Rico Love | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Richard Preston Butler Jr. |
Born | New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. | December 3, 1982
Origin | Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. |
Genres | |
Occupations |
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Years active | 2003–present |
Labels |
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Children | 2 |
Website | welovemusicconference |
Richard Preston Butler Jr. (born December 3, 1982), better known by his stage name Rico Love, is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, but split his childhood between Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Harlem, New York City. He attended Florida A&M and, while visiting Atlanta, worked his way into the music industry through connections with singer Usher, who became one of Butler's frequent collaborators.
Usher's 2004 song, "Throwback", was Butler's first major songwriting credit; its parent album, Confessions (2004), won Best Contemporary R&B Album at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards. Butler's contributions to Beyoncé's I Am... Sasha Fierce , [2] Usher's Raymond v. Raymond (2009), [3] and the album's single, "There Goes My Baby" each won Grammy Awards. [3] He also co-wrote "Heart Attack" for Trey Songz, which received a nomination for the award. [4] Throughout the decade, he was credited on commercially successful R&B singles including Usher's "Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home)", Nelly's "Just a Dream" and "Gone", and Beyoncé's "Sweet Dreams". [5] [6] [7] He has worked with artists such as Kelly Rowland, [8] Mario, [9] Chris Brown, [10] Alexandra Burke, Keri Hilson, [11] Fergie, [12] and Fantasia. [13]
As a recording artist, Butler has released two studio albums: TTLO (2015) and Even Kings Die (2018); the former spawned the single "They Don't Know", which moderately entered the Billboard Hot 100. He launched the record label Division1 as an imprint of Universal Motown in 2010, and later Interscope Records in 2013; it has signed artists including Young Chris, Tiara Thomas, and Teairra Marí. [14] [15] [16] He has guest performed on albums for T.I., Jermaine Dupri, Jamie Foxx, [17] Rich Boy, [18] and Fat Joe. [19]
Love was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and his parents divorced at an early age. As a result of the divorce Love spent his childhood growing up in two different cities, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with his mother and Harlem, New York City, with his father. [20] Love's mother encouraged him as a child to write poetry. [21] Love wrote his own poems and went on to joining the African American Children's Theater where he recited Langston Hughes and acted. [20] [21] Love had already been writing his own poems before he was introduced to rap in his early teens. [22] By the end of high school Love had decided to pursue a career in rap but would go to college simultaneously, "I'm [going] to go to school instead of just sitting on the block. If I hadn't gone to college I would've been a drug dealer." [21]
While in college at Florida A&M University Love stayed involved in his music by winning many rap battles and talent shows. [21] On the weekends Love would leave for Atlanta, Georgia, for the benefit of its studios and popular music scene. [21] While visiting Atlanta, Love met members of Jagged Edge who were an influence on Love's songwriting development. [21] Love eventually left college because of a paperwork error made by the college's administration's office. [21] Love went to live with some local Atlanta producers the Corna Boyz. [21] This relationship provided Love the opportunity to rap on a remix the producers were creating for Usher. [21] Usher liked Love's work on the remix and eventually signed him to US Records and J Records. Usher requested Love compose lyrics for a song written by Just Blaze. [21] This song eventually became "Throwback" and was featured on Usher's Diamond-selling (10× Platinum) album Confessions . [21] [23] Love next toured with Usher where he met and connected with many music industry players. [21] Usher encouraged Love to become a songwriter and requests for Love's compositions began coming from artists Chris Brown, Omarion, and Marques Houston. [20] [21] Love currently lives in Miami. He has two children with photographer Robin Thompson known as Robin V; a son, Carys Preston, and a daughter, Believe Beyond.
As a solo recording artist, Love is both a singer and a rapper. [24] Love was asked by Usher to contribute to the soundtrack to the film In the Mix . [25] Love contributed "Settle Down", "Sweat" featuring Usher, and "On the Grind" featuring Juelz Santana and Paul Wall. [26] Love recorded a solo album in 2007 titled The 5th Element which he ultimately decided to focus on his songwriting and not release the recordings. [27] Though Love may not be recording as a solo artist he still contributes his vocals and rhymes to other artists. Love has appeared as a guest artist on songs by Fat Joe, [19] Juvenile, [28] Rich Boy, [18] Jamie Foxx, [17] T.I., [15] and his own artist, Young Chris. [29]
After 8-year hiatus from his solo career and signing his label Division 1 to a distribution deal with Interscope Records, Rico Love would release an extended play entitled Discrete Luxury, on February 27, 2014, which would be re-released. It charted on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums at number 48. The first single from the album, "They Don't Know", it debuted and peaked at number 60 on the Billboard Hot 100 making it Rico Love's highest-charting single as a solo artist. The second single from the album, is entitled "Bitches Be Like". On December 9, 2013, Rico Love released a mixtape entitled El Presidente. [30] [31] [32]
On August 27, 2014, Rico Love released a mixtape entitled I Sin. [33] [34] [35] On December 2, 2014, Rico Love would release the lead single from his debut studio album, entitled "Somebody Else". [36]
On February 18, 2015, Rico Love announced he would be releasing his debut studio album, titled Turn The Lights On , on May 19, 2015. [37] On May 5, 2015, Rico Love would release the second single from Turn The Lights On entitled "Days Go By". [38] On May 18, 2015, the album was released with production from, among others, Danja, Benny Blanco, Jim Jonsin and Robopop, along with the major record label Interscope Records. [39] [40]
Rico recently supported singer Monica on 'The Code Red Experience Tour'.
Love wrote the song "Throwback" at the request of Usher which was a part of the 2004 triple Grammy-winning album Confessions . [20] [41] Love also wrote "Seduction" which was a bonus track on the Confessions special edition release. [42] These were the first of several collaborations between the singer and the writer/producer. In September 2007, Rico Love wrote and produced on the Platinum single "Love Like This" by singer Natasha Bedingfield featuring Sean Kingston. [43] This song was popular with mainstream audiences reaching No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. [43] The song was also a hit in dance clubs, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart. [43]
In May 2008, "Energy" was released as the first single by Keri Hilson from her Gold album In a Perfect World... . [44] [45] The song was co-written and co-produced by Love for the Grammy-nominated artist. [44] The song "Labels or Love", co-written and produced by Love and performed by Fergie was released in May 2008. [46] The song was featured on the deluxe version of her triple Platinum album The Dutchess and also the Gold-selling soundtrack to the film Sex and the City . [12] [47] In November 2008, Beyoncé's double Platinum [48] and 5× Grammy-winning album I Am... Sasha Fierce included four songs featuring Love's songwriting and production. [49] Love wrote and produced on the Platinum single "Sweet Dreams" which reached No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. [49] Love's work was also featured on "Scared of Lonely", "Radio", and "Save the Hero". [49] By the end of 2008 in December, another Love co-written and co-produced track was released as a single for the Grammy-nominated artist Pleasure P. [50] [51] "Boyfriend #2" reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. [52] Love wrote and produced five songs on Mario's D.N.A. album released in October 2009. [53] The songs included the single "Thinkin' About You" and "Hi", "Ooh Baby", "Soundtrack to My Broken Heart", and "Get Out". [53]
Love wrote and produced on his former mentor Usher's Raymond v. Raymond album, released in March 2010. [54] The Platinum and Grammy-winning album featured four of Love's compositions including two of the album's singles. [3] [55] The Love co-produced and co-written single "There Goes My Baby" was a hit and stayed at number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for four weeks and earned Usher a Grammy for his performance on the song. [3] [56] The other single featuring Love's writing and producing was "Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home)" which rose to number two on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. [56] Love's other contributions to the album included the songs "Making Love (Into the Night)" and "So Many Girls". [54] At the end of March 2010 the single "Hello Good Morning" penned by Love for Diddy – Dirty Money was released. [57] Diddy is one of Love's mentors in the industry and he was honored to write for the performer/producer/mogul. [20] The song went on to achieve Gold status and was performed by DDM and Rico Love on season nine of American Idol . [57] [58] Nelly's 5.0 album, released in November 2010 contained eight works featuring Love's songwriting and production skills. [59] The first single, "Just a Dream", co-written and co-produced by Love, went Platinum and landed at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. [60] [61] Love also worked on the single "Gone" featuring Kelly Rowland, a follow-up to the 2002 Nelly hit "Dilemma" also featuring Rowland. [62] Love's other work on the album were on the tracks "Broke", "Making Movies", "Don't It Feel Good", "K.I.S.S.", "Nothing Without Her", and "Move That Body". [59] Love wrote, produced, and appeared as an artist on Jamie Foxx's Best Night of My Life album released December 2010. [63] The album's first single "Living Better Now" features Rick Ross and was co-written and co-produced by Love. [64] [65] Love wrote "Freak", which also features his appearance as an artist, and "Sex On the Beach". [64] [66] [67] Love is managed by Made Communication, Miami, Florida. [7]
He has also written and produced for Fergie, Chris Brown, ASAP Rocky, David Guetta, Wiz Khalifa, and Mary J. Blige. [68]
In November 2010, Love launched Division 1 which originally partnered with Universal Motown but later moved the venture to Interscope Records. In 2011, Love signed R&B artist Teairra Marí & rap artist Young Chris to his label. [69] [70] In 2013, Love's label venture signed the artist, Tiara Thomas, to its roster. Love also has a production company of the same name to which he signed producers, Earl Hood, Eric Goudy, and D Town. [20] [71] [72] In 2014, Rico Love signed Trina to his label.[ citation needed ]
Love has cited various artists as influences such as Usher (who originally signed Love), Sean "Diddy" Combs, Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, R. Kelly, Queen, Smokey Robinson, Elton John, and Miles Davis. [20] [21] [73]
Love has explained when composing he does not write lyrics down or even spend many hours working on songs. [7] He simply listens to a beat and then sings what comes to him. [21] He was quoted as learning this technique from Jagged Edge. [20] [21] Love claims that his technique gives him the ability to write songs very quickly which affords him the opportunity to place more songs on any single album than what most writers could. [20]
Usher Raymond IV is an American singer, songwriter, and dancer. He is recognized as an influential figure in contemporary R&B and pop music. In 1994, Usher first released his self-titled debut album at the age of 15 and rose to fame in the late 1990s following the release of his second album, My Way (1997). That album featured his first Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "Nice & Slow" and the top-two singles "You Make Me Wanna..." and the title track. His third album, 8701 (2001), saw continued success and contained two number-one singles, "U Remind Me" and "U Got It Bad", as well as the top-three single "U Don't Have to Call". It sold eight million copies worldwide and won his first two Grammy Awards for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance consecutively in 2002 and 2003.
The Neptunes were an American record production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1992. Williams often provided backing vocals and music video appearances on the duo's productions, while Hugo remained behind the scenes.
Jermaine Dupri Mauldin is an American record producer, rapper, songwriter, music executive, and entrepreneur. Raised in Atlanta, Georgia, as the son of Columbia Records executive Michael Mauldin, he began his career in music production at the age of nine. He discovered the teen hip hop duo Kris Kross in 1991. Dupri wrote and produced their 1992 single "Jump," which peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100 and was named the 23rd most successful song of that decade. He established his own record label, So So Def Recordings in a joint venture with Columbia the following year.
Garrett Robin Hamler, known professionally as Sean Garrett, is an American songwriter and record producer. He is known his songwriting work on a series of commercially successful R&B and hip hop songs, beginning with Usher's 2004 single "Yeah!". Peaking atop the Billboard Hot 100, Garrett co-wrote five other songs which did so—"Goodies" for Ciara that same year; "Check on It" for Beyoncé, "Run It!" for Chris Brown in 2005; "London Bridge" for Fergie, "Grillz" for Nelly in 2006—as well as 17 other singles that peaked atop the UK Singles, US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, or Dance Club Songs charts. Throughout his career, Garrett has been nominated for four Grammy Awards.
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Teairra Marí Thomas is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress from Detroit, Michigan. At the age of 16, she signed with Def Jam Recordings and Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records to release her debut studio album, Roc-A-Fella Records Presents Teairra Marí (2005). It peaked at number five on the Billboard 200 and was supported by the Billboard Hot 100-top 40 single, "Make Her Feel Good".
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American singer Usher has released nine studio albums, ten compilation albums, eight extended plays, and 81 singles. His music has been released on the LaFace, Arista, Jive, RCA, and gamma record labels. Usher has sold more than 33 million albums in the United States alone and over 65 million albums worldwide. With over 150 million total records sold worldwide, he is one of the best selling music artists of all time. He has nine number-one singles and 18 Hot 100 top-ten singles on the US Billboard Hot 100. In 1994, Usher released his self-titled debut album in North America, which went onto sell 500,000 copies, and produced the singles "Can U Get wit It", "Think of You", and "The Many Ways". The former two peaked in the lower half of the UK and US charts. His follow-up 1997 album My Way sold over 8 million copies worldwide, becoming his breakthrough album. It is certified seven-times platinum in the US, and spawned three successful singles, including his first UK number-one song, "You Make Me Wanna...", and first US Hot 100 number-one song, "Nice & Slow". Usher's success continued in 2001, with his third studio album, 8701. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200. The album produced two number-one singles, such as "U Remind Me" and "U Got It Bad". In 2002, the album was certified five-times platinum in the US for sales of 5 million copies. As of 2010, its worldwide sales stand at over 8 million.
James Gregory Scheffer, known professionally as Jim Jonsin, is an American record producer and songwriter from South Florida. He has produced for numerous musical artists, including Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, Usher, Lil Wayne, Kid Cudi, Eminem, Pitbull, Yelawolf, Nelly, Mary J. Blige, Wiz Khalifa, Danity Kane and Jamie Foxx, among others. He won a Grammy Award for his work on Lil Wayne's 2008 single "Lollipop," and received a nomination for Best Rap Album for his work on "Whatever You Like" by T.I. that same year. Furthermore, both songs peaked the Billboard Hot 100.
Christopher Francis Ries, known professionally as Young Chris, is an American rapper. He rose to fame as one-half of the Philadelphia-based hip hop duo Young Gunz, which he formed with rapper Neef Buck in 2001. That same year, the duo joined the larger Philadelphia-based hip hop group State Property; both acts were signed to Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records by the same time.
Thaddis Laphonia "Kuk" Harrell is an American songwriter, vocal producer, arranger and engineer. He was a member of a songwriting–production team composed of himself, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and Terius "The-Dream" Nash. In 2011, Kuk Harrell and partner Tricky Stewart joined the ranks of Fox's American Idol along with music mogul Jimmy Iovine, producing many of the songs performed on television by the contestants and released via iTunes. 2011 marked the highly anticipated return of Jennifer Lopez and her album LOVE? in which Kuk served as Album Vocal Producer. Earning his fourth Grammy for the vocal production of Rihanna's No. 1 Billboard Single "Only Girl ", Harrell is also the vocal producer and co-writer of Rihanna's Grammy-winning single "Umbrella". A composer and engineer on Beyoncé's chart topping "Single Ladies " from the album I Am... Sasha Fierce, he is also vocal producer and engineer of the Diane Warren-penned "I Was Here" from Beyoncé's 2011 album 4. He also produced the majority of the vocals on Mary J. Blige's Platinum album Growing Pains, which won the 2008 Grammy for Best Contemporary R&B Album. The first single from Growing Pains, "Just Fine", earned a Grammy nomination for best R&B vocal performance in 2007.
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Raymond v. Raymond is the sixth studio album by American singer Usher, released on March 26, 2010, by LaFace Records. Production for the album took place in 2009 and was handled by several producers, including Jermaine Dupri, The Runners, Ester Dean, Polow da Don, RedOne, Jim Jonsin, Danja, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Bangladesh, Zaytoven, and Tricky Stewart.
"Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home)" is a song by American singer Usher. It was written by longtime Usher collaborator Rico Love, Usher, Plies as well as Andrew Harr and Jermaine Jackson from production duo The Runners for his sixth studio album Raymond v. Raymond (2010), while production was helmed by Love, Harr, and Jackson. "Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home)" was released as the album's first single in the United States, following the buzz single "Papers". It peaked at number twenty-four on the Billboard Hot 100, and at number two on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
"There Goes My Baby" is a song by American singer Usher. It was written by James Scheffer, Frank Romano, Danny Morris and Rico Love, with the latter producing the song with Jim Jonsin. The song was first released as the second promo single for his sixth studio album, Raymond v. Raymond (2010) on February 9, 2010, and later released to rhythmic and urban airplay as the album's fourth U.S. single from the album on June 15, 2010. It was later included the EP's follow-up set, Versus. "There Goes My Baby" is a down-tempo R&B piece, which makes use of Usher's falsetto range.
5.0 is the sixth studio album by American rapper Nelly. It was released through Universal Motown Records and Derrty on November 12, 2010. The album features guest appearances from Kelly Rowland, Keri Hilson, DJ Khaled, Baby, Sophie Greene, Ali, Plies, Chris Brown, T.I., Yo Gotti, T-Pain, Akon, Talib Kweli, Avery Storm, Murphy Lee, Dirty Money and Sean Paul while production was handled by Infamous, Dr. Luke, Mr. Bangladesh, Jim Jonsin, Multiman, Polow da Don, Rico Love and The Runners, among others. 5.0 is predominately a hip hop and pop music album with subtle influences of R&B.
Versus is the first EP by American singer Usher. It was released on July 20, 2010 on LaFace Records and Jive Records in conjunction with the deluxe edition of his sixth studio album Raymond v. Raymond. Several producers contributed to the production of the EP, including Polow da Don, Jim Jonsin, Rico Love, Drumma Boy, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and Max Martin. Versus is marked as "the last chapter of Raymond v. Raymond", and follows the theme of Usher exploring around the subjects of being newly single and a father.
"Promise" is a song by Romeo Santos, featuring Usher, from Santos' debut studio album Fórmula, Vol. 1 (2011). The track was co-written and produced by Rico Love. It was released as the album's second single in Latin America and the United States.
Nayvadius DeMun Cash, known professionally as Future, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, and record producer. Known for his mumble-styled vocals and prolific output, Future is considered a pioneer of the use of Auto-Tuned melodies in trap music. Due to the sustained popularity of this musical style, he is commonly regarded as one of the most influential rappers of his generation.
"Touch'N You" is a song by American rapper Rick Ross, featuring vocals from American singer Usher. It was released as the first single from his fifth studio album, God Forgives, I Don't on May 22, 2012. The song was produced by Rico Love and Pierre Medor. The music video was directed by Chris Robinson and features Omarion, Wale, DJ Khaled, actress and model Tae Heckard as Ross's leading lady.
rico love usher in the mix.
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