Monica (singer)

Monica

Monica Denise Arnold (born October 24 1980), professionally known as Monica, is an American R&B singer, songwriter, and occasional actress. She debuted in 1995 under the guidance of Rowdy Records head Dallas Austin and became the youngest recording act to ever have two consecutive chart-topping hits on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Following a major success with "The Boy Is Mine," a duet with singer Brandy, in 1998, a series of hit records established her position as one of the most successful of the new breed of urban R&B female vocalists to emerge in the mid-to late 1990s.

Her popularity was in decline between the early 2000s, during which time she dealt with more personal tribulations including the suicide of her boyfriend Jarvis "Knot" Weems, an up-and-down relationship with former fiancé Corey "C-Murder" Miller and the delay of her heavily-bootlegged third album, All Eyez on Me. In 2003 Monica eventually released After the Storm, and after an unsuccessful period, she returned to the forefront of R&B music with her sixth number-one hit "So Gone".

After giving birth to her first child, Rodney Ramone Hill III, in May 2005, and another short hiatus, Monica released her fourth studio album, The Makings of Me in October 2006. While maintaining a recording career Arnold has also gained fame for appearing in several film and television productions, including supporting roles in big screen motion pictures Boys and Girls (2000) and ATL (2006) and a starring role in the MTV Films telefilm Love Song (2000).

Biography

Early life

Arnold was born in College Park, a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. She is the eldest child of Marilyn Best, a former church singer and Delta Air Lines customer service representative, and M.C. Arnold Jr., a mechanic, working for an Atlanta freight company. She has one brother named Montez (born 1983), and two maternal half-brothers, Tron and Cypress. Arnold is also a cousin-in-law of Atlanta rapper Christopher Brian Bridges, better known as Ludacris.

At the age of two Arnold followed her mother's reputation with regular performances in public at the Jones Chapel United Methodist Church. While growing up in the modest circumstances of a single-parent home, after her parent's separation in 1984 and their divorce in 1987, Monica continued training herself in singing. She became the youngest member of Charles Thompson and the Majestics, a traveling 12-piece gospel choir, by the time she was 10. Monica also became a frequent talent show contestant, winning over 20 local singing competitions throughout her early teenage years.

1991—1997: Career beginnings

File:Why I Love You So Much (sceenshot).jpg

Monica in the video for her third consecutive top 10 hit "Why I Love You So Much" (1996).

In 1991, at the age of eleven, Arnold was discovered by music producer Dallas Austin at the Center Stage auditorium in Atlanta. Amazed by her voice, Dallas offered her a record deal with his Arista-distributed label Rowdy Records and immediately hired rapper and actress Queen Latifah as Monica's first manager. Shortly afterwards Dallas and Arnold entered the studio to start writing and producing her debut Miss Thang.

After years of recording Monica's debut album, co-produced by Daryl Simmons, Tim & Bob and Soulshock & Karlin, was released to mixed reviews on July 18, 1995. While the longplayer debuted at a moderately successful 36 on the U.S.'s Billboard 200 chart only, Miss Thang soon became a triple platinum success thanks to constant sales and the success of its singles: Pre-released "Don't Take It Personal (Just One of Dem Days)" and double-A-single "Before You Walk out of My Life/Like This and Like That" both entered the top 10 of the official Hot 100 and simultaneously became platinum certified number-one hits on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, making Monica the youngest artist ever to have two consecutive chart-topping hits on latter chart.

A third double-A-side single (and top 10 single), "Why I Love You So Much/Ain't Nobody", the latter being an appearance on The Nutty Professor, soundtrack maintained Monica's popularity in music and on music video channels through 1996 - the same year she went on tour with R&B and hip hop groups TLC and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.

1998—2000: Worldwide popularity

File:The Boy Is Mine (screenshot).jpg

Brandy and Monica in the video for "The Boy Is Mine" (1998), one of both acts' biggest singles.

After graduating high school at age 16 with a 4.0 GPA in 1997 and a label change to Clive Davis's Arista Records, Arnold's mainstream success was boosted, when Diane Warren-written "For You I Will," from the Space Jam movie soundtrack, became her next top 10 pop hit.

The following year she was asked to team up with singer Brandy and producer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins to record "The Boy Is Mine", the first single off of both of their second albums. Released in May 1998 surrounding highly publicised rumours about a real-life catfight between both singers, the duet became both the biggest hit of the summer and the biggest hit of 1998 in general in America, spending a total of 13 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and garnering multi-platinum sales of the single (to date, it remains as one of the top twenty most successful American singles in history based on Billboard chart success).

Jermaine Dupri, David Foster and Austin consulted on the album The Boy Is Mine, which was released later that year and became Monica's most successful worldwide. It yielded another two U.S. number-one hits with "The First Night" and "Angel of Mine," a cover of Eternal's 1997 single, as well as a remake of Richard Marx' "Right Here Waiting". Rolling Stone Magazine proclaimed it as "closer to soul's source ... hearking back past hip-hop songbirds like Mary J. Blige and adult-contemporary sirens like Toni Braxton", while All Music Guide called the album an "irresistible sounding [and] immaculately crafted musical backdrop [...] as good as mainstream urban R&B gets in 1998."

After the album's final single release Arnold primarily focused on recording soundtracks. In 2000 she contributed chorus vocals for "I've Got to Have It", a collaboration with Jermaine Dupri and rapper Nas which sampled Peter Gabriel's 1986 number-one hit "Sledgehammer." Released as the Big Momma's House' theme song, the song saw minor success in the United States only. A year later Monica released "Just Another Girl", a song she had recorded for the Down to Earth soundtrack. The single fared better, but failed to reach the top 50 of the U.S. Hot 100.

Monica also started appearing in films and showed interest in acting. She starred in Love Song and was featured on Boys and Girls in 2000.

2001—2004: All Eyez on Me and After the Storm

File:Knockknock(shot).jpg

Monica in the Chris Robinson-directed music video for double a-single "Knock Knock"/"Get It Off."

Monica's career saw troubles between the years 2001 and 2003, during which time she dealt with more personal tribulations including an up-and-down relationship with former fiancé Corey "C-Murder" Miller and the suicide of her boyfriend Jarvis "Knot" Weems, a local drug dealer and youth friend of Arnold. On July 18, 2000, the pair were together at the graveside of Weems's brother Troy, who had died in an automobile accident at age 25 in 1998, when Weems, without warning, put a gun to his head and shot himself to death. Devastated, Monica spent the first few months after his death in denial and depression, later lessened by spiritual guidance from her parents. "Afterward, I felt, 'What else could I have done?' You replay that situation over and over and you switch it around: Maybe if I had said this, or if I would have done that,'" she said in an interview with the Enquirer the following year. "It's just something that it's never possible for me to go back and change."

Arnold channeled much of her heavily media-discussed experiences into the production of her third studio album, All Eyez on Me, her first release on mentor Clive Davis newly-founded J Records label. "I just wanted to give the people back something that had personal passion, instead of just, 'Oh, let's dance to this record,'" she said about the issuses worked into the tracks. Yet the first single released from the project was "All Eyez on Me," a Rodney Jerkins-produced R&B-dance song which saw minor to moderate success on the charts. A follow-up song, "Too Hood," also got a lukewarm response and as a result, the album's tentative release was pushed back several times. "I don't think people wanted to hear a big fun record from me, after knowing all the things that I had personally experienced," Monica second-guessed her new material which saw both early and heavy bootlegging via internet at that time.

After the Japan-wide release of All Eyez on Me Monica was asked to substantially reconstruct the record with a host of new producers, and as a result the singer re-entered recording studios in January 2003 to begin working on new songs with songwriters Kanye West, Jazze Pha, Andre "mrDEYO" Deyo, Bam & Ryan and Dupri-relapcing executive producer Missy Elliott among others. Finally released on June 17, 2003, the album debuted at number two on Billboard`s Top R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart, and on top of the official Billboard 200, with sales of 186,000 copies emerging as Monica's first and only number-one album to date. Sales declined soon but uniformly continuous, and After the Storm eventually received a gold certification for more than 500,000 copies shipped to stores. As of February 2007, the record has sold more than 997,000 copies domestically. Media reception of the CD was generally enthusiastic, with the All Music Guide saying the album "has all the assuredness and smart developments that should keep Monica's younger longtime followers behind her — all the while holding the ability to appeal to a wider spectrum of R&B and hip-hop fans." The album's lead single, "So Gone", was one of Monica's biggest commercial successes in years, becoming her first top 10 single since 1999's "Angel of Mine"; it also reached the top position of the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Tracks and Hot Dance Club Play charts.

2005—2007: The Makings of Me

File:Everytime Tha Beat Drop-screenshot1.jpg

"Everytime tha Beat Drop" (2006) failed to link the album The Makings of Me with previous successes.

On May 21, 2005, Monica and her fiancé, Rodney "Rocko" Hill, Jr. welcomed a son into the world. The pair named the child Rodney Ramone Hill III, after his father. His godfather is rapper Ludacris, Monica's cousin-in-law.

Returning from yet another musical hiatus, Monica's fourth studio album The Makings of Me was released on October 3, 2006 in the United States. Named after Curtis Mayfield's song "The Makings of You," the ten tracks short album saw her particularly reuniting with Elliott, Dupri, and Bryan Michael Cox. Arnold described the CD as her most mature and versatile effort to date: "This album is very, very different from the other ones, because of me personally," she said to MTV News. "Now, at 26, the way I look at things, even relationships, I was really able to involve more of my life experiences in the album." The Makings of Me received a positive reception from most professional music critics, with All Music Guide calling it a "concise and mostly sweet (if occasionally unremarkable) set of songs" and Entertainment Weekly declaring it "a solid addition" to Monica's discography, widely comparing it to 2003 After the Storm due to its "excellent songwriting and song production." About.com’s Mark Edward Nero however, cited a "lack of emotion" in Monica's powerful voice, also criticising the relative shortness of the album. One week after its release, The Makings of Me debuted at number one on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart, and at number 8 on the official Billboard 200, with moderately successful first week sales of 92,935 copies; so far the album has sold 270,000 copies domestically, making it Monica's lowest selling album to date. Singles such as "Everytime tha Beat Drop" failed on the pop and R&B charts.

Current activities

As reported, the singer delivered her second child, a son named Romello Montez on January 8, 2008.

In October 2007 Monica renewed her contract with J Records. For now, she is writing and putting songs together for her fifth studio album, entitled Lessons Learned. Although a release date has not yet been confirmed, the album is expected to be released around August 2008, with a yet-to-be-picked single preceding in June or July. So far, the singer has worked with producers Missy Elliott, Bryan Michael Cox and Babyface on the album. Her team also is in negoations with Ne-Yo, Polow Da Don, and R. Kelly to contribute to Lessons Learned. In an interview with Versus Magazine, Lil Jon moreover recently stated that he was "about to do some work with Monica."

As Monica recently confirmed on SayNow, the album's production and release will be tracked by a her own reality show.

Discography

Further information: [[:Monica discography]]

Albums

• 1995: Miss Thang
• 1998: The Boy Is Mine
• 2002: All Eyez on Me
• 2003: After The Storm
• 2006: The Makings of Me
• 2008: Lessons Learned

EPs

• 2004: Dance Vault Remixes: Get It Off/Knock Knock

DVDs

• 2000: Love Song

Number-one singles

The following singles reached number one in the United States, the U.S. R&B chart, Dance chart, Netherlands, New Zealand, Canada, and/or World Singles Official Top 100. For a full singles discography, see Monica discography.

Year	Single	Chart positions
		U.S.	U.S. R&B	U.S. Dance	NET	NZ	CAN	WW
1995	"Don't Take It Personal (Just One of Dem Days)"	2	1	2	21	5	-	-
	"Before You Walk out of My Life / Like This and Like That"	7	1	8	-	8	-	-
1998	"The Boy Is Mine" (with Brandy)	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
	"The First Night"	1	1	1	22	15	6	-
1999	"Angel of Mine"	1	2	-	-	17	10	5
2003	"So Gone"	10	1	1	-	-	17	-
Total	Number-one hits	3	5	3	1	1	1	1

Filmography

Films

• Boys and Girls (2000) - Katie
• ATL (2006) - Waffle House Waitress

Television

• Living Single (1 episode, 1996) - Marissa
• New York Undercover (1 episode, 1996) - Herself
• Beverly Hills, 90210 (2 episodes, 1997-1999) - Herself
• Love Song (2000) - Camille Livingston
• Felicity (1 episode, 2001) - Sarah Robinson
• American Dreams (1 episode, 2003) - Mary Wells

Awards

Won

• 1996 Billboard Music Award: R&B Artist of the Year
• 1998 Billboard Music Award: Top Dance Maxi-Single for "The Boy is Mine" with Brandy
• 1998 Billboard Music Award: Top 100 Singles Sales for "The Boy is Mine" with Brandy
• 1998 Billboard Music Award: Top R&B Sales for "The Boy is Mine" with Brandy
• 1998 Billboard Music Award: Best Clip (R&B/Urban) for "The Boy is Mine" with Brandy
• 1999 Grammy Award: Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "The Boy Is Mine" with Brandy

Nominated

• 1996 American Music Award: Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist
• 1997 American Music Award: Favorite Female R&B/Soul Artist
• 1998 MTV Video Music Award: Best R&B Video for "The Boy Is Mine" with Brandy
• 1998 MTV Video Music Award: Video of the year for "The Boy Is Mine" with Brandy
• 1998 Soul Train Music Award:Best R&B/Soul Single--Female: for "For You I Will"
• 1999 American Music Award: Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist
• 1999 American Music Award: Favorite R&B/Soul Female Artist
• 1999 Grammy Award: Record of the Year for "The Boy Is Mine"
• 1999 Soul Train Music Award: Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "The Boy Is Mine" with Brandy
• 1999 Soul Train Lady of Soul Award: Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "The Boy Is Mine" with Brandy
• 1999 Soul Train Lady of Soul Award: Best R&B Soul Single, Solo for "Angel of Mine"
• 1999 Soul Train Lady of Soul Award: R&B/Soul Album of the year for "The Boy is Mine"
• 2003 Soul Train Lady of Soul Award: Best R&B/Soul Single, Solo -"So Gone"
• 2004 BET Awards: Female R&B Artist
• 2004 Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Awards: Top R&B/Hip-Hop Artists - Female
• 2007 Soul Train Music Award: Best R&B/Soul Album - Female for The Makings of Me

See also

• List of number-one hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart

External links

• Monica Official website
• Monica at MySpace
• Monica at IMDb
• Monica at All Music Guide