2014 | Daley | Days & Nights |
| "Wonder What You're Doing for the Rest of Your Life" | Train | Bulletproof Picasso | |
| "War" | 2015 | King Los | God, Money, War |
| "Genocide" | Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, Candice Pillay | Compton [80] | |
| "All in a Day's Work" | Dr. Dre, Anderson Paak | ||
| "Darkside / Gone" | Dr. Dre, King Mez, Kendrick Lamar | ||
| "Satisfiction" | Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, King Mez | ||
| "Make it Through the Night" | Joe Budden, Jadakiss | All Love Lost | |
| "Dope" | 2016 | T.I. | Dime Trap |
| "Sins of Our Fathers" | The Game | The Birth of a Nation: The Inspired By Album | |
| "Love Star" | Common, PJ | Black America Again | |
| "See I Miss Pt. 2" | GoldLink | — | |
| "Melatonin" | A Tribe Called Quest, Abbey Smith | We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service | |
| "Anywhere" | Tech N9ne | The Storm | |
| "No Chill" | 2017 | Davion Farris | Trenier |
| "Real Big" | 2018 | Nipsey Hussle | Victory Lap |
| "Grateful" | Dave East | Paranoia 2 | |
| "Outside" | 2018 | Royce da 5'9", Robert Glasper | Book of Ryan |
| "Forgiven" | 2019 | 2 Chainz | Rap or Go to the League |
| "I Didn't Wanna Write This Song" | The Game | Born 2 Rap | |
| "Moonlight" | 2023 | 2 Chainz, Lil Wayne | Welcome 2 Collegrove |
Natalie "the Floacist" Stewart is an English rapper, singer, songwriter, spoken word artist, poet, and actress. Born in Germany and raised in London, she performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a child, and rose to fame in the early 2000s as part of the R&B girl-duo Floetry. During a break, Stewart's first album, Floetic Soul (2010), was released which established her as a solo artist, with the singles "Forever" and "Let Me".
Floetry were an English R&B duo comprising Marsha Ambrosius and Natalie Stewart. The group recorded two studio albums, one live album, and sold over 1,500,000 records worldwide. Formed in 1997, Floetry started on the performance poetry stage. They have worked with many US musicians and artists including: Jill Scott, Queen Latifah, Michael Jackson, Common, The Roots, Bilal, and more founders of Neo-Soul.
"Butterflies" is a song by American singer and songwriter Michael Jackson. It was written and composed by Andre Harris and Marsha Ambrosius, and produced by Jackson and Harris. The track appears on Jackson's tenth studio album, Invincible (2001). The song also appeared in The Ultimate Collection (2004). "Butterflies" is a midtempo ballad. The single received generally positive reviews from music critics; some music reviewers described the song as being one of the best songs on Invincible while others felt that it was a "decent track".
The discography of American rapper Snoop Dogg consists of 19 studio albums, five collaborative albums, 17 compilation albums, three extended plays, 25 mixtapes, 175 singles, and 16 promotional singles. He has sold over 12.5 million albums in the United States and 37 million albums worldwide. He has garnered 14 top ten singles on the Billboard Hot 100.
The discography of Common, an American rapper, consists of fourteen studio albums, one collaborative album, one extended play, two compilation albums, forty-nine singles and twenty-one music videos. It also contains the list of Common songs. Common sold more than 2.8 million albums in the United States. Common released his first album, Can I Borrow a Dollar? (1992), and follow suit with his second album, Resurrection, which met with critical acclaim, calling the album as one of the classic of the 90s. Common released his third album, One Day It'll All Make Sense, which was a little commercial success, follow suit with his fourth album, Like Water for Chocolate, which was met with critical acclaim from music critics, calling it the best rap album of the year. The album was also a commercial success certifying it gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). His fifth studio album Electric Circus was met with acclaim from music critics. However, it failed to meet the commercial success with Like Water for Chocolate, which only peaked at number 47 on the US Billboard 200.
The discography of Akon, a Senegalese American singer, songwriter, rapper and music producer, consists of five studio albums, four mixtapes, one extended play, thirty eight singles, eight promotional singles and ninety-two music videos. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Akon lived in Senegal with his family until the age of seven, when they returned to the United States to live in New Jersey. A three-year prison sentence inspired Akon to begin recording songs in his home studio: Universal Records signed him after becoming aware of his music, and his debut album Trouble was released in June 2004. Two of its singles – "Locked Up" and "Lonely" – reached the top ten of the US Billboard Hot 100, with the latter topping numerous singles charts worldwide and being certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Trouble also included the singles "Gunshot ", "Ghetto", "Belly Dancer (Bananza)" and "Pot of Gold", and was eventually certified Platinum by the RIAA and by the British Phonographic Industry in the United Kingdom, where it reached number one on the UK Albums Chart.
The discography of American rapper Obie Trice consists of two major-label studio albums, three independent albums, fifteen singles, and four mixtapes. His major-label albums were released via Eminem's Shady/Interscope Records.
The discography of American rapper Birdman consists of four studio albums, one collaborative album, two mixtapes, 23 music videos, 48 singles, including 23 as a featured artist, and 7 promotional singles. In 2002, Birdman released his debut studio album Birdman under the recording name Baby. It peaked at number 24 on the US Billboard 200, spending 23 weeks on the chart. Three singles were released from the album; the first, "Do That...", reached number 33 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and the second, "What Happened to That Boy", reached number 45 on the same chart. The third single, "Baby You Can Do It", only charted on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales chart. In 2003, Birdman collaborated with singer Ginuwine on the single "Hell Yeah" and rapper Bow Wow on the single "Let's Get Down", which reached numbers 17 and 14 respectively on the Hot 100.
The discography of American rapper Royce da 5’9” consists of 8 studio albums, 6 collaboration albums, 11 mixtapes and 30 solo singles, including 14 as a featured artist, and 18 music videos.
"The Knoc" is a song by American rapper, Knoc-Turn'al. The song features guest vocals by hip-hop musicians Dr. Dre and Missy Elliott. It was originally released as the lead single for Knoc's unreleased album, Knoc's Landin (2002). In spite of the album's shelving, "The Knoc" initially saw a release on the summer EP, L.A. Confidential presents: Knoc-turn'al due to the single's Grammy nomination and charting on the Billboard Hot 100.
The discography of American rapper Big Boi consists of three studio albums, one mixtape, twenty-two singles, five promotional singles and twenty-five music videos. Big Boi initially achieved success as a member of the hip hop duo Outkast with fellow rapper André 3000; they have recorded and released six studio albums together, and the singles "Ms. Jackson", "Hey Ya!" and "The Way You Move" have all topped the US Billboard Hot 100. Big Boi guest appeared on the 1995 single "Dirty South" by Atlanta-based hip hop group Goodie Mob, which entered the Billboard Hot 100. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, he made other appearances on commercially successful singles including "All n My Grill" by Missy Elliott, "A.D.I.D.A.S." by Killer Mike and "Girlfight" by Brooke Valentine—each likewise entered the Billboard Hot 100.
Late Nights & Early Mornings is the debut studio album by English singer Marsha Ambrosius. Recorded after the disbandment of her former band Floetry, it was released by J Records on 1 March 2011 in the United States. Her only album for the label before its dissolution seven months later, it debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 with 96,400 copies sold in the first week.
"So Much More" is a song by American rapper Fat Joe, released as the first single from his sixth studio album, All or Nothing (2005). It was produced by Cool & Dre, who helped write the song with Joe. Lyrically, the song features Joe describing his personal advantages in several areas, including his "hood buzz", among other features.
Friends & Lovers is the second studio album by English R&B singer Marsha Ambrosius. It was released by RCA Records on 15 July 2014. The album features guest appearances from Charlie Wilson, Dr. Dre, Skye Edwards and Lindsey Stirling. On 23 June 2014 the album's first and second singles "Run" and "Stronger" featuring Dr. Dre, were released.
American rapper Lil Wayne has released 286 singles including 19 promotional singles. Lil Wayne attained his first singles chart entry in 1999 as a featured artist on Hot Boys member Juvenile's single "Back That Azz Up", which peaked at number 19 on the United States Billboard Hot 100 and became a top ten hit on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts. Wayne later released his debut solo studio album Tha Block Is Hot in November 1999. Its title track and lead single, which features B.G. and Juvenile, reached number 65 on the Billboard Hot 100. Lights Out followed in December 2000 and produced the singles "Get Off the Corner", "Everything" and "Shine". "Way of Life", the lead single from Wayne's third studio album 500 Degreez, peaked at number 71 on the Hot 100 and became a top 20 hit on the Hot Rap Songs chart. In 2004, Wayne was featured on the single "Soldier" by American girl group Destiny's Child, which became his first top ten hit on the Hot 100 and enjoyed commercial success internationally.
Carl Eugene Lilly Jr., better known by his stage name Gudda Gudda, is an American rapper from New Orleans. He was originally a member of Sqad Up with Kidd Kidd and Lil Wayne. After forging a long-time friendship with Wayne, he signed to Young Money Entertainment, and later Republic Records.
"Say Yes" is a song by performed by Floetry, issued as the second single from their debut studio album Floetic. It was written by lead singer Marsha Ambrosius along with Andre Harris, and was produced by Harris. The song was the group's only single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #24 in 2003.
"Getting Late" is a song by performed by English neo soul group Floetry, issued as the third and final single from their debut studio album Floetic. It was written by Natalie Stewart and Marsha Ambrosius along with Vidal Davis; and it peaked at #31 on the Billboard R&B chart in 2003. The song was sampled on Drake's song "Flight's Booked", from his album Honestly, Nevermind.
British Alexander Mitchell, better known by his stage name Brisco, is an American rapper from Opa-locka, Florida. In 2006, he guest performed on fellow South Florida native DJ Khaled's debut album—Listennn... the Album—and signed to Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment, an imprint of Cash Money Records in a joint venture with Poe Boy Entertainment. His debut studio album, Street Medicine was scheduled for release in 2010; however, it was ultimately released nine years later as Black Roses under solely Poe Boy due to lack of commercial response.
This is the songs discography for American rapper 50 Cent.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Media related to Marsha Ambrosius at Wikimedia Commons| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
