Blu Cantrell

Blu Cantrell
Blu Cantrell at the 79th Annual Academy Awards Children Uniting Nations/Billboard afterparty at The Music Box @ Fonda on February 25, 2007 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Background information
Birth name	Tiffany Cobb
Born	(1976-03-16) March 16, 1976 Providence, Rhode Island, United States
Genres	R&B, soul
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, musician (drums and guitar), Scatter producer
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Arista

Blu Cantrell (born Tiffany Cobb; March 16, 1976) is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter.

Early life

Tiffany Cobb was born in Providence, Rhode Island. Her father was of Narragansett and Cape Verdean ancestry,^{[citation needed]} and played in the National Basketball Association. Susi Franco, her mother, was a former Miss Rhode Island, actress, and jazz vocalist. She also has Italian and German ancestry. Cantrell's parents split when she was a child, and she and her five siblings—Adam, Tino, Nick, Kelli, and Summer—were raised by her mother. At the age of 19 she posed as a nude model for Black Tail. She has defended this by saying: "I have posed nude in the past and I will in the future, I'm not making porn, porn is when you do a video of sex. Posing nude is not making porn."^{[citation needed]}

Her mother used to call her Blu; Cantrell is her grandmother's surname.^{[citation needed]}

Music career

Debut album: So Blu (2001–2002)

After several demos, recordings, and singing backup for artists such as Puff Daddy, Cantrell was discovered by Red Zone Entertainment heads Tricky, Tab and Laney Stewart in early 2001. She also did collaborations with Babyface, Usher, Dionne Warwick, will.i.am, Fat Joe, Lil' Kim, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and jazz legend Herbie Hancock. The producers promptly placed her with Antonio "L.A." Reid who offered the singer a contract with his label Arista Records after hearing one song she wrote and sung in front of him and his staff. After a bidding war with five different labels, Arista's bid was the highest. It was said of Cantrell, "Since she was a little girl she always dreamed of being on Arista Records."^{[citation needed]} Afterwards, Cantrell went straight into recording sessions with Dallas Austin and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. In 2001, her debut album, So Blu, was released. The record saw major success when it peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200 chart, eventually going gold in the United States. The album's hit single "Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!)", which peaked at number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, became the number one most added record to radio in the country, breaking Elvis Presley's record for most played on all genres of radio. The song earned Cantrell Grammy Award nominations for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and for Best R&B Song, as well as an American Music Award nomination for Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist, both in 2002.

During this era, Cantrell helped write and compose, along with several other writers, the song "It's Killing Me (In My Mind)" for the soundtrack of the 2002 film Bad Company. Cantrell also featured in a small cameo role in the 2002 film Drumline, where she could be seen singing the American National Anthem. The film starred Nick Cannon and Orlando Jones.

Bittersweet (2003–2004)

Blu Cantrell in 2008

In 2003, Cantrell released her second album, Bittersweet, which peaked at #37 on the Billboard 200. The success of 'Bittersweet' was much greater worldwide than in the U.S. due to the number one single 'Breathe' which climbed to the top of the charts. The song became number one without the support of any major radio syndication and eventually was added to major rotation after it had already become independently worldwide. The record earned Cantrell a Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Album and entered the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart at number eight. The album produced two hit singles, these being "Breathe" and "Make Me Wanna Scream", the former being a collaboration with Sean Paul. "Breathe" peaked at number one for four weeks in the United Kingdom and broke Madonna's song "Lucky Star" single for most played on radio^{[citation needed]}. It eventually became one of the most successful singles of the year in Europe, Australia, South Africa, and several other countries worldwide. That same year, Cantrell was to appear in Playboy magazine (and would have been only the fourth African American woman to appear on the cover), but decided against it at the last minute because "I felt it was going to make me more of a sex symbol and I didn't want anything to take away from the fact that I can sing".

Most recent projects

In 2007, Cantrell starred alongside LisaRaye and Kenya Moore in the musical stage play Gossip, Lies and Secrets. Tour dates ran from September 27, until November 25, 2007.

In 2008, Cantrell appeared in NBC's Celebrity Circus. The first episode aired with a ninety-minute kick-off special on June 11, but Cantrell was eliminated in the second week, June 18, 2008. This made her the first Celebrity to be eliminated from the show. However, she returned for the final episode to perform her single "Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!)".

Colin Main, a music producer, composer, and recording engineer, was, as of the last days of July 2011, the only producer to announce that he was working on new music with Cantrell. Several previously unheard clips could subsequently be found on Main's Official YouTube account. Among these were "My World" and "Secret in My Pocket". As of July 2011, it has not been confirmed if these tracks would appear on Cantrell's forthcoming album.

Early in 2012, producer DeShawn Hendrickson confirmed he was working with Blu on her third record, stating on popular video sharing site YouTube, "thanks for the love...I did Keysha cole's last album....and now working with Blu Cantrell on her comback album."

Hendrickson also tweeted, "back in the studio today with my homies @Justa_Beast @SkyHighMusicNow and Blu Cantrell (@realblucantrell )...time to work...Lets Get It!!".

"S.O.S (Tell Me Where You At)" was premiered by Blu Cantrell herself on Soundcloud, and was later released across Apple's iTunes Store as a taste of what's to come.

Blu Cantrell released a free download on her Twitter on October 11, 2012, titled, "Get The F**** Out". The singer also revealed plans to release her first single from her forthcoming album in December 2012 with the album to follow sometime in 2013.

The first single from her forthcoming album will be comes out on July 2013 with the album later this year

Discography

Main article: Blu Cantrell discography

• So Blu (2001)
• Bittersweet (2003)
• I Am Blu (2013)

Awards and nominations

• American Music Awards
  • Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist (Nominated)

• Grammy Awards
  • Best R&B Song: "Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!)" (Nominated)
  • Best Female R&B Vocal Performance: "Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!)" (Nominated)
  • Best R&B Album: Bittersweet (Nominated)