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The Underdogs | |
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| Genres | R&B, pop, hip hop |
| Occupation(s) | Record producers, songwriters |
| Years active | 2000–2008, 2011–2016 |
| Labels | J |
| Members | Harvey Mason Jr. Damon Thomas |
The Underdogs are an American R&B/pop production duo composed of Harvey Mason Jr. and Damon Thomas.
Harvey Mason Jr. is the son of session drummer Harvey Mason Sr. Damon Thomas was a songwriting and production partner for R&B producer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds during the late 1990s, and worked with Babyface on hits such as Dru Hill's "These Are the Times", Faith Evans' "Never Gonna Let You Go", and Pink's "Most Girls". Harvey Mason Jr. was part of the Darkchild crew working alongside Rodney Jerkins before teaming up with Thomas.
Mason and Thomas began working together in 1999, with their first major production being Tyrese's single "I Like Them Girls". Since then, the duo has worked with a number of R&B performers, among them Lionel Richie, Omarion, J. Valentine, Justin Timberlake, Victoria Beckham, Joe, Donell Jones, Olivia, Mario, JoJo, Mario Vazquez, Stacie Orrico, R. Kelly, Jessica Mauboy, Chris Brown, Jordin Sparks, Marques Houston, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia, Katharine McPhee and more.
Among their work has been the soundtrack for the long-planned film adaptation of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls , featuring performances by Jennifer Hudson, Beyoncé Knowles, Anika Noni Rose, Eddie Murphy, Keith Robinson, and Jamie Foxx.
The Underdogs also produced the Aretha Franklin/Mary J. Blige collaboration "Never Gonna Break My Faith" for the Bobby soundtrack.
Damon Thomas was married to celebrity reality star Kim Kardashian from 2000 to 2004. Before music fame, Thomas played football at Wayne State College. He then played 17 games in the NFL. He also played professionally in France for the Thonon Black Panthers. [1]
In 2011, The Underdogs reunited to produce "Up 2 You" for Chris Brown's album F.A.M.E. and the song "Living Proof" with Mary J. Blige for motion picture The Help . In 2012, The Underdogs wrote and produced the first single from Chris Brown's album Fortune, titled "Turn Up the Music". Also in 2012, The Underdogs produced the soundtrack album for the films Pitch Perfect and Pitch Perfect 2 . [2] In 2014, they produced and arranged music for Get On Up depicting the life of James Brown. In 2015, The Underdogs produced and arranged music for the motion picture biopic Straight Outta Compton .
Kenneth Brian Edmonds, better known by his stage name Babyface, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has written and produced over 26 number-one R&B hits throughout his career and has won 12 Grammy Awards. He was ranked number 20 on NME's 50 of The Greatest Producers Ever list.
James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III and Terry Steven Lewis are an American R&B/pop songwriting and record production team. They have enjoyed great success since the 1980s with various artists, most intensively with Janet Jackson. They have written 31 top ten hits in the UK and 41 in the US. In 2022, the duo were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Musical Excellence category.
K-Ci & JoJo is an American R&B duo, consisting of brothers Cedric "K-Ci" Hailey and Joel "JoJo" Hailey. Natives of Charlotte, North Carolina, they are also the lead singers of the chart-topping R&B group Jodeci with the DeGrate brothers—Donald and Mr. Dalvin. They are known for the 1998 smash hit "All My Life" which was the No.1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks and received multiple Grammy nominations. They were also featured artists on another No.1 Billboard Hot 100 hit single, 2Pac’s 1996 song "How Do U Want It", which also received a Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group Grammy nomination in 1997. K-Ci & JoJo also achieved mainstream success with the 1999 hit "Tell Me It's Real", which peaked at No.2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Their 2001 song "Crazy" was included on the Save the Last Dance soundtrack and peaked at No.11 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Enter the Dru is the second studio album from American R&B group Dru Hill. Released on October 27, 1998, it was the group's second and final album for Island Black Music, the urban music division of Island Records; Island was merged with Def Jam Recordings following a company merger in December the same year, as Dru Hill would later be transferred to Def Jam's Def Soul subsidiary.
Dreamgirls: Music from the Motion Picture is a soundtrack album for the 2006 film Dreamgirls. The album was released by Music World Entertainment and Columbia Records on December 5, 2006 in two versions: a single-disc standard release, and a two-disc deluxe edition. The one-disc version includes highlights from the film's songs, including "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going", "One Night Only", and "Listen", while the two disc version includes all songs present in the film alongside several bonus tracks.
Don't Talk, Just Listen is the second album by American R&B group B5. It was released on September 10, 2007 in the United Kingdom and on September 11 in the United States. The lone single was "Hydrolics" featuring Bow Wow.
"Put You Up on Game" is a duet by American singers Aretha Franklin and Fantasia Barrino. It was written by Harvey Mason Jr., Damon Thomas, Steve Russell, Antonio Dixon, Kaleena Harper, and Larry Jackson for Franklin's 2007 compilation album Jewels in the Crown: All-Star Duets with the Queen, with production helmed by The Underdogs. The song peaked at number ten on the Adult R&B Songs and earned the pair a NAACP Image Award nomination in the Outstanding Duo or Group category.
"How Could You" is an R&B song performed by American recording artist Mario and is the second single from his second studio album Turning Point (2004). It was written by Antonio Dixon, Eric Dawkins, J. Valentine and the Underdogs, who also produced the song. Released on February 14, 2005, the single reached number 52 on the US Billboard Hot 100. "How Could You" also debuted on the Australian Singles Chart at number 43. The official remix of the song was produced by Scott Storch and Dr. Dre.
"Take You Down" is a song recorded by American recording artist Chris Brown for his second studio album, Exclusive (2007). The song was written by Brown, Harvey Mason, Jr., Damon Thomas, Steve Russell, James Fauntleroy and Lamar Edwards, while production was helmed by Edwards and The Underdogs. The song was released as the album's fourth single on April 6, 2008 in the United States. "Take You Down" is composed as slow R&B ballad with the lyrics based on sexual intercourse. The song garnered Brown a Grammy nomination in the category Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.
Luke and Q are an African-American R&B duo from New Orleans, United States best known for their 2006 hit single, "My Turn". The members include Luke Boyd and Quinten Spears.
"Superhuman" is the second single released by Chris Brown from the album Exclusive: The Forever Edition, and the sixth and final single overall off Exclusive. The song features Keri Hilson.
Harvey Jay Mason Jr. is an American record producer, songwriter, film producer, and current CEO of The Recording Academy. He's known for written and produced songs for artists including Aretha Franklin, Justin Bieber, Michael Jackson, Ariana Grande, Elton John, Britney Spears, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Justin Timberlake, Whitney Houston, and Chris Brown. In addition, he has produced music for television and films, including Dreamgirls, Sparkle, Pitch Perfect, Sing, Straight Outta Compton, and The Wiz Live!. He was elected as the chairman of The Recording Academy in June 2019, became its interim president and CEO on January 16, 2020, and then assumed the permanent role of CEO on May 13, 2021.
More than a Game is a 2008 American documentary film that follows basketball superstar LeBron James and four of his teammates through the trials and tribulations of high school basketball in Akron, Ohio, and James's journey to fame. The film trailer was released featuring the single "Stronger" by Mary J. Blige, which she released in support of the film. The soundtrack titled Music Inspired by More than a Game was released September 28, 2009. The film had limited theatrical release on October 2, 2009.
Music Inspired by More than a Game is the official soundtrack album name for music taken from and inspired by the documentary film More than a Game. The film is centered on the life of LeBron James and was released in October 2009. The soundtrack and film were both executive produced by Harvey Mason Jr. on behalf of Interscope Records and Lionsgate. The soundtrack album was released on September 28, 2009 in the United Kingdom and September 29, 2009 in the United States by Zone 4 and Interscope Records.
How Stella Got Her Groove Back is the soundtrack to the 1998 film, How Stella Got Her Groove Back. It was released on August 11, 1998, through Flyte Tyme Records and consisted mainly of R&B music. The album was entirely produced by the production duo, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis with additional help from Wyclef Jean & Jerry Duplessis as well as Salaam Remi. The soundtrack peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200 albums chart and number three on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and was certified gold on September 22, 1998, by the RIAA. Two singles were released from the album, "Luv Me, Luv Me" and "Beautiful".
"I Like Them Girls" is a song by American singer Tyrese Gibson. It was written by Harvey Mason, Jr., Damon Thomas, Phillip "Silky" White, and J. Valentine for Gibson's second album 2000 Watts (2001), while production was helmed by Mason and Thomas under their production moniker The Underdogs. The song served as the first single from the album and reached number 48 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 15 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
"How You Gonna Act Like That" is a song by American singer Tyrese from his third studio album I Wanna Go There (2002). It was written by Gibson, Eric Dawkins, longtime contributors Harvey Mason Jr. and Damon Thomas while production was helmed by Mason and Thomas under their production moniker The Underdogs. Released as the album's lead single, the song peaked at number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number three on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
"The Living Proof" is a song by American recording artist Mary J. Blige for the soundtrack of the 2011 film The Help. The song was later included on her tenth studio album My Life II... The Journey Continues (2011). Blige composed the song along with the film's score composer Thomas Newman as well as Harvey Mason, Jr. and Damon Thomas from production team The Underdogs. "The Living Proof" is a traditional power ballad with contemporary R&B elements. The song garnered positive reviews from contemporary critics, who praised its lyrical content and Blige's vocals. It was nominated for the Best Original Song category at the 69th Golden Globe Awards, but lost to "Masterpiece", performed by Madonna.
"Signs of Love Makin'" is a song by American singer Tyrese from his third studio album I Wanna Go There (2002). It was written by Gibson, Harvey Mason Jr. and Damon Thomas, while production was helmed by Mason and Thomas under their production moniker The Underdogs. Released as the album's second and final single following his hit single "How You Gonna Act Like That", the song peaked at number 57 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 18 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
Antonio "Tony" Dixon is an American songwriter, singer and record producer, also known for his work with production duo The Underdogs and Eric Dawkins under the production moniker The Pentagon.
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